Nebraska football has all the pieces for an electrifying offense

Nebraska football was supposed to take a dramatic step forward the past two seasons, thanks to the play of five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola.

Of course, things didn’t work out that way. The Huskers were better in 2025, ranking 59th in scoring offense. That was a large improvement from 2024, when Nebraska football was 97th. Matt Rhule’s program was 123rd back in 2023, but we can all remember the quarterback situation.

Over the past four seasons combined, Nebraska has ranked a combined 112th in the FBS in scoring. That’s on explanation for the 22-28 record in that timespan.

Raiola was an upgrade. The pieces around him weren’t quite good enough, and he was too young to make the players around him a whole lot better.

Oregon will be better for Raiola like Anthony Colandrea will be better for Nebraska. The Huskers needed someone who can make something out of nothing — someone who has a little magic.

That’s not enough for the Huskers to take a big leap forward in production, though. Picking up more third downs will help. Being better in the red zone, because running the quarterback is an option, while also making life easier on the running backs, the offensive line, and the play caller because a QB who can run the zone read, and actually run a true RPO offense is a lot more difficult to defend.

All that helps. Colandrea brings all those benefits. Nebraska has benefits of its own, like talent, the kind of which the Huskers haven’t had, at least not in the Rhule era, not when you weigh in the experience factor.

The Huskers invested in fixing their offensive line, adding three players from the portal with nearly 60 combined starts. Nebraska added a two-year starter from UCLA at wide receiver, retained its most talented pass catchers, and also avoided having its two future NFL offensive lineman, Justin Evans and Elijah Pritchett poached.

Anthony Colandrea won’t have to do it all for Nebraska football

Colandrea might be the best quarterback Nebraska has had since Adrian Martinez. There are similarities, but also one big difference: Colandrea doesn’t have to do it all. He has two running backs, who combined for 216 yards in the Las Vegas Bowl last season (eight yards per touch), with a promising 215-pound freshman to boot.

You have Quinn Clark and Cortez Mills, players who combined for four receptions of more than 31 yards last season, due to breakout with more opportunities. The running game might even be more productive, even without Emmett Johnson.

The Huskers are talented. They are experienced, and most of the team knows the system. Colandrea is learning it, and he fits it better than Raiola. Dana Holgorsen even adopted some of what UNLV did last season to make the transition easier.

A better offense doesn’t mean a bunch more wins. This season will be difficult. Seven or eight wins would be an achievement. But this offense will be fun to watch, and my gut tells me that it will average over 30 points for the first time in the Matt Rhule era.

Regardless of where that ranks among FBS offenses, that feels like it would be a notable step forward, especially with the difficulty of the opponents.

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