Matchup To Watch: Indiana’s Defense vs. Nebraska QB Anthony Colandrea

The reigning National Champion Indiana Hoosiers continue their title defense this Saturday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers as both teams look to remain undefeated. This will be the Hoosiers’ second away game of the season and likely represents their toughest test thus far in 2026. Northwestern is a very talented team and was a huge test for IU, but this Nebraska game presents a more difficult challenge. It is a different animal playing away from your home stadium and Lincoln will be rocking. It will be loud as these two teams vie for a top spot in the Big Ten. For the Hoosiers to prevail in such a hostile environment against a very good Nebraska team, they will need to stop opposing quarterback Anthony Colandrea.

Colandrea has been fantastic thus far for the Cornhuskers. Over the first five games of the season (where Nebraska has earned five wins), Colandrea has passed for 1,142 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions with a 65.7% completion percentage. He has been very astute at making intelligent plays with his arm, limiting turnovers, and driving play forward. We saw this last year when Colandrea excelled at UNLV and he seems to have built on his success even further.

However, while there is certainly danger in the passing game from Colandrea, it’s his legs that will be the Hoosiers’ downfall should Nebraska pull off the upset. Last year with UNLV, Colandrea rushed for 649 yards on 5.1 yards per carry and scored 10 rushing touchdowns. This year with Nebraska, he is off to an even more efficient start. He’s rushed for 249 yards on 6.6 yards per carry and has scored 2 rushing touchdowns thus far in 2026. It seems that Colandrea is picking his spots to run much more intelligently this year, which has led to the increase in yards per carry year over year. It helps when you’re also a skilled passer of the football, which as we examined above, Colandrea certainly is.

In total, Colandrea is 8th in the Big Ten in passer rating among quarterbacks and ranks 21st overall in the Big Ten in rushing yards, surrounded by running backs and Colton Joseph of Wisconsin.

Colandrea is capable of wreaking havoc on opposing defense, and the IU defense must be aware of what’s coming. Rushing quarterbacks have largely been the only thorn in Bryant Haines’ side when it comes to weaknesses on the IU defense. The Hoosier defense needs to play their best game of the season this Saturday. Likely, you will see some spies on Colandrea, exotic rushes and stunts, and new plays that are deeper in the playbook which we haven’t seen yet. Indiana’s secondary especially needs to bring their A-game. They will need to break blocks from opposing wide receivers and catch Colandrea early should he decide to bounce a run outside.

If IU is able to contain Colandrea, the Hoosiers should be on their way to a dominant win. If Colandrea runs wild, however, it could be a shootout, and I’m sure Cignetti and company do not want to run into that coin flip.

As always, thanks for reading! Stay locked in with Hoosier Huddle for all things Indiana football – and Indiana sports in general – all season long. Go Hoosiers!