As we kind of look now into the meat of this schedule, your, your take on this offensive line as they're gonna obviously need to hold up to kind of keep that offense going.

You know, I've seen some criticism of those guys, and I think they've been a little bit unsettled at the guard spot.

Um, maybe some inconsistency there and, and- Um, they're working through that.

I mean, is it a finished product? No.

I definitely think there's benefit for offensive lines in general to have experience playing together, and, you know, that's the, that was the knock on this group coming in.

I think the biggest question about this group coming in as an offensive line was the fact that they had three new pieces out of their top six, and, and how was it all gonna mesh.

Uh, there were some times on, on, uh, Saturday against Indiana, considering what Indiana had, had on the defensive front, where I thought they held up pretty well.

Right

Um, how do you think they use that headed forward into Oregon?

Yeah, it's interesting to hear, uh, from Matt Rhule yesterday and the coordinators and the players today, and hear about [sighs] an angry team.

Uh, that was one of my top takeaways from Rhule yesterday.

Um, you know, and then the players today, it was a mature approach, um, I thought Hearing from Rob Aurich for the first time after a loss and to see the way that he handled that with his comments was telling.

Um, continue to think that Orich is somebody that's the right fit for Nebraska with its defensive mindset and matching what Matt Rhule wants with this, uh, this Nebraska defense.

Obviously, they had a couple of big busts and one key miscommunication in the fourth quarter that proved very costly.

But, you know, take that with the knowledge that he's implementing this system right now, and that was the first game, that-- the first time in this system with this coach, with this coaching staff, that they've been put in a moment like that.

What version of this Husker team do you get?

Because it is so volatile, but because you get that good, it really can raise your offense in those moments.

Yeah, it's an X factor, and Nebraska's missed it in the years where it hasn't had a quarterback who could do those kinds of things.

And sometimes even when Nebraska's had a quarterback who could do the things in the run game, scramble or the designed runs that, that Colandrea did on Saturday, it, it di- he wasn't able to, to throw the ball with the kind of precision that we saw from him, not the entire game, but for good chunks of the game.

So that, yeah, that takes your...

That, we've seen Nebraska offenses before when they went against the, some of the best defensive teams in the country, and it just looked like such a, an incredible slog.

Like, it was a, it was a challenge to get a first down.

And you're like, "How is this team gonna score?" I never really felt like that.

Yeah.

If that happens on Saturday, can Nebraska overcome that lull? Can they afford for things to slow down?

Yeah, I, I don't think that there are many teams out there in any given week that play a, a full 60 minutes of, of just, you know, pedal to the floor football.

And part of the reason that Nebraska's experienced a lull, like I look at the third quarter offensively against Michigan State, is because, you know, you've got a capable opponent on the other side.

You know, Maryland came out with some energy and does have some playmakers.

You saw Chris Durr.

Malik Washington's legit.

Like he's a real playmaker.

Point of emphasis.

Yeah.

He got hurt, um, on the last play of the first quarter in East Lansing, and the next two backs in are good players.

Um, and, and they're, they're both r- you know, returning contributors, minor contributors with Emmett Johnson handling most of the load last year.

But, uh, Jamal Rule's absence over these past seven quarters has, has he- made the load more heavy in the run game on Colandrea.

And I don't think that's a direction that Nebraska wants to go.

I think Nebraska wants to, to dial up a few QB runs, let him scramble when, when there's nothing there in the pass game.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you like Nebraska's chances more in a, a higher scoring affair, a shootout type game on Saturday, or if Nebraska's able to keep it low scoring, do they have a better chance?

I mean, initially I would probably answer that and say low scoring, but I don't know that I feel like either one of them necessarily favors one team over the other.

Uh, uh, if, if you get it into kind of a wild game, you know, kind of what Maryland was trying to do to Nebraska last week, just get into a game where who knows what's gonna happen? Th- that possibly could be a, a recipe for Nebraska's success.

But I don't think Indiana's gonna allow that to happen.

They're too disciplined and, and that's just not the style that, that they, they play.

They've been in one or two of those games in the, in the Cignetti era, but largely if, if Indiana's not out there controlling the type of game that's being played, you know, they're at least breaking even in their, in their attempt.

And rarely do you find a spot where the game is dictated completely by the opponent, and it's a sign of just a really well-drilled and fundamentally sound football team.

Right.

Is that something, do you think Cignetti's still able just to, to pull out, or is he, is he a different coach now after winning the national championship and maybe there's a different program philosophy that when you're getting ready for a game like this, a big noon kickoff at Nebraska, that they just won't have that same type of killer mentality like they did a few years ago?

I don't know about that last part.

I do think that they'll have a killer mentality.

I think that's built into Indiana.

Like, it didn't change, it didn't change Alabama when they won one title or two titles or three titles.

They still were every bit as hungry as the, the previous years, and Cignetti, w- it, it, it remains to be seen if, if he can sustain it in, in...

A- and, you know, nobody's gonna repeat what Alabama did with Nick Saban and winning six national championships, but, uh, can, can he sustain this, like, multiple years where they are seemingly always the, the hunter, uh, instead of the, the hunted? And I don't know.

Mitch, how different is Nebraska's demeanor through five games this season to where you've seen them the past few iterations under Rule?

Is that something, do you think Signetti's still able just to, to pull out, or is he, is he a different coach now after winning the national championship? And maybe there's a different program philosophy that when you're getting ready for a game like this, a big noon kickoff at Nebraska, that they just won't have that same type of killer mentality like they did a few years ago?

ago?I don't know about that last part.

I do think that they'll have a killer mentality.

I think that's built into Indiana.

Like, it didn't change, it didn't change Alabama when they won one title or two titles or three titles.

They still were every bit as hungry as the, the previous years.

And Cignetti, w- it, it, it remains to be seen if, if he can sustain it in, in...

Mitch, how different is Nebraska's demeanor through five games this season to where you've seen them the past few iterations under Rule?

How similar do you think this version of Indiana is to the team that went 16 and 0, won the national title, or even the one that Nebraska took on in 2024? Obviously some of the core pieces have moved on, but then they went and they got some really important transfers as well.

Yeah.

And they've been able to do better in the transfer portal the more that they've won.

So each year with Signetti has been an upgrade in their ability to spend and attract talent from the portal, and you can definitely see it this year with a player like Nick Marsh.

You know, that's somebody who would've gone to Michigan or Penn State, uh, if he'd been on the market a couple of years ago, and here he is at Indiana, and there are some others too.

So, you know, I really think that the, the, um, the battle that they've won legally to, in the courts or with the NCAA to get, uh, Steven Daly eligible and, you know, it's not just, there, there's, there's, they have, um, they have great strength at the line of scrimmage.

For sure on the defensive line, and, and looking at their rushing numbers, um, you know, I, I think on the offensive line as well.

It was more of how Nebraska approached it that night, right? They had a, they had a desperation, and they had a confidence that they felt like they could and should win that game, and I wonder how, i- if there's any parts of that that they can sort of achieve, whether it's in the stands or on the field on Saturday.

Do you see that as a situation Saturday for Nebraska? Thanks for joining us.

Yeah, good to talk to you.

Maybe those things will balance each other out.

Maybe you have danger on both sides.

You're coming off an emotional win, so you're ripe for a letdown maybe.

And it's emotional just because it was the first time on the road, the first time in the Big Ten, the first time... together for a lot of these players.

I mean, so many of the starters are really in their first years of doing this at Nebraska.

In your words, what do you think, after four games, the identity of this team is?

A couple days later, as you think about that game and Nebraska's 18-point win against Michigan State, having had a chance to hear a couple times now from Matt Rule, what's kind of your biggest takeaway, aside from just getting a win on the road, Mitch, what's kind of your biggest takeaway of what you saw from Nebraska out there in East Lansing?

You know what I think it is? I saw some video this morning of Nebraska's defensive prowess on the sacks of Michigan State quarterbacks, and not every one of them and not every one of the six was this outstanding, incredible play by the Nebraska defense, but several of them were.

Like Williams-Wanary's sack of Cam Fancher, definitely Donovan Jones' sack, of Milivojevic.

Whittington starting in the middle and going around the end and getting to Milivojevic from the backside.

Those three plays, Dawson Merritt also on the first series coming up the middle, those plays right there all by fast improving members of this Nebraska defense who are in either their first years in the program or their first years as like truly leader-type players.

Like Donovan Jones has been a big piece in the past, but he's definitely in a stepped-up role this year.

That was some really impressive individual play

I figured.

Not saying Michigan State would have won by 18 points, but I think more people would have wanted to stay for the fourth quarter.

Yeah, he makes that much of a difference.

And, you know, I just think Nebraska's overall depth.

This is a fourth-year program.

And, you know, Pat Fitzgerald is going to build that at Michigan State, like we've seen his track record.

And I understand he struggled at the end of Northwestern.

But over the course of his time there, like, he's going to build that kind of culture.

But even Nebraska basketball being so good last year, does that impact the patience level pro or con toward football?

Not saying Michigan State would have won by 18 points, but I think more people would have wanted to stay for the fourth quarter.

Yeah, he makes that much of a difference.

And, you know, I just think Nebraska's overall depth.

This is a fourth-year program.

And, you know, Pat Fitzgerald is going to build that at Michigan State, like we've seen his track record.

And I understand he struggled at the end of Northwestern.

But over the course of his time there, like, he's going to build that kind of culture.

But even Nebraska basketball being so good last year, does that impact the patience level pro or con toward football?

Are they just balling out who's the better of the two? Just why should I be so scared right now?

Yeah, they really do different things.

And they've emerged as Nebraska's one and two.

Going into the season, if you'd have asked me who was going to be the wide receiver one, I probably would have been just as – Just as likely to say Nysiah Hunter.

Nysiah Hunter emerged last season as a transfer from Cal as the most explosive wide receiver on the roster.

And that was a team that had Dane Key, who's now gone.

He was at Kentucky.

It's going great so far three games in, but over at Nebraska, thumbs up or thumbs down for special teams? How are we feeling about that?

remember him shattering a backboard.

Yep, Texas Tech.

Played a long time in the NBA.

This is the landmark moment for Fred Hoiberg to win out on a recruit that they've been after for a long, long time.

And this is next year, like a year from now.

When Nebraska basketball is starting practice, you know, you're going to be talking about this guy as a freshman.

So there's a little bit more immediate payoff than for like a Trey Taylor when he committed to Nebraska football seemingly years ago.

Mitch, when it comes to Saturday, we were touching on this before break and How big a game does Saturday feel? Is it just, all right, it's the conference opener, time to take a step forward for Coach Rule and his squad in 2026? Or is it bigger than that with, you know, year four of Matt Rule on the road against, you know, three games into the Fitz era at Sparty? What's the weight of this one Saturday?

Mitch, where do you think Nebraska has grown the most from week one to week three?

I think they're confident about their offense.

I'll start there.

I think that they feel like they've been able to do really what they want offensively.

Anytime I think you start a season and you're doing something new with new pieces like Calandria, like the running backs that Nebraska has, a goal that you want to set is is to be balanced and if you can't be balanced because the way to win is to throw for four times as many yards as you run for it then that's fine and you'll live with that for sure and you'll be happy to walk away with a w but If you can do it and you can be balanced, then that gives you the best opportunity because then you can go to whatever you need to go to when the time is right.

Like if it's third and three, you have every option in front of you, or third and four.

And to see them sitting through three games at 260 yards roughly, like give or take five yards, rushing the ball and passing the ball, and to be doing both of those things efficiently and limiting turnovers, Like that shows a lot of growth.

So, like, there's sort of this weird dichotomy of our respect for Pat Fitzgerald, our understanding of what Northwestern has historically been as a football program, but what the most recent results that we have from him as a head football coach in the Big Ten are.

Mitch, where do you think Nebraska has grown the most from week one to week three?

I think they're confident about their offense.

I'll start there.

I think that they feel like they've been able to do really what they want offensively.

Anytime I think you start a season and you're doing something new with new pieces like Calandria, like the running backs that Nebraska has, a goal that you want to set is is to be balanced and if you can't be balanced because the way to win is to throw for four times as many yards as you run for it then that's fine and you'll live with that for sure and you'll be happy to walk away with the w but If you can do it and you can be balanced, then that gives you the best opportunity because then you can go to whatever you need to go to when the time is right.

Like if it's third and three, you have every option in front of you, or third and four.

And to see them sitting through three games at 260 yards roughly, like give or take five yards, rushing the ball and passing the ball, and to be doing both of those things efficiently and limiting turnovers, That shows a lot of growth.

So, like, there's sort of this weird dichotomy of our respect for Pat Fitzgerald, our understanding of what Northwestern has historically been as a football program, but what the most recent results that we have from him as a head football coach in the Big Ten are.

We spent a lot of time, and I'm sure you spent a lot of time writing about it, thinking about it, talking about it, answering questions about it, through three games... what is the biggest thing that you've noticed with Nebraska's offensive line so far in 2026, uh, relative to what you watched in 2025? They

can move better.

And last year, I think that was just a real issue with Turner Corcoran and, and, um, you know, they just had, they had older veteran players who had been through it, but it also been through a lot of injuries and, and, um, We're not at, they're more athletic this year.

They're more, they're more versatile.

You know, there's still questions probably about their – there definitely are questions this year.

In Michigan State's a team a year ago with this defensive coordinator, Joe Rossi, and they made a head coaching change, but he's still there, who got after the Nebraska quarterback in a big-time way.

And that was a win for Nebraska, but it was right in the middle of the stretch where there were all kinds of issues with the offensive line.

Three games in to Anthony Calandria's Nebraska career, has he largely been what you thought Nebraska would be getting? Has there been any difference in what Nebraska has received so far? Where are you at sort of with Calandria and how he's looked, obviously, through this non-conference schedule?

They look pretty explosive.

Yeah, I think it's a couple things with the QB.

I mean, it's more than the QB.

It's the offensive line.

It's what they've been getting done with the running backs.

It's the all-around game of Luke Lindenmeier.

It's the experience and, you know, I think great motivation that the wide receivers have and how Quasi Gilmer has upped the standard for that group, but...

And you see that joyfulness permeate out through the rest of the offense whenever, I mean, from little things mundane, picking up a fourth and one to those big plays over the top, just feels like this whole offensive unit is so joyful in the way they play football.

I, I'm not sure.

Maybe, and I think some of that's just the nature of actually getting to see your team.

You know, there was so much through the off season of remembering the last time that Nebraska played or the last three times that Nebraska played, and then the uncertainty of, "Oh, yeah, we've heard this story before about how they recruited this quarterback out of the portal," and, you know, he put up some nice numbers at a, at a different school, but there's some uncertainty and was this really their first choice? How did this all come together? They're putting a nice spin on it with what they say in the spring and in the summer and in camp.

Uh, you know, we've heard them talk a lot, and that's, that's kind of been the, um, you know, it's been the storyline with, with Matt Rhule or the, or the, um, you know, the comeback from, from fans here in this off season is, like, "Go do it and don't talk about it.

Don't say it.

We want to see it." And now you've seen a little bit of it, and maybe it just looks as good as what w- what the expectation was or slightly better than what the expectation was.

But I think that's enough to get people excited because at least they've been able to turn the page from, from talking season and, and then from the, the, the, the bitter taste at the end of 2025.

Best quarterback.

But the front six-slash-seven issues is what I'm interested in seeing take a step this next week, and then they need to be at a certain level by conference time.

I don't think it's, I don't think that there's that much of a silver lining with Owen Chambliss being out.

Um, maybe if he had played in Nebraska for a couple of years, you would say, Hey, just want him healthy for the big 10, but he, he's played in this defense.

He's played, he's played for Rob Orich, but he hasn't played with these players and hasn't played in the stadium and, and obviously hasn't played in the big 10.

So the sooner the ready to go, I think the better.

Now, I mean, if it's not disastrous, if he misses another game, but you know, you know, we saw it, we've seen it with players historically, Clinton Ives was, was in this spot last year, the running back, who I think was primed to, to be in the mix, you know, obviously Emma Johnson took that thing over and Clinton's health probably wasn't going to make a difference there, but he, he, he had that same kind of injury, a hamstring injury.

And it happened earlier in camp to Ives than it did to, to Chambliss this year.

bringing the kitchen sink, but you would hope they didn't need to bring the kitchen sink or do what they had to do in that second half, but they did.

Mitch, as you're going through this game, Is it too early to feel like you learned anything about Nebraska? You mentioned sort of the finishing games in the fourth quarter, but what are some things that you looked at and you go, okay, I feel like I know this that I didn't know before?

It's more offensive than defensive.

I think there's still a lot of questions about the defense.

And they were pretty basic.

I wasn't really all that impressed with their ability to rush the passer.

And it was a mobile quarterback, so you've got to do it a little bit different.

But it's Nebraska against Ohio.

Somebody else is going to get a shot.

defensive.

I think there's still a lot of questions about the defense.

And they were pretty basic.

I wasn't really all that impressed with their ability to rush the passer.

And it was a mobile quarterback, so you've got to do it a little bit different.

But it's Nebraska against Ohio.

Nebraska should look like it's winning more often than not when it's trying to get after that QB, and that wasn't always the case.

Do you feel like that those are things that are super easy to correct moving into the second week and through the rest of the season? Or is it something that maybe Nebraska knew about it coming into this first week and are like, hey, this is going to take a little bit more time for us to get comfortable or just clean up those simple issues?

Oh, it looked incredible

incredibleSo cool.

So cool.

And even if it had been evenly distributed, let's say that you brought four schools in and all of them had 25% of the fans.

Yeah, I mean, being from Nebraska and knowing, like, the lore of Nebraska fans, especially recently with basketball and, and what's happened in the last year, um, on top of it always happening with football over decades.

Like to- and, and it's happened with volleyball before too, and then that's a big story, a big part of, like, why Nebraska volleyball is so prominent right now nationally.

Internationally, I suppose you could e- you could even say, is that the fan, the fan following is, is...

Any concern about, uh, about the penalties and, like, what that picture could look like going forward? Um, or do you chalk it up to game one stuff?

Well, Mitch, to live just in fantasy world here, because I know you're trying to keep the weight off, define to me your ideal football meal, whether it's at home, whether it's at the stadium, the type of cheat meal that you envision whenever you go to a football game, or maybe you're just watching the Chiefs on your couch.

Yeah, I mean...

I think of the super bowl and that's, you're going to, you have to indulge on the super bowl, right? I mean, I want, I want like some nacho cheese dip in the crock pot with some, some good, good tortilla chips.

I want, I want all the, the, the, the good super bowl foods.

I mean, barbecue, I think is a great way to go.

Mexican is a great way to go.

You've already got the the beginnings of that with the nachos as like the table setter.

But anything you're like absolutely shocked by or not so much?