On a balmy Saturday afternoon and evening in East Lansing, the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the Michigan State Spartans 31-13 to move to 4-0 for the first time in a decade. You have to go back to the Bo Pelini era to find the last time the Huskers won in Spartan Stadium (2012). It also marks the first time since 2019 that Nebraska won a Big Ten opener. Conference road games tend to be rock fights, and any away win is cause for celebration. Matt Rhule can attest to that as prior to this game, his Husker teams were only 4-10 away from Memorial Stadium. This game was generally perceived as a must-win for the Huskers in order for them to continue to demonstrate improvement and take another step toward national relevancy. The team delivered.
Despite the step in the right direction, the game was hardly a thing of beauty. Sloppy play, penalties and now injuries are a concern, but the Huskers outlasted and outplayed the Spartans, who may have set a record for the number of injury timeouts in a single contest. Their sideline resembled a MASH unit. The Spartans’ biggest loss was an injury to running back Cam Edwards on MSU’s second possession. Edwards was key to their offensive scheme and with him out of the game, the Spartans netted just 39 rushing yards. Nebraska also lost a running back as Jamal Rule suffered an ankle injury early in the first quarter and Jacory Barney left with an undisclosed injury after losing the ball on a fumble in the second quarter. Hopefully, neither injury is serious.
Both teams scored on drives extended by defensive penalties. The Huskers had a punt blocked but received new life on a defensive holding call and went on to score on a 44-yard Anthony Colandrea bomb where Kwazi Gilmer made a spectacular grab. The Spartans first scoring drive (a 48-yard field goal) was aided by a pass interference call on 3 rd and 11 and then by a defensive holding penalty.
The game featured significant swings in momentum as Michigan State dominated time of possession in the first and third quarters and Nebraska dominated the second and fourth quarters. In fact, after intermission, the Huskers had two punts and a turnover on downs, with just 4 offensive yards when they took possession with 1:27 to play and went on to score on a 12 play 66-yard drive. The difference was that when the Nebraska offense was sputtering, the Blackshirts held MSU to just a field goal in each of their dominant quarters.
Michigan State was successful when they played up-tempo and the defense couldn’t substitute, but the Blackshirts relentless pressure led to six sacks and ten tackles for loss. The other significant factor was a 3-0 Nebraska edge in turnovers as Owen Chambliss and Andrew Marshall each snagged an interception and Donovan Jones strip-sacked the QB and recovered the fumble. Nebraska fumbled twice but one went out of bounds and the other was recovered by center Justin Evans. The Huskers also benefitted from a key replay review reversal when a 23-yard Spartan pass to the Nebraska 8-yard line was negated moving the ball back to the 31 and the threat was ultimately ended with a blocked field goal.
Sep 26, 2026; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Mekhi Nelson (13) runs through a hole during the second quarter at Spartan Stadium. Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Nebraska offense continues to be sparked by the mobility of quarterback Anthony Colandrea who was able to evade pressure and find open receivers, or scramble for significant yardage to extend drives. In fact, Colandrea was the Huskers leading rusher with 66 yards on 10 carries and no tackles for loss. He was also 15 for 27 passing for 212 yards accounting for 278 total yards, the third time in four games he has topped 250 yards of total offense. His elusiveness made it difficult for Spartan defenders and thwarted their defensive strategy, changing the dynamic of the game.
The offense didn’t produce the gaudy numbers that they had against non-conference foes, but still put up 369 yards with 212 through the air and 167 on the ground. It led to two passing touchdowns and two rushing TDs. The Huskers have had at least one rushing and passing touchdown in each game this season, and how about this for a surprising statistic. The last time the Huskers had both a rushing and passing touchdown in each of the first four games was 1999.
With Jamal Rule limited to just 4 yards on 4 carries, Mekhi Nelson garnered 61 yards on 15 carries and Isaiah Mozee added 23 more on 7 carries. With MSU selling out to stop the run, it would have appeared that RPO’s would have been more successful. But the Huskers were able to generate a ground game late in the 4 th as they were able to chew up 5:37 on the clock on an 11-play 71-yard drive that essentially ended any Spartan hope for a comeback.
Nebraska’s Vincent Genatone celebrates his touchdown against Michigan State during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in East Lansing. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Fifth year senior walk-on Vincent Genatone stepped in to be the Huskers short yardage back and was a surprise star as the North Platte native caught a 13-yard TD pass with two seconds left in the first half to give Nebraska a 24-10 lead. It was his first career reception and his first career touchdown. He later added his second touchdown on a 1-yard fourth quarter plunge. One might question the clock management at the end of the first half, but the Huskers pulled it off as no one was expecting Genatone to get the ball on a crossing pattern. Genatone became the third Husker to score both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game this season, joining Mekhi Nelson and Jamal Rule. Remarkably, prior to this year, only three Huskers in the past 10 seasons had a game with both a rushing and receiving touchdown.
With the Blackshirts adding 6 sacks, they now have 15 sacks through four games which puts them on a pace to far exceed the 22 sacks in 13 games last season. Williams Nwaneri had a team-leading and career-high two sacks for -25 yards. Donovan Jones third-quarter strip sack and fumble recovery marked the second straight week Jones has had a sack and it was also the first fumble caused and recovered of his career. Jamir Conn had a sack along with 4 tackles, Dawson Merritt had a sack on MSU’s first possession, and Jahsear Whittington got the final sack. The Spartans lost 52 yards on the sacks and 7 more yards on additional tackles for loss. Riley Van Poppel had one of those tackles for loss and has had at least 1 TFL in every game this season.
Along with his second-quarter interception, Owen Chambliss led the team with a season-high eight tackles. Dwayne McDougle and Victor Evans each added seven stops with Evans nailing two TFLs. After a pass break-up and solid coverage in the first quarter, MSU stayed away from cornerback Andrew Marshall, but then made the mistake of throwing his way again in the fourth quarter and he nabbed his first pick of the season and second of his career.
Special team play was once again a mixed review, but at least there was no holding called on the one punt return Jacory Barney had for 12 yards. Fortunately, Archie Wilson’s blocked punt was negated by a penalty, and he averaged 43.7 on his other 3 punts. Kyle Cunanan converted a 32-yard field goal and is now 3 of 5 through four games. Nyziah Hunter had a nice 18-yard kickoff return when the Spartans kicked off from midfield and Nebraska contained former Husker Kenneth Williams who totaled only 63 yards on four returns. Williams Nwaneri was credited with a blocked field goal in the third quarter when he deflected a 52-yard attempt.
With the Huskers winning by 18 on the road with the offense only playing well for two quarters, it makes one wonder how explosive they could be if they played well for an entire game. The third quarter slump is becoming far too common, and one hopes that Rhule and Company can create a solution. The Big Ten continues to have weekly upsets with Iowa knocking off Michigan on the last play of the game, and Wisconsin surprising Penn State with a 14-point 4 th quarter comeback. Dylan Raiola even shined in leading Oregon to a road win over USC. Next week’s opponent, the Maryland Terrapins, were embarrassed at home 54-3 by UCLA. There are rumors that Terp head coach Mike Locksley might not be at the helm when the team arrives in Lincoln. Nevertheless, the Huskers need to take care of business, clean things up, and attempt to play a complete game next Saturday to move to 5-0. May it be so. Go Big Red!!
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