After Anthony Colandrea ran for more yards and ran more often against Michigan State than he has all season, it's no surprise that questions came up during head coach Matt Rhule's Monday press conference about how Colandrea can protect himself from injury and how the coaches are approaching the issue.
The short answer from Rhule was the correct one. He said that there really isn't a way to do that. Quarterbacks are told to slide to avoid injury, but even that requires presence of mind in the heat of battle. For the Husker quarterback, sliding also goes against how he likes to play the game.
"Before he got here, he had slid three times in three years," Rhule said with a smile. The comment was rather obviously an allusion to the fact that even if the Nebraska coaches preach that he needs to give himself up in order to avoid taking a big hit that knocks him out of the game. However, Rhule also explained that no matter what he does, whether he slides or runs out of bounds, there's no way to guarantee that Colandrea avoids injury.
"... You know, obviously he got hit by the sideline on the one where he had already stepped out, and the whistle had blown. So I don't you know, it's kind of a tough one for him."
Matt Rhule accepts injury risk as Anthony Colandrea becomes bigger part of Nebraska football run game
"But it's just not the way this kid plays," Rhule added. "So I'd love it if he would get down and slide, but he's a competitor. So we'll work on it with him. But at the same time, we also like when he makes guys miss and challenges that presents. And then I pray that, I hope that Dante Moore is okay. I mean, I'll say sliding is not always the safest thing either, right?
Rhule was referring to Saturday night when Oregon quarterback Dante Moore went into a slide and was drilled in the head by a USC defender. The hit was declared targeting, and the Trojan was ejected, but Moore lay on the ground for several minutes before he was transported to the hospital.
Rhule went on to say that because sliding isn't natural for Colandrea, it can lead to a more serious injury than if he just takes the kind of hit he's used to, bouncing off and getting up for the next play.
To Colandrea's credit, he carried the ball plenty for UNLV in 2025. He rushed for 127 times for 649 yards and 10 touchdowns. As it turns out, he carried the ball one fewer time last season than he did in 2024 with the Virginia Cavaliers. That season, he tallied 128 carries for just 277 yards.
So far this year, he has 28 rushes for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns. While he's on pace for just 84 carries, it stands to reason that the number of times he runs the ball will increase now that Nebraska needs him to gain more yards on the ground. That was underlined on Saturday when he ran 10 times for 60 yards. It's just the second time this year he's had more than 4 rushes.
Obviously, Colandrea getting through 2025 without a major injury doesn't mean he'll do it again in 2026. However, while Rhule and his Nebraska staff are aware that their quarterback might suffer an injury at some point this fall, it's a bridge they'll cross when they come to it.
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