When trying to judge what kind of season Anthony Colandrea could have for the Nebraska football team this season, most people wonder if he can put up the kind of year that earned him the Mountain West MVP, or whether he’ll be the turnover machine he was in two seasons as the starter at Virginia. However, college football analyst J.D. Pickell is looking at things differently. He’s not looking at what the Huskers’ new quarterback can do when everything is even, and the players are going exactly as they’re drawn up.
Pickell, in talking about what Colandrea brings to the table in a recent episode of his podcast, talked more about how the gunslinger can make a difference when he’s playing “off schedule.”
“It's not realistic to think that Nebraska is just going to be able to out-scheme everybody they play. It'd be nice, it'd be ideal, but understand now, like, if scheme is equal, and their personnel is better... You have to find ways to take some ground,” Pickell said about the upcoming season that includes quite a few perennial College Football Playoff teams.
“And to me, that ground you would take is when the play breaks down, they call the right blitz, and you have the wrong protection. Can Anthony Colandrea create something out of nothing? And it sounds kind of cliche, but I just, I think it's the truth. And it's quite frankly, something that Dylan Raiola wasn't doing for you.”
Anthony Colandrea gives Nebraska a chance when they lose presnap. https://t.co/CwWedKOK4M pic.twitter.com/OdRsIQ7DGy
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) June 23, 2026
J.D. Pickell says Anthony Colandrea gives Nebraska football off-schedule ability
“Like, if the DC won pre-snap against Nebraska with pressure, you were not going to be able to get the play started.”
Pickell went out of his way to make it clear that he wasn’t trying to rip on Raiola. He added that he thinks the former Husker quarterback will do well in the right situation and could be a good fit for Oregon. However, he believes that someone who can escape the pressure and run out of the pocket is more the kind of guy the Cornhuskers need this season.
“Colandrea will at least give you a chance when those plays break down. And I'm really excited to see what that looks like, man, because, again, I feel good about what that can mean for their football team.”
The new Nebraska quarterback certainly demonstrated in 2025 that he’s more comfortable trying to make something out of nothing than he has been in the past, especially with his legs. With UNLV, he completed 65% of his passes for 3,459 yards, 23 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. However, he also ran for 649 yards and 10 more scores.
It’s not as though his UNLV coaches just let Colandrea run more. He actually had one fewer carry than he did with Virginia in 2024, but amassed 400 more yards.
Nebraska’s offense has looked almost too buttoned up at times with Dylan Raiola at the helm. He’s looked worried about making a costly mistake and has instead been caught overthinking things. Anthony Colandrea might make more mistakes, but the hope is that he can also make enough big plays - even some that weren’t drawn up how they turned out - that it will have a net positive outcome.
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