Nebraska and Oregon are both looking to bounce back from heartbreaking home losses to unbeaten opponents when they meet in a Big Ten Conference game on Saturday night in Eugene, Ore.
The Ducks (3-2, 1-1) fell 17-15 to then-No. 21 UCLA when a last-second two-point conversion was stuffed, knocking them out of the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since early in the 2022 season. That was at the start of coach Dan Lanning’s tenure at Oregon, where he is 51-10.
Nebraska (5-1, 2-1) lost 20-17 to defending national champion and then-No. 7 Indiana, squandering an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Cornhuskers have dropped 31 consecutive games against ranked opponents, including 10 in a row under fourth-year coach Matt Rhule.
Oregon hopes to have star quarterback Dante Moore, who has been out since suffering a concussion on Sept. 26 at Southern California. He has completed 69.7% of his passes for 926 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions in four games.
Dylan Raiola, who began his career at Nebraska before transferring in the offseason, started against UCLA but was just 6 of 19 for 43 yards with two interceptions before getting replaced by Brock Thomas.
“We’re preparing for all three quarterbacks,” Rhule said. “I think of the next five opponents we’ll face all had a backup quarterback in during the last game.”
Nebraska signal-caller Anthony Colandrea has thrown 13 touchdown passes and run for three scores in six games, while running back Jamal Rule is second in FBS among freshmen with 386 yards. He had 53 against the Hoosiers after missing most of the previous two games due to injury.
“Their quarterback makes it work, he does an unbelievable job of creating plays with his feet,” Lanning said of Colandrea.
This will be the third year in a row Nebraska plays on the West Coast but first time doing so at night. The game will kick off at 10 p.m. Central.
“I’ve never coached a game that late,” Rhule said.