<\/p>\n
Nebraska\u2019s Anthony Colandrea (10) calls out a play during the game against Washington at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Lincoln.<\/p>\n
Photo by Nathan McCaffery<\/a><\/p>\n Same story, different day.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Here are some takeaways from the 17-10 loss.<\/p>\n Offense couldn\u2019t get it going, again<\/p>\n For a second straight game, Dana Holgorsen\u2019s offense struggled to get points on the board. After getting held to only 14 against Oregon, NU was contained to only 10 points.<\/p>\n Colandrea and company did a fair job at moving the chains in the first half, but Washington\u2019s senior punter Hunter Green pinned the Huskers deep into their own territory several times.<\/p>\n Nebraska\u2019s average start to its drive was at its own 21-yard line, and its average number of plays per drive was only six.\u00a0<\/p>\n With a chance to extend a 7-3 lead to an 11-point lead with 10 minutes left in the game, the Huskers folded.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Colandrea unafraid to launch throws<\/p>\n Nebraska\u2019s senior signal-caller opened up the game with two uncharacteristic interceptions in the offense\u2019s first two drives. However, that didn\u2019t keep him from airing it out the rest of the way.<\/p>\n The offense\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n He finished the game throwing 24-for-44 for 255 yards, but three interceptions ruined the day.<\/p>\n Crowd noise served as 12th man<\/p>\n It was no mystery the effect the blackout crowd would have on the game, and it appeared impactful early and often.<\/p>\n UW ended the first half with five false start penalties. The Huskies reached as far as Nebraska\u2019s 42-yard line, but back-to-back early jumps pushed them back inside their own territory. A promising drive for Jedd Fisch\u2019s squad ended in a punt.<\/p>\n While crowd noise can\u2019t be attributed to every big play, the Huskers made big plays at important times. The defense forced eight punts and three three-and-outs.<\/p>\n The Huskers\u2019 third-down defense continued to shine for a majority of the game. UW\u2019s average yards to go on third down was 9.2 yards. The Blackshirts allowed only one third-down conversion in the first half.<\/p>\n However, when it was all said and done, the noise didn\u2019t result in a win.<\/p>\n Kicker situation needs to get fixed<\/p>\n Yet again, Cunanan couldn\u2019t come up big when the team needed him the most.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s deficit to seven.<\/p>\n However, yet another game was lost, with missed field goals as a major factor.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alex Berry is the Senior Sports Editor at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X at @aberryy13<\/a>.<\/p>\n