Anthony Colandrea went 15 of 27 passing for 212 yards and two touchdowns to lead Nebraska to a 31-13 win at Michigan State in a Big Ten opener for both on Saturday.
Colandrea also rushed for 66 yards on 10 carries for Nebraska (4-0, 1-0), which forced three Michigan State turnovers and didn’t turn the ball over once on offense.
Nebraska outgained Michigan State 369-257 and held a 157-39 advantage in rushing yards to win its Big Ten opener for the first time since 2019.
Alessio Milivojevic went 18 of 26 passing for 208 yards and an interception for Michigan State (2-2, 0-1), which dropped its second straight and lost for the first time at home this year.
Nebraska led for most of the game, going up 31-13 with 10:05 remaining in the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by Vincent Genatone, which finished off a 13-play, 66-yard drive that took 6:22 off of the clock.
Leading 17-10 late in the first half, Nebraska took a 24-10 lead with two seconds left until halftime on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Colandrea to Genatone, who took a dump pass in the middle of the field and raced to the corner of the end zone before time expired to end the half.
After Michigan State took a 3-0 lead with 5:10 left in the first quarter on a 48-yard field goal by Liam Boyd, Nebraska responded, taking a 7-3 lead with 1:45 to go in the first on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Colandrea to Kwazi Gilmer.
Nebraska then went up 14-3 with 11:54 left in the second quarter after a 4-yard touchdown run by Mekhi Nelson, which capped off an 8-play, 79-yard drive.
Following a 32-yard field goal by Nebraska’s Cunanan that gave Nebraska a 17-3 lead, Michigan State drove 79 yards in 10 plays and cut Nebraska’s lead to 17-10 with 6:07 left in the second quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Jaziiun Patterson.
