What Nebraska Football Proved in Its Win Over Michigan State

Nebraska proved plenty to the rest of the Big Ten with its 31-14 win at Michigan State on Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

More importantly, the Huskers' greatest lesson might have been to themselves.

Anthony Colandrea answered the big question hanging over his head: Could he step up in competition after tearing apart the Mountain West last season at UNLV? He wasn’t perfect but he was good enough. You won't see a more beautiful ball than his 44-yard touchdown pass to Kwazi Gilmer for the game's first touchdown.

Other questions that lingered: How would Nebraska handle a road game for the first time this season? How would Nebraska handle its first Big Ten game?

The answers: Yes, yes, yes.

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea and other Nebraska players celebrate with fans after the 31-13 win. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

If Nebraska was bothered by the Spartan Stadium crowd of 68,161, it didn’t let on. Road game? Ho-hum. No biggie. Big Ten game? Again, nothing to worry about. Granted, the Spartans (2-2) are in a total rebuild under new coach Pat Fitzgerald, but the expectation was that MSU would provide stiff competition.

Does this victory mean the Huskers are the new beasts of the Big Ten? Of course not. But it showed that coach Matt Rhule’s fourth edition of the Huskers are resilient, tough and tough-minded. With a howling crowd fully into the game and behind their Spartans, Nebraska shrugged aside all the negativity coming its way, plowed forward and plowed under the Spartans.

This is what else Nebraska proved, at least for now: That the rest of the Big Ten better not take the Huskers for granted, which might have happened over the last decade. If nothing else, this win at Sparty, showed that Nebraska is *not* an easy out and that Big Ten teams should know it.

A must-win game?

This was and wasn’t a must-win game for the Huskers. It’s silly to imply that the fourth game of the season would carry that kind of weight. And it didn’t.

But for Rhule and the Huskers, a loss would have been devastating. Not only on the season ledger and the Big Ten standings — although the loss wouldn’t have helped — but in the psyche of the football team. They needed this game, for the questions going in that were being asked.

Nebraska (4-0) needed this game to continue its early-season momentum. Nebraska needed this game to take a deep breath, look back at the accomplishment, and look forward to what’s next. What’s immediately next is Maryland, a 54-3 loser at home Saturday to UCLA, with Terrapins coach Mike Locksley’s job possibly hanging by a thread.

Nebraska’s Vincent Genatone celebrates his touchdown with two seconds remaining in the first half. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Nebraska needed this game for several other reasons. After a pair of 7-6 seasons — and this season, like the last one, could wind up there — the conference and the nation looks somewhat skeptically at Nebraska. Are the Huskers over the hump? Is this the small beginnings of a Nebraska resurgence?

We’re not sure if the Huskers are over the hump and weren’t not sure if this was the beginning of a season-long resurgence.

This is what we believe: A Nebraska loss would have been devastating. On the quiet plane ride back from East Lansing, and moving forward. The uncertainty the Huskers would have felt after a loss would have been unimaginable.

That quiet plane ride now has to wait for another day.

More questions answered for Nebraska

More answered questions concerned the Huskers’ defense. Could they stop the MSU running attack? Could they get the turnovers any good team needs for success?

Yes, and yes.

Injuries to running backs played a hand. The Spartans’ Cam Edwards was hurt as was Nebraska’s Jamal Rule. Sparty rushed for 39 yards, as MSU passed the ball 28 times.

Michigan State’s Alessio Milivojevic throws under pressure from Nebraska’s Williams Nwaneri during the first quarter. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Nebraska had three turnovers — defensive coordinator Rob Zurich’s stated goal for each game — and didn’t turn over the ball. That stat is a winning one.

As was the Huskers’ defensive pressure on the quarterback. Also a winning formula.

“I’m really fired up for the guys,” Rhule said in a postgame news conference. “It’s a good first step …

“I never felt our guys panicked. They kept attacking. That’s the kind of team we’d like to be.”

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

Add us as a preferred source on Google