Jamal Rule runs for 119 yards and 2 TDs to lead Nebraska past North Dakota 34-7

LINCOLN, Neb. -- — Jamal Rule ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns and Nebraska finished unbeaten in nonconference play for the third straight year with its 34-7 win over North Dakota on Saturday night.

The Cornhuskers (3-0) scored on their first two series to take control, and the Fighting Hawks (3-1) went three-and-out four times and turned the ball over on downs once before putting together their lone scoring drive in the third quarter.

Nebraska held the sixth-ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision to 205 yards and sacked Jerry Kaminski five times.

“I didn't care about the score; I wanted to know how we would handle the tough moments,” Huskers coach Matt Rhule said. “That's a proud team. They should have beaten Kansas State last year. They came here a couple years ago and it was 14-7 (in the third quarter). I knew they weren’t going to come in here and respect us. We were going to have to make them respect us.”

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea outran safety Avery Dixon on a 10-yard touchdown run, diving to the end zone pylon to finish a 75-yard drive on the game's opening series, and then Rule bulled in from the 3 to end a 90-yard march.

North Dakota managed just 68 yards and two first downs in the first half and finished 1 of 12 on third-down conversions for the game.

“It just comes down to big boy football,” Fighting Hawks coach Eric Schmidt said. “The team that could run the football and the team that couldn’t won and lost tonight. So give Nebraska a lot of credit. They’re much improved from what I saw a year ago.”

Rule broke a 55-yard run for a touchdown to put the Huskers up 24-0 early in the second half. The freshman has six touchdowns — five rushing, one receiving — through three games.

Colandrea threw his eighth TD pass of the season, a 5-yarder to Quinn Clark, and has accounted for a total of 10.

“Good win against a good team,” Rhule said. “I’ve been here a couple years now, and this is one of the hardest teams preparation-wise. Very difficult schematically. We did a nice job on third down, offensively there were some moments not as good as we would have liked, but any time you rush for 200 yards, we’ll be pleased with that.”

The Takeaway

North Dakota: The Fighting Hawks, who lost 38-17 to the Huskers in 2022, dropped to 1-17 against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. They had come to Lincoln averaging 50.3 points and 540 yards over three games against FCS competition.

Nebraska: The Huskers have rushed for 240-plus yards in three straight games for the first time since 2014 and improved to 17-0 against FCS teams.

Tom Osborne salute

Tom Osborne, who coached the Huskers to three national championships in the 1990s and was a three-term congressman, was honored during a ceremony after the game. He was inducted into the state hall of fame on Friday.

Gov. Jim Pillen, a Huskers defensive back in the 1970s, and comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who grew up in Nebraska, spoke about Osborne's impact on the state. The 89-year-old Osborne also said a few words to the fans, most of whom were staying for a concert by country artist Cole Swindell.

Up next

North Dakota: visits Indiana State next Saturday.

Nebraska: visits Michigan State next Saturday.

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