Mobility, escapability and creativity: How Anthony Colandrea changes Nebraska's offense

In the middle of spring practices, Addison Williams was asked what it’s like for his defensive backs playing against new quarterback Anthony Colandrea.

Nebraska’s secondary coach couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“It’s been a challenge,” Williams responded.

Colandrea, a transfer from UNLV and the 2025 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, is a different breed of quarterback than Nebraska has had the past two seasons with Dylan Raiola. Colandrea’s superpower is his mobility. When paired with his gunslinger mentality and enough moxie and energy to command any room he steps in, Colandrea’s tantalizing skill set brings a dynamic element to Dana Holgorsen’s offense he hasn’t had since, maybe ever?

“He does some things I’ve never had. I’ve never had that mobile of a quarterback,” Holgorsen said in March.

The closest comparison Holgorsen could think of is Skyler Howard, his starting quarterback in 2015 and 2016 at West Virginia.

“He was a run-around guy who threw a good deep ball,” Holgorsen said of Howard.

Holgorsen and Williams have seen the full Colandrea experience up close, but from different perspectives. For Holgorsen, Nebraska’s play caller, the UNLV transfer and projected starting quarterback has clear gifts: mobility, escapability and creativity.

Those traits will give Nebraska’s offense the potential for more explosive plays.

“He has a good understanding of off-schedule stuff, of keeping the play alive. That’s really resonated with the wideouts, the running backs, the tight ends,” Holgorsen said. “We weren’t very good at extending plays and off-schedule stuff last year, so receivers got really lazy. Once the play breaks down, they got real lazy on what they were doing, so that’s been a big area of focus. We work scramble drill a lot, but man, I’m encouraging those guys to extend the play and make things happen.”

If Holgorsen is encouraging Colandrea to extend plays and work outside how the play is drawn up on a whiteboard, what does that mean for the receivers?

To help show the wideouts what it’s supposed to look like, Holgorsen said head coach Matt Rhule showed the team Vanderbilt film of Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Diego Pavia and his pass catchers.

“He showed a lot of his plays, and a lot of his plays were off-schedule plays,” Holgorsen said of Pavia. “And I’m telling you — it looked as good as I’ve ever seen, just as far as him extending the play and receivers accelerating to open spots. That was impressive, man.”

Colandrea, Pavia and even Howard all have similar qualities, even down to how they’re physically built. All three are in the same height range, listed at 6-feet tall on their official school bios. Pavia, though, measured in at 5-foot-8 and 7/8 of an inch at the Senior Bowl. Short? Absolutely. But it also makes what he did at Vanderbilt all the more impressive.

Colandrea is currently listed at 205 pounds while Pavia was listed at 207 and Howard 210. Being north of 200 pounds is a plus, especially for quarterbacks who have their number called in the run game.

Since Rhule showed his team Vanderbilt film, let’s take a look at the similarities between Pavia and Colandrea when the play breaks down and it’s up to them to make a play.

The clip below is from Vanderbilt’s 2024 season. The Commodores are at Georgia State and have the ball on the 8-yard line with under 50 seconds left in the first half.

This is an example of Pavia breaking the pocket — though it looks like his protection was fine — and extending the play until he sees something downfield. Pavia waits, waits and waits until he sees his receiver, Junior Sherrill (#0), find an open patch of turf and sits down.

Pavia throws across his body toward the middle of the field — usually a no-no. But Pavia didn’t get to where he is in life by throwing the ball away. He became a starting quarterback in the SEC by taking chances and capitalizing.

The play was there, and Pavia made the off-schedule play for a touchdown:

The clip below, from Colandrea’s game against New Mexico, shows a different game situation but the same playmaking ability.

Colandrea’s UNLV offense is backed up on its own 10-yard line, facing a second-and-10. New Mexico’s four-man pass rush generates heat in the field-side A gap and the boundary C gap. Colandrea feels the pressure bearing down and steps up in the pocket, staying upright as New Mexico edge Keyshawn James-Newby (#1) gets a hand on his shoulder.

New Mexico linebacker Jaxton Eck (#6), the Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year and son of head coach Jason Eck, looks to have a sack. But watch Colandrea locate an outlet — running back Keyvone Lee (#2) — and drift back, buying time for Lee to work upfield.

The right-handed Colandrea makes the throw on the move to his left. Lee made the catch for a first down. A play was made when there initially didn’t appear to be one, and it was made possible by Colandrea’s mobility, escapability and creativity:

The next clip, shown below, is from Vanderbilt’s come-from-behind win over Auburn at home.

Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck, who coached Pavia at New Mexico State, calls a mesh concept, where there are two shallow crosses paired with an over-the-ball route from the tight end, creating a triangle read for Pavia.

However, Pavia is forced to spin out of the pocket to the boundary when Auburn edge Keyron Crawford (#24) beats Vanderbilt left tackle Gunner Givens (#56). Pavia doesn’t go into scramble mode. Instead, he keeps his eyes upfield, buying time for his receiver to make the play after the play.

Watch Vanderbilt receiver Tre Richardson (#6) recognize Pavia is on the move — as well as Auburn’s coverage — and redirect his path upfield. Pavia and Richardson are on the same page, and Pavia delivers an excellent pass on the move for a big-time play and first down:

Chemistry and being on the same page with your teammate is critical for off-schedule plays, though the mesh concept shown above doesn’t look completely off-schedule as some play callers coach receivers to work upfield in situations like that.

Colandrea appeared to have a ton of chemistry with his teammates at UNLV, and the clip below, again from the New Mexico game, is a good example.

UNLV is facing a second-and-8 from its own 27-yard line. New Mexico’s defense times up a slot blitz from Ky’Won McCray (#20) well, and it disrupts the Rebels’ initial play.

But Colandrea, as he’s known to do, keeps the play alive long enough for running back Jai’Den Thomas (#9) to leak out unnoticed. Colandrea’s patience and backyard playmaking stands out on this rep:

Now picture those same scramble situations with Nebraska’s backs — Mekhi Nelson, Isaiah Mozee, Kwinten Ives and Jamal Rule — working in space.

“He’s playing 100 miles per hour,” Rhule said of Colandrea after the spring game. “He’s going to go through his progressions and if there’s any pressure, he’s going to get outside the pocket and he’s going to try to make plays, and he trusts the guys to make the plays.”

In the final clip of Pavia’s, from last season’s win over Kentucky, Pavia is operating out of an empty formation, with his running back, Sedrick Alexander aligned in the slot.

At the snap, Alexander and the outside receiver next to him, Richardson, switch release off the line of scrimmage, with Alexander running a slot fade while Richardson works inside. It appears Pavia is waiting for his stud pass-catching tight end, Eli Stowers (#9), to clear Kentucky’s linebacker on an in-breaking route.

Pavia is forced to improvise and step up in the pocket when Kentucky edge Kam Olds (#1) turns the corner on left tackle Bryce Henderson (#55). More pressure — this time from the interior with defensive tackle Jerod Smith II — causes Pavia to spin back to the boundary.

In the middle of the chaos, Alexander, the running back in the slot, noticed his quarterback needs help and begins to work back to him. Pavia, with his eyes up looking to pass, throws a dart to Alexander, who is able to haul in the pass along the sideline for a first down — a frustrating play for the Kentucky defense:

In the clip below, from UNLV’s conference championship game at Boise State, we see something similar from Colandrea.

UNLV is facing a first-and-10 from Boise State’s 49-yard line. The Broncos’ defensive coordinator, former Nebraska DC Erik Chinander, sends a six-man pressure with a single-high, three-deep, two-underneath zone coverage behind it.

Colandrea’s seven-man protection picks up the pressure, but the traffic near Colandrea’s feet gets him to bail the pocket. Colandrea, and the threat he poses as a runner, draws in the second-level safety, which creates a clearer picture for Colandrea.

The quarterback motions to his receiver, Taeshaun Lyons (#8), to redirect toward the sideline, and Colandrea throws an accurate ball for a first down:

It’s plays like these that make Williams shake his head.

“One bad step or one peek into the backfield and a guy’s open,” Williams said. “Now you’re talking about, it should’ve been a sack or no gain or minimal gain, and then it turns into a 40- or 50-yard explosive play or touchdown.”

Colandrea’s ability to extend plays and make something out of a broken play excites his pass catchers. UCLA transfer Kwazi Gilmer, who figures to be a key piece to Nebraska’s receiver room, is excited about his new quarterback’s skill set, and the plays that could be generated from it.

Gilmer said he hasn’t been around a lot of quarterbacks who look to throw the ball when they break the pocket. UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a “dog” Gilmer said, but oftentimes when the play broke down, Gilmer’s job was to “go run and block.”

But now? When Colandrea escapes pressure and is on the move, Gilmer is told to “go get open.”

“He gives us a whole other drive,” Gilmer said. “We get the first half, and it that doesn’t work, now he gives us the second half. He’s a dog.”

Knowing what Colandrea can do with his legs has helped Nebraska receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. emphasize different things in his room.

“Just harping on, that’s where big plays come from,” Shorts said. “Scramble drills, quarterback’s getting out of the pocket, escaping the pocket, just making sure we’re being alert and being alive downfield, getting to certain spots on the field we need to get to and understanding that’s where you can create free, explosive plays.”

While there’s plenty to like about Colandrea’s skill set, his decision-making will need to be buttoned up now that he’ll be playing Big Ten defenses. Colandrea has been known to take risks with the ball. He’s a confident quarterback, but at times that can get him into trouble.

In the clip below, from UNLV’s game at Nevada, the Rebels are backed up on their own 4-yard line staring at a third-and-8. Colandrea spins out of the pocket and throws across his body to the middle of the field. The throw was on-target, but it’s in traffic and gets his teammate crushed.

While Colandrea nearly made the play, it was still a risk while backed up near his own end zone. Those are the kinds of risks Holgorsen and Rhule likely won’t want Colandrea taking in the Big Ten.

Nebraska doesn’t need Anthony Colandrea to be Diego Pavia. Nebraska needs Colandrea to be himself — a dynamic quarterback who can erase problems with his legs and unlock explosive plays down the field, all while balancing his playmaking ability with control.