Kickoff: Saturday, September 5 at 11:00 AM CT
Location: Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, NE)
TV: FS1
DraftKings line (Aug. 30): NEB -23.5
Over/under: 47.5

The setup

Ohio and Nebraska have never met, but Frank Solich makes this feel like a reunion anyway. His 173 career wins split almost perfectly between the schools – 58 at Nebraska and 115 at Ohio – and he will receive a Legends Award before joining the coin flip.

What I’m watching

There is no overwhelming statistical mismatch here, which puts more pressure on execution. Ohio averaged 6.2 yards each time it snapped the ball last year; Nebraska allowed 5.9.

Personnel snapshot

• Ohio: John Hauser enters Year 2 as head coach. 6 starters return—1 on offense and 5 on defense. Key defenders back include Nehemiah Dukes, Charlie Christopher, and Jack Fries. That defense allowed 352.1 yards and 24.4 points per game last season.
• Ohio quarterback: Nick Poulos is projected to start for Ohio. He had no meaningful passing sample in 2025.
• Nebraska: Matt Rhule enters Year 4 as head coach. 12 starters return—6 on offense and 6 on defense. Key defenders back include Cameron Lenhardt, Williams Nwaneri, and Vincent Shavers Jr.. That defense allowed 329.5 yards and 27.1 points per game last season.
• Nebraska quarterback: Anthony Colandrea is projected to start for Nebraska. Last season at UNLV, he threw for 3,275 yards, 23 TD and 8 INT.

Three quick analysis points

• The roster reset: Nebraska’s roster owns 1,467 college games and 494 starts, and 83 of its 115 players are at least in Year 3. That is 72% of the team past the freshman-sophomore stage – an unusually old group for an opener against a rebuilt Ohio offense.
• The turnover test: Nebraska committed only 11 turnovers last season, the fewest in school history and ninth-fewest in the FBS. For a 23.5-point underdog, Ohio’s fastest route to chaos is stealing possessions from a team that almost never donated them.
• New quarterback, immediate test: Anthony Colandrea transferred from UNLV and is expected to make his first start for Nebraska. Last year he threw for 3,275 yards, 23 TD and 8 INT; 2.1% of his throws were picked off. Ohio returns 5 defensive starters and ranked No. 66 nationally at creating sacks and other disruptive plays, so this was not an overwhelming pressure mismatch last year. Getting the ball out before obvious passing downs will be central to the game plan.

How the game is decided

Colandrea and the Nebraska offense need to be dynamic, something that didn’t happen with Dylan Raiola and Emmett Johnson in the backfield last year. If that happens, Nebraska doesn’t just win this one running away, it also becomes a darkhorse contender in the Big Ten.

Prediction

I make my final predictions on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook at @uthinkuknowsports.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.