It's another win where Nebraska addressed some of the key areas I had concerns about entering the game. However, Big Ten opponents will be much less forgiving of any Husker mistakes.
Nebraska opened its season 3-0 for the third straight year.
It handled a North Dakota program that is a good FCS team but looked overmatched against a Big Ten opponent. It wasn’t the blowout Nebraska delivered against Bowling Green, yet the outcome rarely felt in doubt.
The key area I wanted to watch in the Nebraska matchup with North Dakota was the Blackshirts’ front seven’s ability to force North Dakota to play behind the sticks. They started the game by giving up a successful rush but quickly followed up with a stop on 3rd and 2 (a power-run opportunity) just two plays later. While North Dakota gambled by going for it on 4th down and converting, it was a big stop by the Huskers’ defensive line, which has struggled in those situations against its first two opponents. A Riley Von Poppel sack on the next play would end the Fighting Hawks’ chance to score on the opening drive.
The rest of the game would follow a similar pattern. The Blackshirts held North Dakota to just 21 rushing yards on 26 carries through three quarters. One fact that shouldn’t be lost in this game is that North Dakota ran for more yards against Portland State than Oregon did. As the Huskers turned to the backups in the 4th quarter, the Fighting Hawks moved the ball on the ground more effectively. They padded their rushing total with 78 yards in the 4th quarter alone, leaving them with 99 yards on the day.
North Dakota had just a 35% success rate on standard downs (passing or running), meaning the Nebraska defense did a better job of getting ahead of the sticks. North Dakota managed an early-down (1st or 2nd down) rushing success rate of just 29%. This helps Nebraska get into situations where it knows its opponent has to throw the ball, which gives a better chance of getting off the field.
Winning in Key Moments
The defensive line stepped up as I hoped, winning key plays. They also made their presence felt in critical situations. While Nebraska controlled most of the game, North Dakota had a key opportunity to make things interesting.
Nebraska’s 4th drive was a quick 3-and-out, returning the ball to the Fighting Hawks with just over 5 minutes left in the first half. Nebraska held a two-touchdown lead, and the middle 8* was just a minute away. North Dakota would receive the second-half kickoff. There was a chance Anthony Colandrea wouldn’t take a meaningful snap until the game was tied.
*Middle 8 = the 4 minutes of game time to end the first half plus the 4 minutes to start the second half
Instead, the Blackshirts forced a three-and-out, and Colandrea led Nebraska down the field for a field goal. The opening drive of the second half ended in a three-and-out, and Nebraska scored on a Jamal Rule home run play. Before the second half was 4 minutes old, Nebraska forced another three-and-out. North Dakota saw a brief glimmer of daylight that could have made the game competitive. The Huskers slammed the door on both sides of the ball.
This is how good football is played. Nebraska elevated its play in a high-leverage moment and won the game. Big Ten play will present many more pivotal moments when the game could change than a weak non-conference schedule will. This is a valuable lesson for Nebraska on how to win future games.
Boring but Balanced
The game’s overall tone was sleepy. Nebraska didn’t have the high-flying passing game it showed in the first two games. Methodical drives replaced explosive plays. Of the Huskers’ 10 drives, five used 10+ plays. Three of those five chewed up at least five minutes of the clock. Nebraska entered this game with only four 10+ play drives this season. It was, for all intents and purposes, a boring win. After a decade of finding new and exciting ways to lose, Nebraska should welcome “boring” wins. Nebraska is succeeding at both passing and running, which gives it the ability to win games in multiple ways in conference play.
After three games, I’m happy with how Nebraska is playing. Yes, it was an easy slate, but Nebraska showed signs of improvement in each game. After each of the first two games, I saw a stat I didn’t like about Nebraska’s play, and they improved on it in the next game. The defensive front seven for Nebraska will have to continue to improve as Big Ten play brings much better offensive lines.
There’s still plenty more for Nebraska to improve on. If Nebraska commits penalties as it did in this game against a Big Ten opponent, it may cost the team the game. The most important thing to me through the non-conference schedule is that Nebraska is showing improvement. Nebraska has no guaranteed wins left on its 2026 schedule (Rutgers just showed it could compete with USC). However, I think Nebraska can play well enough to win any game this season, too.
