Talking season is here, spring football is over and we are over 100 days away from fall camp. As football fans all that is left is to follow recruiting and argue over everyone’s Post Spring Top 25 and three months from now their Preseason Top 25.
Several rankings are out already, Top 25, Big Ten Ranked, Top Quarterbacks in 2026, and the Top Transfer Portal Difference Makers, if you can think of something to rank, people are doing it, and in the coming weeks I’ll follow suit.
Looking forward to
As a Husker fan, I’m looking forward to the ‘Battle of the Boneyard’ on June 20th. I want to get my eyes on future Husker QB Trae Taylor in action again. His performance in Memorial Stadium last year was impressive and he has developed physically and is reading and reacting even quicker. If you aren’t familiar with Trae, then you need to start paying attention. He’s very active on social media and says and does all the right things. It may not happen in his freshman year, but I have no doubt he will be a difference maker for the Nebraska program in the future.
As of now, if you are like me, you’re already counting down until you get your copy of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview 2026, and I don’t mean the online version, I’m talking actual media, something you can get your hands on, carry around with you and thumb through each time a thought or question comes to you. Why Steele? Because he provides everything you want or need to know and he doesn’t publish until the last minute, so his info is correct. If you’re a college football fan his publication is a must.
Today’s recruiting is an investment
I mentioned Trea Taylor and I want to say this. He has been one of the best peer recruiters I’ve ever seen. He’s worked hard at getting top guys to look at the Huskers. Recent LSU commit Ahmad Hudson had Nebraska in his top two, credit Trae Taylor for a lot of that.
In recent weeks Nebraska has slipped, missing out on several big recruits. But it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Nebraska missed out on Hudson for now, but it’s a long time until December and a lot can happen between now and then. Don’t think Nebraska will just walk away. For the Huskers nothing has changed, they’ll stay in touch until they can’t. They’ve shown Hudson the love and if he ever decides LSU isn’t a good fit, he could circle back to the Huskers. It’s that way with all the recruits Nebraska has perused. The investment they’ve made across the board will eventually pay off.
Nebraska Adds to an Already Talented Group
I feel like Nebraska’s most talented position group is the wide receivers and I take heat anytime I tell people that. They always point out they haven’t done anything yet and that their numbers thus far are anemic. But we’ve seen Jacory Barney, Nyziah Hunter, Kwazi Gilmer, Quinn Clark, Cortez Mills all show flashes of their explosiveness. And the Huskers have a dozen more playmakers behind them who are ready to step up as well.
Add one more. Nebraska offered Omaha Westside’s Maurice Purify Jr. a scholarship Tuesday and he accepted. Purify is the son of former Husker Maurice Purify Sr. and will join the Huskers this summer. The younger Purify recorded 41 receptions for 589 yards and 10 touchdowns in his senior season, but it was his athletic performance during the track season that finally caused the Huskers to make the offer. He registered a long jump over 24 feet and recorded a 100-meter dash time of 10.87 seconds. The 6’3”, 185-pound standout is the big, bodied receiver the Huskers have been looking to add. Colandrea, Lateef, and Kaelin have to be itching to get started.
Anthony Colandrea – Think Trinadad Chambliss and Diego Pavia
At this time last season Trinada Chambliss was at Ferris State University. Seven months later he was the starting QB for Ole Miss and was one play away from taking his team to the National Championship game.
Ferris State is a D2 school. Why do I bring that up? For one, Chambliss is a perfect example of someone that Texas Tech would pay through the nose for. It’s my understanding the D2 portal is still open and with Tech’s recent Sorsby fiasco, a D2 quarterback is one of their few options. All they have to do is go find that needle in the haystack.
People think going D2 is crazy, but look at Chambliss and what he did at Ole Miss. I’ll also use Chambliss as an example to advocate for Anthony Colandrea. I’ve heard multiple times how Nebraska is putting too much stock in Colandrea for being the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year. “That conference is a long way from being the Big Ten,” they’ll state. Newsflash, nobody is mistaking Ferris State for an SEC school either. And let me ask this, if Anthony Colandrea was available to Texas Tech right now, would they take him?
I’ll also buy stock in Colandrea because of what Diego Pavia did at Vanderbilt. Colandrea has a similar playing style. Pavia, a 5’9” quarterback used that style to produce a history making season for Vanderbilt and give them a shot at making the CFP. Colandrea is cut from that same cloth, he has speed and is savvy, he plays to win and brings the juice, his teammates will thrive on his leadership.
I’m not going to sit here and promise you Colandrea can do for Nebraska what Chambliss and Pavia did for their new schools. But he has that same capability and the thought of it happening isn’t out of this world. Lightening in a bottle does happen.
Call me crazy, but I think Rhule will field his best Nebraska team this fall. I feel they will exceed the 6 to 7 wins everyone expects and I liked hearing former Nebraska assistant coach Bill Busch say on his radio show, “93.7 The Ticket’s Early Break”, that he felt like Nebraska would win 8 to 9 games this fall. Let’s hope coach is right.
GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST, VIOLENT!!
Photo courtesy of the Falls City Journal Home – Falls City Journal – Falls City, NE
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