LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Anthony Colandrea passed for 275 yards with three touchdowns and ran for a fourth, Jamal Rule ran for 122 yards and scored three times, and Nebraska Cornhuskers pulled away from Ohio Bobcats in the fourth quarter in a 49-21 victory on Saturday.

Colandrea, the UNLV transfer making his first start for the Cornhuskers, led five straight touchdown drives to turn a close game into a blowout. Rule became the first Nebraska freshman running back to rush for 100 yards in an opener since 2004, ending his day with an 11-yard touchdown run.

“I expected to have a pretty good game but I didn't expect to find the end zone three times," Rule said. "Surprised myself; not going to lie.”

Nebraska got all it could handle for three quarters from a Bobcats team looking to get the Mid-American Conference another Big Ten pelt two days after UMass knocked off Rutgers. Ohio, which came away with points on its first three possessions, was within a missed field goal of taking the lead in the third quarter and within seven points early in the fourth after Nick Poulos' 1-yard run and 2-point conversion.

Colandrea, who fumbled and threw an interception in a 17-10 Frisco Bowl loss to Ohio when he played for UNLV last season, was turnover-free. He led two long touchdown drives to put Nebraska up 14-13 at halftime. Colandrea scored from 13 yards and Mekhi Nelson from 29 to make it 28-13, and after the Bobcats got within a touchdown, Nelson caught a short pass and split four defenders on his way to a 51-yard TD.

Nebraska's run game overpowered the Bobcats in the second half. The Huskers' final 21 carries netted 204 yards, and they finished with 523 total yards.

“I was really proud of the way we played the first about 35, 36 minutes,” Ohio coach John Hauser said. “We fought, we battled, we were down one at half. I thought we were in it, and then it got out of hand there at the end. Credit to Nebraska, they wore us down there some in the third and fourth quarter.”

Ohio: The Bobcats should feel good about their quarterback situation. Poulos, who appeared in four games as a backup last year, came out sharp in his second career start and first since 2024. He connected with Riley Neer on a slant that went for 68 yards on the game’s first play from scrimmage and completed 6 of his first 8 passes. He finished 14 of 31 for 164 yards with a TD and ran for 70 yards and a score.

Nebraska: A muddled running back situation gained some clarity with the emergence of Rule, a January enrollee who has built on an impressive spring. He was the third running back to enter, behind Isaiah Mozee and Nelson, and averaged 8.1 yards per carry on his team-high 15 attempts.

Frank Solich was guest of honor at the game matching teams he coached to a combined 173 wins over 22 seasons. Solich, wearing a white polo as a show of neutrality, received the Legends Award from the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame and participated in the coin toss.

Solich was a longtime assistant to Tom Osborne and had a six-year record of 58-19 when he was fired in 2003. Ohio hired him in 2005 and he was the MAC's all-time wins leader with a 115-82 record when he retired in 2020.

Temperature at kickoff was 90 degrees and was 95 by the end. The heat index crept into the 100s in the second half.

“I would be remiss for not thanking the fans who came out,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said. “They're probably tougher than me. If I could have coached that game from my couch, I would have.”

Ohio hosts Jacksonville State on Saturday.

Nebraska hosts Bowling Green on Saturday.

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