There are still five weeks remaining in the 2026 college football regular season. One quarterback who has one more year remaining and has had a good 2026 season at his third school is Anthony Colandrea of Nebraska.
There are still a couple of months before coaches and players can look toward 2027 when it comes to the transfer portal, but Colandrea isn’t a player who will be hitting it. He’s returning to Nebraska after agreeing to a deal on Friday, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Anthony Colandrea Re-Signs To Return to Nebraska for 2027
Colandrea’s agent Noah Reisenfeld of 21 Sports & Entertainment told ESPN that his client will be back for Matt Rhule next fall. This is a big signing for Rhule. Colandera, who played at Virginia before going to UNLV, has been one of the better signal callers in the Big Ten this season.
He has thrown for 1,570 yards for the Cornhuskers this season and had 14 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He has rushed for 334 yards on 68 carries and four more touchdowns. In 2025, for Dan Mullen and UNLV, Colandrea threw for 3,459 yards, 23 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He rushed for 649 yards and 10 more touchdowns.
Colandrea began his career at Virginia and, over two years, he threw for over 4,000 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. He most famously predicted a win over Virginia Tech in 2023. However, the Hokies went into Charlottesville and routed Colandrea and the Cavaliers, 55-17, to become bowl-eligible.
Anthony Colandrea Was Drawing SEC Interest According To Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule
Earlier this month, according to Thamel, SEC schools had begun reaching out to his quarterback for the 2027 season. Nobody should be surprised.
“He’s already got SEC schools calling him,” Rhule said.
Instead, Colandrea committed to Rhule and Nebraska. According to Pete Nakos of On3, Colandrea is expected to be one of the top-paid QBs next season. Before the 2026 campaign began, Colandrea explained to Nakos why he went to the Cornhuskers.
“You’re not here to just not win a national championship,” said Colandrea. “I’m not coming here to just win eight or nine games. I want to win a national championship; I want to go to the playoffs. I have high expectations, and we have high expectations as a team. When I first got here, it felt like the bar was eight or nine wins, and I was like, no — we want to win 11, 12 games. We’ve got to go win. That’s the biggest thing.”
Nebraska is 5-2 this season and 2-2 in the Big Ten. They will host Washington on Saturday night. They have road games remaining at Illinois, Rutgers, and Iowa, along with a home game against No. 2 Ohio State. Nebraska needs one more win to become bowl-eligible.
As for competing for a championship next season, getting Colandrea locked up early is key for Rhule and his staff in terms of roster-building. Now they can focus on the portal to build around him.
Nebraska QB Anthony Colandrea Makes Huge 2027 Decision for Coach Matt Rhule