It's not particularly surprising that Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule has stated repeatedly that he trusts his starting quarterback. What seems a little different is just how much he's made it clear that he's tied his fate to the former UNLV signal-caller.
In Year 4 of the Matt Rhule era, "sink or swim" will be determined by if Anthony Colandrea can perform like he did last year. If he can show the same kind of spark that he did when he won the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, the Husker head coach will be able to go on a victory tour of sorts. It will be a big validation of his ability to evaluate talent at a position where he hasn't always had such success.
If Colandrea ends up looking pedestrian, or worse, if he looks anything like Jeff Sims Part Deux, then Rhule could pass hot seat entirely and see the torches and pitch forks pulled out by Nebraska faithful. If his newest transfer quarterback acquisition can't handle the pressure in Lincoln and the defenses in the Big Ten, it's hard to make the argument that anyone in the fan base will be very happy about Year 5 of the Rhule era.
Maybe that's why Rhule rolled out his version of "let Colandrea be Colandrea."
Nebraska football needs Anthony Colandrea to validate Matt Rhule's quarterback gamble
“Do you,” Rhule said on Monday about what he told his starting quarterback . “Be the best version of you. Anthony’s earned my respect and trust; go play… Anthony’s a lion… He’s a winner. He wants to play. He wants to win every play, and I love it. It’s exactly what, if I could draw it up, it’s supposed to look like. A fiery quarterback who plays with passion on his sleeve, and backs it up.”
It's worth pointing out that while Rhule often praised his last starting quarterback, he wasn't anywhere near as animated or effusive when talking about Dylan Raiola. It seems likely that Rhule understands this might be it. If Colandrea has the kind of turnover problems he had with Virginia (20 interceptions to go with just 26 touchdown passes), it will spark quite the fan base revolution in Lincoln.
The good news is that it won't be long at all before we start seeing which Anthony Colandrea Nebraska is going to get. If he struggles against Ohio in the Huskers' home opener, NU could be in for a long season and once the season is over, the talk about whether Matt Rhule deserves to return in 2027 will begin in earnest.
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