Nebraska’s Anthony Colandrea (10) calls out a play during the game against Washington at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Lincoln.
Same story, different day.
For the third straight game, the Huskers collapse in the fourth quarter. Even better yet, a second-string quarterback led its team to victory two games in a row.
The Huskers had several chances to close the game out, but a 12-play, 81-yard drive led by junior backup quarterback Demond Williams Jr. gave the Huskies their first lead of the game with under two minutes left in the game. NU had a chance to come back and tie it, or even better, win it, but Nebraska senior QB Anthony Colandrea threw a pick-six.
Here are some takeaways from the 17-10 loss.
Offense couldn’t get it going, again
For a second straight game, Dana Holgorsen’s offense struggled to get points on the board. After getting held to only 14 against Oregon, NU was contained to only 10 points.
Colandrea and company did a fair job at moving the chains in the first half, but Washington’s senior punter Hunter Green pinned the Huskers deep into their own territory several times.
Nebraska’s average start to its drive was at its own 21-yard line, and its average number of plays per drive was only six.
With a chance to extend a 7-3 lead to an 11-point lead with 10 minutes left in the game, the Huskers folded.
After marching down to the Washington 5-yard line, a delay-of-game penalty and an 8-yard sack led to senior kicker Kyle Cunanan missing a 36-yard field goal.
Colandrea unafraid to launch throws
Nebraska’s senior signal-caller opened up the game with two uncharacteristic interceptions in the offense’s first two drives. However, that didn’t keep him from airing it out the rest of the way.
The offense’s third drive of the game, Colandrea led his group to a 10-play, 95-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a 24-yard touchdown to junior tight end Carter Nelson. On third-and-2 with an empty backfield, Colandrea zipped the ball to the side of the end zone where the junior tight end from Ainsworth, Nebraska, snagged it and kept a foot in.
Colandrea ended the first half having completed 12-of-23 passes for 131 yards, with several of those incompletions being deep shots. That narrative stayed consistent in the second half.
He finished the game throwing 24-for-44 for 255 yards, but three interceptions ruined the day.
Crowd noise served as 12th man
It was no mystery the effect the blackout crowd would have on the game, and it appeared impactful early and often.
UW ended the first half with five false start penalties. The Huskies reached as far as Nebraska’s 42-yard line, but back-to-back early jumps pushed them back inside their own territory. A promising drive for Jedd Fisch’s squad ended in a punt.
While crowd noise can’t be attributed to every big play, the Huskers made big plays at important times. The defense forced eight punts and three three-and-outs.
The Huskers’ third-down defense continued to shine for a majority of the game. UW’s average yards to go on third down was 9.2 yards. The Blackshirts allowed only one third-down conversion in the first half.
However, when it was all said and done, the noise didn’t result in a win.
Kicker situation needs to get fixed
Yet again, Cunanan couldn’t come up big when the team needed him the most.
After his costly missed field goal, Cunanan falls below .500 in field goal percentage. A fairly strong 2025 campaign when he kicked 16-for-19 is now turning into a possible lost job.
Senior backup kicker and kickoff specialist John Hohl got his shot in the final minute of the game and provided with a 42-yarder to cut Nebraska’s deficit to seven.
However, yet another game was lost, with missed field goals as a major factor.
What’s next?
Nebraska will hit the road for a Friday night showdown against Illinois at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised on Fox.
Alex Berry is the Senior Sports Editor at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X at @aberryy13.