One knock against new quarterback Anthony Colandrea making a major impact on Nebraska’s fortunes this year is that he’s never really been as good as a Power 4 quarterback. But what if, instead of returning to his rather mediocre form from his first two seasons with Virginia, he puts up very similar numbers to what he did last year at UNLV? Should that happen, Erik Skopil of Ducks Territory recently pointed out he’d be the second-best quarterback Oregon faces all season.
Skopil recently looked at every quarterback Dan Lanning’s squad will face in 2026 and ranked them by their 2025 Pro Football Focus ratings. Clearly, there are some flaws relying entirely on this system, especially since guys like Colandrea didn’t face a single Big Ten opponent last fall. Still, the PFF ratings and where they rank Nebraska’s quarterback should be a reminder that the former Mountain West Conference Player of the Year has some serious playmaking abilities.
The new Nebraska quarterback isn’t just the second-best quarterback Oregon will face this season; he’s just barely behind the No. 1 spot, which belongs to Ohio State’s Julian Sayin. The Buckeyes’ signal caller finished 2025 with a 92.9 overall PFF rating. Colandrea ended with an 89.9 rating, which was just ahead of the third-place QB Drew Westemaker’s 88.3. Westmaker is leading a rebuilding Oklahoma State squad in 2026 after posting an impressive rating for North Texas last season.
As for what other quarterbacks are ranked behind Colandrea in regard to the best signal callers Oregon will face this season, the list shows that if the Husker gunslinger can be the true dual-threat weapon offense coordinator Dana Holgorsen is so excited about, NU could end up being quite a bit better than the 6-6 team most analysts believe they’ll top out at:
Anthony Colandrea could change Nebraska football expectations if his UNLV form holds
- Julian Sayin (Ohio State) — 92.9
- Anthony Colandrea (Nebraska) — 89.9 (played at UNLV in 2025)
- Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State) — 88.3 (played at North Texas in 2025)
- Jayden Maiava (USC) — 86.2
- Katin Houser (Illinois) — 84.0 (played at East Carolina in 2025)
- Demond Williams (Washington) — 79.1
- Nico Iamaleava (UCLA) — 72.0
- Bryce Underwood (Michigan) — 69.3
- Maddux Madsen (Boise State) — 68.4
The list is incomplete because the 247Sports writer only included quarterbacks with 250 or more pass attempts in 2025. So Oregon does face quite a few unknowns this coming season. Some of those could be quite a bit better than a guy like Madsen or Underwood in 2026 PFF ratings.
Even with the obvious flaws of basing a list on what someone did last year at another school against very different opponents, the list shows that Nebraska opponents shouldn’t take Colandrea too lightly. Many analysts believe there will be some growing pains as the quarterback adjusts to Power 4 opponents again, but the rating shows what the Huskers’ new signal caller has to offer and why the coaching staff is plenty excited about the possibilities.
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