Huskers Hammer the Flummoxed Falcons as Colandrea Continues to Connect

On a pleasant September evening in Memorial Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers scored early and often and dominated the Bowling Green Falcons 56-7 to move to 2-0 against the Mid-American Conference this year. The Huskers survived a first possession interception, when Jacory Barney allowed a defender to steal the ball from him, and then proceeded to score on their following five possessions of the half. Meanwhile, the defense forced five three and outs and secured an interception in the Falcons first half opportunities. At intermission, Nebraska held a 369 to 46 edge in total yards and had 19 first downs to just a pair for BGU.

In the third quarter, Nebraska was limited to just a single possession that included a 45-yard TD run by Anthony Colandrea that was nullified by a holding penalty on Barney and ended with a missed field goal of 55 yards. The Falcons took advantage of Husker substitutions on defense and controlled the ball for 11:37 and then scored their lone TD on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Huskers only had two possessions in the final quarter, scoring each drive along with getting a defensive touchdown on a strip sack by Malcolm Simpson and a 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Derek Wacker. Punter Archie Wilson rode the pine for the entire contest as Nebraska never had to punt.

Nebraska did what they were supposed to do as a 31-point favorite. They also improved their performance from last Saturday and appeared to play with better pace and precision. Nebraska had 546 yards of total offense, including 264 rushing yards and 282 passing, the second week in a row with more than 500 yards of total offense.

If one if looking for something to complain about it may be that the Huskers had six holding penalties (three on punt returns) and Coach Rhule commented in his presser that officials seem to be putting more emphasis this year on that area. I guess we’ll see whether the Big Ten officials will call more holding on our opponents, which has been a rare sight in recent years. On the other hand, there were no motion penalties on offense or offsides on defense committed this week.

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea completed 20-of-24 passes for 222 yards and four first half passing touchdowns. Of the four incompletions, only one ball was thrown away, and one was a drop. Colandrea is the first Husker quarterback to throw at least three touchdowns in back-to-back games since Tommy Armstrong jr. threw for three TDs in consecutive games against Wyoming and Oregon in 2016. His mobility continues to be an asset as he repeatedly extended plays with his legs, was sacked just once losing but a yard, and he showed some speed on his negated 45-yard scoring run. His TD tosses were on the mark, and his receivers helped him with a couple of highlight reel receptions. The kid plays with a kind of enthusiasm that is contagious and he’s not afraid to call out his teammates if necessary.

TJ Lateef led the reserves on a 12 play 79-yard scoring drive in the 4th quarter going 6 for 8 passing for 60 yards and running twice for 22 more. He demonstrated that he remains a very capable backup should he need to spell Colandrea at some point in the season.

Jacory Barney Jr. led the receiving corps by nabbing eight passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including seven catches for 104 yards and two TDs before halftime. He had a 35-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring where he was all alone and he ran a great route for a 32-yard TD catch in the second quarter. With his receiving yards Saturday, Barney increased his career receiving total to 1,106 yards. Kwazi Gilmer also had a pair of touchdown catches, both coming before halftime. The second TD was a laid out 5-yard diving grab with a foot drag on the edge of the endzone. This was Gilmer’s first career game with two receiving touchdowns. He finished the game with six catches for 39 yards. Kwinten Ives had his first career receiving touchdown on a 6-yard grab from Lateef to complete the scoring. In all, ten receivers had at least one catch in the game.

Jamal Rule again led the rushers with 8 carries for 88 yards including a 59-yard scoring burst that featured outstanding seal blocks by Janiran Bonner and Jacory Barney. Rule sat out the second half as started to tighten up and Rhule chose to protect him accordingly. The other two parts of the running back threesome also had 8 carries a piece with Isaiah Mozee netting 55 yards and Mekhi Nelson adding 48 yards along with 34 yards receiving. Nine different runners carried the ball including reserves Conor Booth, who had a 9-yard run up the middle, and Vincent Genatone, who converted a crucial 3rd down with a 4-yard gain.

On defense, 27 players contributed to the stat sheet led by cornerback Andrew Marshall and safety Dwayne McDougle who had seven stops each with Marshall also having a TFL. This was McDougle’s first career start for the Huskers. Donovan Jones recorded his second career interception in the first quarter, on a pass tipped by Williams Nwaneri. Jones also recorded 5 tackles including a TFL and had a very solid game. Dexter Foster also added five tackles with a TFL but missed badly on the one BGU scoring play. Jamir Conn and Malcolm Simpson each had a sack with the latter causing the fumble that Derek Wacker recovered for a score. Riley Van Poppel and Dawson Merritt both deserve being mentioned for their solid play and even though Owen Chambliss was only credited with four tackles, his leadership on the field seemed to help the defense play faster and more fearless.

Special teams were probably a net positive despite the three holding penalties. Quinn Clark blocked a punt in the third quarter and Nyziah Hunter returned a kickoff to the 40 in the fourth quarter. Kyle Cunanan came up short on a 55-yard field goal as he popped it up as opposed to driving it deep, but he easily converted 8 extra points. Barney had four punt returns for 12 yards and Clark had an 11-yard return. Kickoff coverage was solid, highlighted by a nice play by Pierce Mooberry.

Nebraska has now won their first two games for the third straight year. It would be more significant if they hadn’t. As mentioned at the top, the Huskers did what they were expected to do in dominating BGU. The same can’t be said for fellow Big Ten teams on the schedule like Oregon, losing to Okie State as a 21-point favorite, or Illinois, losing to Duke as a 6.5-point favorite, or Ohio State, blowing a 20-point lead in the 4thquarter to lose to Texas. Blowout wins are not guaranteed, and Nebraska best not look past next week’s FCS opponent, North Dakota, who defeated Portland State Saturday 47-23 and has scored 151 points in going 3-0. One game at a time. Just keep getting a bit better each week. The schedule will get tougher with each game going forward. Enjoy the ride and Go Big Red!!!

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