Curt Cignetti has seen a lot of quarterbacks. He remembered this one.
In 2023, Anthony Colandrea was a true freshman at Virginia making his first college start. He threw for 377 yards against Cignetti’s James Madison team. The Dukes needed a touchdown pass with 55 seconds left to escape 36-35.
Three years later, Cignetti coaches defending national champion Indiana. The Lakewood High graduate is now Nebraska’s quarterback. And Cignetti spent part of his time two weeks ago talking him up.
“He’s gotten very talented,” Cignetti said. “He’s savvy first of all, and I think he sees the field really well, and he’s very mobile and elusive, too. If there’s nothing there, he has the ability to create plays with his arm and his legs.”
Cignetti called Colandrea “really smart” and said his defense would have to do “a great job of caging this guy.”
On Oct. 10, Colandrea nearly proved him right.
His 39-yard touchdown run with 12:01 left gave Nebraska a 17-6 lead over No. 7 Indiana. Memorial Stadium shook. The Huskers were 12 minutes from their first win over a ranked team since 2016.
It didn’t last. Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover hit Nick Marsh for a 75-yard touchdown on the next play. Less than five minutes later, Hoover found Marsh for 44 yards on fourth-and-1. Indiana won 20-17.
Colandrea completed 25 of 43 passes for 263 yards and ran 17 times for 47 yards, despite being sacked five times. Nebraska outgained Indiana 391-328 and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes.
The loss dropped the Huskers to 5-1 and 2-1 in the Big Ten. A win would have given them their first 6-0 start since 2016.
Still, Colandrea has given Nebraska something it lacked: a quarterback defenses must chase.
He accounted for four touchdowns in his Huskers debut, a 49-21 win over Ohio. He ran for a career-high 108 yards in a 48-23 win over Maryland. Entering Oct. 10, Nebraska averaged 43.6 points per game, ninth in the nation.
Coach Matt Rhule builds the running game around him.
“They did it with Tim Tebow, they did it with Cam Newton, we have Anthony,” Rhule said.
The road to Lincoln was not a straight one.
As a junior at Lakewood, Colandrea threw for 3,252 yards and 27 touchdowns. The Spartans went 10-3 and lost to eventual state champion Cardinal Gibbons. He first committed to Middle Tennessee, then flipped to Virginia.
After two seasons in Charlottesville, he transferred to UNLV. In 2025, he threw for 3,459 yards and 23 touchdowns, was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year and led the Rebels to the conference title game.
Nebraska is his third school and his last college season.
The schedule doesn’t get easier. The Huskers play at Oregon on Saturday. Colandrea turns 22 the day before.
Quick hits
Gibbs’ Bromell headed to Baylor Hall of Fame
Trayvon Bromell ran his way out of St. Petersburg. Now Baylor is putting him in its Hall of Fame.
The Gibbs High graduate will be inducted Nov. 20 in Waco, Texas, as part of an eight-member class that includes former Bears receiver Corey Coleman.
Bromell spent two seasons at Baylor, in 2014 and 2015. As a freshman, he won the NCAA outdoor 100 meters in 9.97 seconds, a world junior record. A year later, he won the NCAA indoor 200. He added five Big 12 titles and four All-America honors.
He turned pro in 2015 and has won five global medals for the U.S., including gold in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2025 World Championships. He ran in the 2016 and 2021 Olympics.
Bromell, 31, said a college scholarship was “God’s way” out of the rough neighborhood he grew up in. He plans to keep racing through the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
St. Pete wins PCAC volleyball title
St. Petersburg is the best in the Pinellas County Athletic Conference.
The Green Devils beat East Lake 25-22, 17-25, 25-20, 28-26 to win the PCAC championship. St. Petersburg clinched the title by winning a fourth set that went past 25.
Junior Abigail Buffington led the way with 21 kills, 17 digs and 29 serve receptions. Senior Reyne Szabla added 15 kills and 12 digs.
Senior setter Annika Xenakis ran the offense with 43 assists. She also had 14 digs and four aces.
Freshman Charley Condon was a weapon at the service line, with six aces to go with 13 digs. Junior Maeve Overcast had a team-high 21 digs, and senior Reese O’Brien had four blocks.
St. Petersburg finished with 45 kills, 15 aces and 82 digs.
SPC’s Howard makes school history
Quinston Howard is the first St. Petersburg Catholic player picked for the Navy All-American Bowl.
Howard, a junior, received his game jersey Oct. 9 in a ceremony at the school. Representatives from the Navy and NBC Sports made the presentation.
The All-American Bowl, now in its 25th year, is the nation’s top high school football all-star game. Its alumni include Trevor Lawrence, Micah Parsons, Derrick Henry and Jeremiah Smith.
Howard will play in the East-West game at 1 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. NBC and Peacock will carry it live.