Anthony Colandrea threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth while Jamal Rule scored three times in his collegiate debut as Nebraska beat Ohio 49-21 in a nonconference game Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, Neb.
Colandrea, the 2025 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year at UNLV, threw for 275 yards on 18-of-32 passing to avenge his loss to Ohio in last season’s Frisco Bowl. Rule ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and added two receptions for 47 yards and a score.
Rule became the first FBS player to rush for 100 yards and score three TDs in his collegiate debut since UConn’s Nate Hopkins in 2017.
Nebraska ran for 248 yards, its highest total since 2023 and most in a season opener since 2018.
Ohio quarterback Nick Poulos threw for 164 yards and rushed for a team-high 70 yards while accounting for two touchdowns. Riley Neer had a game-high six catches for 104 yards and a score.
Nebraska, which led 14-13 at the half, upped the lead to eight on a 13-yard Colandrea run with 4:41 left in the third quarter. Mekhi Nelson made it 28-13 on a 29-yard run at the 1:17 mark of the third.
The Bobcats cut it to 28-21 with 12:05 left on Poulos’ 1-yard run, then his 2-point pass to Dom Dorwart. Colandrea responded by connecting with Nelson for a 51-yard TD with 9:10 remaining, then the Huskers added two more scores.
Ohio wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, going up 7-0 just 71 seconds into the game on a 4-yard TD catch by Neer two plays after he had a 68-yard catch and run on the game’s first snap. Nebraska matched that score on its opening drive with a 1-yard run by Rule.
The Bobcats kicked a pair of field goals before Rule caught a 24-yard TD pass to give Nebraska the lead for good at the 8:13 mark of the second quarter.