On our episode of the Common Fan Podcast following the Oregon game, we received an email from a listener who strongly disagreed with our assessment of Nebraska’s defense following the heartbreaking loss to Oregon. He wasn’t particularly interested in hearing that the Blackshirts played well for three quarters. He was focused on the fourth, and specifically Nebraska’s failure to pressure former Husker quarterback Dylan Raiola on Oregon’s game-winning drive. He argued that defensive coordinator Rob Aurich should have brought more pressure, particularly given Raiola’s struggles against aggressive defenses in the past. Frankly, it’s a fair point. We talked on the ...

For a few glorious minutes on Saturday afternoon, Anthony Colandrea had Memorial Stadium believing. The Nebraska quarterback had just delivered one of the most electrifying plays of the last decade, scrambling into the end zone to give the Huskers a 17-6 fourth-quarter lead over defending national champion Indiana. After years of close calls, heartbreaking losses and seemingly endless frustration, Nebraska football was on the doorstep of a long awaited breakthrough. Of course, we know how the story ended. Indiana rallied to win 20-17, delivering another gut punch to a fan base that has absorbed too many to count. But Colandrea’s ...

by T.J. Birkel The offensive line occupies a unique space in the psyche of Nebraska football fans. In my experience, we feel a certain connection to it that doesn’t apply to every position. We have The Pipeline. We have All Americans galore across every position up front. The Outland Trophy award ceremony takes place in Omaha. The Rimington Trophy, given annually to the nation’s best center, was named for a Cornhusker for crying out loud! Nebraska’s greatest teams–especially in the 1990s–were anchored in outstanding offensive lines.  What does it all mean? As far as Husker fans are concerned, it means ...

As we spent the summer arguing about the greatest players in Nebraska football history on the Common Fan Podcast, one thing started to stick out.  Where were all the recent guys? We built six different “Mount Rushmores” of Nebraska players–guys who were the best at their position, side of the ball, or specialty. The most recent player on any of those lists was Lavonte David, who made the Mount Rushmore for Blackshirts.  David finished his Nebraska career in 2011. Fifteen years ago. That’s a pretty glaring indicator when you think about what has happened to Nebraska football since then. CLICK ...

by T.J. Birkel We spent much of the summer on the Common Fan Podcast attempting perhaps an impossible task: building the definitive Mount Rushmore of Nebraska football. Over the course of seven episodes, we looked at quarterbacks, coaches, offensive players, defensive players, special teams players and walk-ons before finally attempting to narrow the long and glorious history of Nebraska football down to four players (for the final list, we let the coaches episode stand on its own, and only focused on players. That was hard enough). We were joined throughout the series by Brandon Vogel of the Counter Read newsletter, ...

by T.J. Birkel We’ve been talking about Anthony Colandrea all offseason on the Common Fan Podcast. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he might be the most important player on the roster for Nebraska football this season.  That’s not to suggest Nebraska doesn’t have talent elsewhere. The skill position talent might be as good as we’ve seen in years – certainly for the entire Rhule era. There are plenty of questions heading into 2026, but also legitimate reasons for optimism across the roster. But if Nebraska is going to make a jump from where they’ve been the last ...