Blue-chip recruit Carter Nelson recaps first Nebraska game

So how did the Ainsworth graduate — and NU freshman — feel as a player partaking in the Saturday’s Tunnel Walk?

Nelson found it hard to describe.

“We’re trying to stay locked in at the same time but trying to use that energy in the right way,” Nelson said. “Being able to come out, just look around for a second, and take that in, and realize how special of a place this is and how special of a team we’ve got doing it — it made me pause for a second.”

He finished with three catches for 29 yards — and one illegal block penalty on the opening kickoff, when he delivered a blindside block. Nelson said Tuesday he thought he’d executed the block correctly, but discovered, after film study, it wasn’t quite so.

The 6-foot-5 230-pounder has successfully traversed a steep learning curve since arriving at NU this summer. Unlike many blue-chip recruits, who now arrive in January in time for spring camp, Nelson opted to play basketball and participate in track and field his senior year.

“He’s only been in 11-man football for, what, a month-and-a-half now,” NU quarterback Raiola said of Nelson, who play eight-man football at Ainsworth. “I’m very proud of him and the strides he’s made.”

Raiola praised Nelson’s willingness to ask questions in practice when he’s not sure what to do. Nelson said NU’s defense prepped him well for UTEP; the game “slowed down a little bit” from the stress of practice.

And training camp provided Nelson with one of those welcome-to-college-football moments that every freshman experiences once he arrives to a Division I program full of athletic, tough teammates.

Nelson’s came courtesy Husker defensive back Jaidyn Doss.

“My head wasn’t on a swivel on a kickoff,” Nelson said. “And I wasn’t looking, and I got popped. That was definitely it for sure. At the same time, I’ve given out a couple. We have fun with it. It doesn’t get personal. We laugh about it in meetings.”