TLDR: Nebraska has won every game it's played this fall, and this homecoming against Maryland is the first time the Big Ten schedule shows up in Lincoln. The Terps are the next team that gets to find out whether the Huskers are actually good or just haven't played anybody yet.
Nebraska is 4-0 behind Anthony Colandrea, who has 9 touchdowns and no interceptions, and the Huskers have a 31-13 road win at Michigan State. Maryland beat Hampton and UConn but lost at home to Virginia Tech, which ended its long non-conference win streak. The board has Nebraska as a clear home favorite, and the open questions are Nebraska's injury list and whether Maryland's defense has recovered from giving up 35 points.
Start with the quarterback, because Anthony Colandrea has been the story in Lincoln. Through Nebraska's first 4 games he has completed 68 of 106 passes for 894 yards, with 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. That isn't a gunslinger's line. It's a quarterback who has stopped giving games away, and in the Rhule era that has usually been the thing that separated a good Nebraska September from a lost October. Maryland's job on Saturday, October 3 is simple to say and hard to do: make Colandrea hold the ball and throw into a tight window for once.
Most of that résumé came against teams below Nebraska's weight class: Ohio 49-21, Bowling Green 56-7, and FCS No. 6 North Dakota 34-7. The 31-13 win at Michigan State is the first result that holds up against Big Ten opposition, and Nebraska went on the road to get it. Availability is the open question. The Huskers' season page lists running back Carter Nelson, safety Kahmir Prescott, linebacker Jacob Bower and defensive end Gabe Moore as injured, with no return timelines, so the depth chart could look different by kickoff. Freshman back Jamal Rule already has a Big Ten Freshman of the Week award on his résumé if the backfield has to lean on him. None of that has moved the board much yet. Nebraska is priced like a comfortable home favorite.
Maryland's season has two halves so far. The Terps beat Hampton 62-0 and won 38-14 at UConn. Then Virginia Tech came to College Park and won 35-26, ending the nation's longest non-conference winning streak, which Maryland had carried into the season at 18 games. Big Ten play opened with UCLA's first visit to College Park since 1955, and that result is the missing piece in any read on where the Terps stand heading west.
The Virginia Tech loss is the one to look at. Maryland gave up 35 to a power-conference team at home, and it will now face an offense that has scored 31 or more in all 4 of its games. If the Terps couldn't keep the Hokies under control in their own building, a trip to Memorial Stadium on homecoming weekend is a tough place to fix that.
The weather shouldn't decide anything. The early forecast has 78 degrees, clouds, an 8 mph wind and a 6% chance of rain, which is about as neutral as an October afternoon in Lincoln gets. That leaves it to matchups: Colandrea's clean sheet against a Maryland defense that just got exposed, and a Nebraska roster with 4 names on the injury list trying to stay unbeaten into the heart of the conference schedule.
Nebraska has been blowing out overmatched teams since Labor Day weekend, and Michigan State didn't change that. Maryland is the first Big Ten opponent to come to Lincoln, and a Terps team that scored 100 points across its first 2 games can at least make this a real afternoon if the offense shows up.
Maryland Terrapins at Nebraska Cornhuskers — Unbeaten Nebraska Hosts Maryland For A Homecoming Big Ten Test | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush
