Dylan Raiola highlights Nebraska spring game at halftime

The Red team leads the White 21-14 at intermission with the Huskers’ trio of scholarship quarterbacks rotating through both offenses in Heinrich Haarberg, Daniel Kaelin and Dylan Raiola. A pleasant Saturday morning inside Memorial Stadium is featuring a few turnovers, a couple punts and plenty of points against a defense resting a variety of veteran starters.

Some observations 30 minutes in:

The true freshman and former five-star quarterback prospect completed all four of his passes for 42 yards while leading the Red team on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in his spring debut. A short swing pass to Thomas Fidone for 14 yards. A quick pass to Jaylen Lloyd for 7. His first scoring throw — a 16-yarder to a diving Janiran Bonner on a corner route — had the touch and timing largely absence from the Husker offense a year ago.

Raiola’s best throw came on his next drive with the Whites, a 22-yarder to Alex Bullock on a post into a tight window. He later hit Isaiah Neyor on a 14-yard crosser before dropping a deep ball into the breadbasket of a streaking Lloyd downfield for a 64-yard score.

A first-quarter interception went off the hands of Demitrius Bell on a short pass into the hands of defensive back Ethan Nation.

Raiola is unofficially 15-for-21 passing for 239 yards.

Bell — the redshirt freshman who wowed the Huskers on the scout team last fall — was carted off the field midway through the second quarter with an apparent knee injury. So was starting cornerback Blye Hill a few minutes later as he fell to the field without contact.

One half of a scrimmage suggests Nebraska has more wideout depth than it has in years. Lloyd gained separation on his deep-ball score with blazing straight-line speed. Freshman Jacory Barney carried over a strong spring to the scrimmage — his highlight was an over-the-shoulder grab of a Heinrich Haarberg pass for a 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Bullock looked a step quicker as the position’s resident veteran. Neyor was a frequent target. Fellow transfer Jahmal Banks didn’t catch a first-half pass yet remained active with the first-team offense. One of Nebraska’s most productive receivers last season, Malachi Coleman, watched from the sidelines recovering from an offseason procedure.

Barney’s biggest moment was nearly a long return that instead went down for 78 yards in the second quarter. The speeder was taken to the turf by — of all people — kicker Tristan Alvano. Barney may or may not have thought that the gray-jerseyed Alvano was part of his White squad.

The third unit wasn’t entirely “live” but still didn’t inspire supreme confidence. Alvano pulled a 32-yard field-goal try wide line late in the half and missed another from 44 yards out at the horn. Punter Brian Buschini flashed mixed results ahead of his third season as a Husker. The Barney kickoff return — was it Barney or a coverage bust?