3 takeaways from another dominating win for Nebraska football

Good teams win. Great teams cover the spread. We still have to figure out how good this Nebraska football is going to be, but the Huskers are 2-0 and have covered the spread twice.

On Saturday, one week after beating Ohio 49-21, Nebraska dominated Bowling Green, another MAC opponent, to the tune of 56-7. It could have been a wider margin. The Huskers were outscored in the third quarter, but in two games, Nebraska has 15 touchdowns.

Anthony Colandrea accounted for four touchdowns last week (3 passing, 1 rushing). He did the same against Bowling Green, overcoming an early interception to throw four touchdown passes in the first half as the Huskers built a 35-0 lead.

Isaiah Mozee scored the sixth touchdown. Derek Wacker scooped a fumble and scored the seventh on the first defensive touchdown of the Rob Aurich era. Nebraska football finished with 546 total yards. They ran for 264, and Bowling Green had 169 without a single explosive play.

It’s exactly what you wanted to see as a Nebraska fan. Here are three takeaways from the 49-point win.

Anthony Colandrea looks in complete control

Yes, Colandrea threw an interception, but Jacory Barney needs to hold onto the ball. That’s the only turnover-worthy play I can remember, and again, Barney needs to hold onto the ball.

Whether it’s running or passing, getting the team into the right play, the difference between this season and last season is night and day.

Colandrea is firing on all cylinders. Yes, it was against two MAC teams. North Dakota is another warm-up; then the real bullets start flying in Big Ten play. It feels like this team could be better than we thought, mostly because of Colandrea.

The UNLV transfer has played like an All-Big Ten quarterback. If that continues, this team could easily win eight or nine games.

Yes, the Kool-Aid is flowing.

Blackshirts were off the charts

It wasn’t a perfect performance. Nebraska only notched two sacks and a few tackles for loss. The defensive line still concerns me, but man, Husker fans should be impressed by Rob Aurich.

Through two games, Nebraska has allowed two touchdowns. On Saturday against Bowling Green, the Blackshirts didn’t allow a single explosive play, one of 20 yards or more. Bowling Green had a 19-yard gain. Outside of the 68-yard play last week on the blown coverage, Nebraska hasn’t surrendered an explosive play.

The secondary looks elite. If the defensive line can keep improving, the defense might exceed expectations just as the offense has so far this season (52.5 points per game).

An elite running game

Rule only got eight carries. He turned those into 88 yards and a touchdown, thanks to a 59-yard scamper. Five different players had a run of at least 19 yards. Last week all three running backs had at least one rush of 24 yards.

All three of the top running backs averaged at least six yards per attempt against Bowling Green, and the offense did a better job of opening running lanes.

The Huskers gave up one sack and three tackles for loss. They controlled the line of scrimmage, and even though, again, it was two MAC teams, Nebraska is rushing for 259 yards per game.

The offensive line has improved, the running back room is deeper, and the quarterback is better. The wide receivers are, too. That’s why the Nebraska offense feels a lot more explosive than in the past, especially in the running game, which is also part of having a running quarterback.

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