Anthony Colandrea had 346 yards of total offense and three touchdown passes and Nebraska scored the game’s final 34 points to beat Maryland 48-23 in a Big Ten Conference game on Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, Neb.
The Cornhuskers (5-0, 2-0) are off to their best start since 2016, when they won their first seven games.
Colandrea threw for 238 yards on 26-of-39 passing and ran for a career-high 108 yards. Mekhi Nelson added two rushing TDs as Nebraska ran for 209 yards and three scores despite not having leading rusher Jamal Rule. The Huskers overcame 16 penalties, their most since committing 16 in a loss at Texas A&M in 2010.
Maryland (2-3, 0-2) dropped its third straight game, failing to convert a third down until it trailed by 25 in the fourth quarter. Malik Washington threw for 254 yards and a TD but was intercepted twice, throwing his third pick-six in the past two games.
Chris Durr Jr. had seven catches for 149 yards and a TD for the Terrapins.
The teams combined for 51 points in the first half, with Nebraska taking a 28-23 lead just before halftime. The next score didn’t come until the first play of the fourth quarter, a 1-yard TD run by Vince Genatone to put the Cornhuskers up 35-23.
Colandrea then hooked up with Kwazi Gilmer on a pair of TD passes in the final 11 minutes to pad the final margin. Gilmer finished with 11 catches for 147 yards.
Maryland jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the first quarter, gaining more than 200 yards in the opening period. A 3-yard scoring run by DeJuan Williams, set up by his 58-yard scamper, put the Terps up 23-14 midway through the second.
Dwayne McDougle III picked off a Washington pass and returned it 81 yards for a score to get Nebraska within two, then Luke Lindemeyer caught a 1-yard pass from Colandrea with five seconds left in the first half to put the Cornhuskers back in front.
Maryland stays on the road to face No. 5 Ohio State on Oct. 10, while Nebraska is home for 6th-ranked Indiana, the defending FBS champions, on Oct. 10.
