Kenny Larabee, NRG Media
Nebraska football closed non-conference play with a dominant 34-7 victory over North Dakota Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Cornhuskers were 3-0 through non-conference and grabbed their 11th straight non-conference win dating back to 2023.
The Fighting Hawks entered the game No. 6 in FCS with three blowout wins over fellow FCS schools and Nebraska players and coaches were effusive in their praise of North Dakota in the week leading up to the game. But any thoughts that UND would hang around in the game were extinguished when the Huskers marched 10 plays, 75 yards on the opening drive of the game. Anthony Colandrea capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to put the Huskers on the board. The Fighting Hawks picked up a fourth down on their first drive. But a sack by Riley Van Poppel on the very next play sidetracked the drive and UND had to punt, though the Hawks pinned the Huskers at their 10.
Nebraska methodically marched down the field, picking up a fourth down near midfield on a Jacory Barney, Jr., jet sweep. After a Jamal Rule run for nine yards, Colandrea connected with Kwazi Gilmer for 27 yards take it to the 14. Two Rule runs later pushed the Huskers’ lead to 14-0 with 54 seconds to go in the first quarter.
The score stayed 14-0 NU until late in the second quarter, when Nebraska drove from its 15 to the North Dakota 14. Kyle Cunanan nailed a 32-yard field goal to push the Huskers’ lead to 17-0 just before halftime. After forcing a three-and-out from the Fighting Hawks on the opening drive of the second half, Rule bolted 55 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 24-0 just over a minute into the third quarter. North Dakota got on the board with a three-yard touchdown pass from Jerry Kaminski to Caleb Goodloe with 5:49 to play in the third quarter, cutting Nebraska’s lead to 24-7.
The Huskers took the ball at their 25, then moved into North Dakota with a 29-yard pass from Colandrea to Barney. After converting a fourth down, Colandrea threw a strike to the back of the end zone and Quinn Clark for a 5-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 31-7 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Nebraska added a field goal late in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 34-7.
Colandrea was nearly as efficient running the Huskers’ offense Saturday as he was last week, when he was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. He was 15-for-21 through the air for 195 yards and a touchdown. Rule rushed for 119 yards, nearly eight yards a carry, on 15 attempts with two touchdowns. 11 different Huskers caught passes, led by Kwazi Gilmer, who made three catches for 42 yards. And the Blackshirts, who have faced mild criticism for not getting pressure on the quarterback in the first two games, had five sacks and six tackles for loss. Kaminski was 9-for-18 for 106 yards and a touchdown to lead the UND offense.
Nebraska now shifts gears to conference play, as the Huskers open Big Ten action and hit the road for the first time this season Saturday at Michigan State. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at noon on KLIN and Froggy 98.