Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule isn’t holding back, openly accusing SEC schools of tampering with his starting quarterback, Anthony Colandrea. This isn’t just some off-hand comment either, Rhule is clearly worried about losing his star signal-caller, a dual-threat phenom who’s been everything the Cornhuskers dreamed of since transferring from UNLV. The stakes? Keeping one of the most exciting young talents in college football on his roster.
The QB Who’s Got Everyone Talking (And Calling)
Colandrea is absolutely lighting it up for Nebraska. The guy has already racked up 1,570 passing yards, slung 14 touchdowns, and completes a solid 62.6% of his passes. But he’s not just a pocket passer, no way. Colandrea’s also tearing it up on the ground with 334 rushing yards and four more touchdowns. Seriously, the kid is pure electricity on the field.
And that’s exactly why Rhule is already sounding the alarm. According to On3, teams are already trying to sign Colandrea for the 2027 season. We’ve seen this movie before, right? Rhule watched Dylan Raiola walk away last offseason, and he is determined to avoid that same fate with Colandrea. He’s specifically shutting down any talk about Colandrea not having enough support, knowing full well what that narrative can do. “I don’t think that’s a good narrative for us to have out there that he doesn’t have enough support,” Rhule said. “I don’t think that’s good for our players. And not good because he’s already got SEC schools calling him. I don’t want Nebraska people to start saying that, because that’s happened before here. We don’t need that now here.” You can practically hear the frustration in his voice, and honestly, who can blame him?
Two Plays Away, But the Calls Keep Coming
Rhule knows the deal, admitting that tampering is “just kind of part of the deal” in today’s college landscape. But he’s not throwing in the towel. He’s confident Colandrea has good players around him and that the team is going to get better. He’s still got the fight in him, too, saying, “Like I said, I think we’re two plays away from being in the big, big conversation. But we’re not out yet, so we’re going to just try to get better this week.”
Nebraska’s season has been a wild ride so far. They kicked things off with a perfect 5-0 record, looking unstoppable. Then, they hit a snag, dropping their last two games by a combined six points. Talk about heartbreaking! They had Oregon and Indiana on the ropes, only to let both games slip away late. Still, Colandrea showed up, scoring a rushing touchdown in both of those nail-biters. Against Indiana, he threw for an impressive 264 passing yards, even against a defense that managed to hold Heisman frontrunner Jeremiah Smith to just 68 receiving yards, his lowest all season. That’s serious talent right there.
The Cornhuskers are currently sitting at 5-2 and have a bye week to regroup. Then it’s a huge test, heading out to face our Washington Huskies on Saturday, October 31. Can they get back in the win column against a formidable foe from the Emerald City? More importantly, can Rhule keep his star QB focused amidst all this noise from the SEC? Every snap counts, and with the big boys of college football always sniffing around, Nebraska has to play every game like their future depends on it. We’ll be watching closely from Seattle!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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