Dylan Raiola. Nebraska football defeat UTEP in opener

As the seconds ticked down in Nebraska football’s season opener, the familiar late-game nerves were nowhere to be found.

While third-string Huskers fought for every yard and rep on the field, their teammates shared smiles, hugs and handshakes on the sideline. Fans filed out of Memorial Stadium early, knowing full well they were on their way home to celebrate a Nebraska victory.

Those who stayed to the final whistle applauded their team off the field, soaking in the final moments of sunny August afternoon that went Nebraska’s way in every facet of the game as the Huskers rolled to a 40-7 win over UTEP.

For the first time in five years, Nebraska will begin the season with a 1-0 record.

“We got a chance to start at home and we got off to a good start,” head coach Matt Rhule said. “Some of the older guys were really happy, they were saying they had never really experienced that kind of a game where the game was over at halftime really and they were watching all those guys get in. They certainly didn’t have that last year.”

While it took a team-wide effort, much of the impetus behind Nebraska’s (1-0) successful season opener was the play of freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, whose first game in a Nebraska uniform was so good that he’d long been off the field by the time it ended.

Raiola threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns and helped set the tone by leading a touchdown drive on his first series. The freshman completed five of seven passes on the drive and led the offense down the field for an eventual five-yard rushing score from sophomore running back Dante Dowdell.

“We’d practiced all week and since January for that moment to start the game off right,” Raiola said. “Our guys came out and set the tone; our O-line was moving people, running backs were running over people and the receivers were making plays.”

While Nebraska moved the ball efficiently throughout the contest, it faced some early adversity as the result of a familiar blights: missed opportunities and turnovers.

First, it was a failed fourth-down conversion that set up UTEP (0-1) for its lone scoring drive, a three-play, 42-second blitz where the Miners raced to the line of scrimmage for a 38-yard passing touchdown.

Then with Nebraska threatening deep in the red zone, Dowdell coughed up a fumble.

Sensing his Huskers were in a pivotal moment of the game tied 7-7, Rhule walked over for a quick word with his veteran defense but was instead turned away by junior defensive back Marques Buford.

“Soon as we saw it happen, everybody popped up off the bench super fast and stormed out onto the field ready to go,” Buford said. “I just let him (Rhule) know, ‘We’re good. We know exactly what to do right now.’”

What followed was the defining play of the game for a veteran-heavy Nebraska defense that limited UTEP to 205 yards and 12 first downs.

With a loud home crowd bearing down, UTEP’s first attempt to escape the shadow of its goal line fell incomplete. Its second never left the end zone. The Nebraska defensive line, led by senior Ty Robinson, came crashing down for a run stop which resulted in a safety and a 9-7 Nebraska lead.

Two plays later and Nebraska had scored nine points in less than a minute of in-game action.

Senior wide receiver Isaiah Neyor beat his coverage off the line of scrimmage, hauling in the pass before shaking off a tackle and rumbling into the end zone for a 59-yard score, the first touchdown throw of Raiola’s Nebraska career.

“When I threw the ball, I kinda got hit and I didn’t really see it go,” Raiola said. “I just listened for the crowd and when they were cheering I looked and (Neyor) started stumbling and I was like, ‘Just stay up and score.” He did and he made a tremendous play on it.”

Making his return to the field after appearing in just one game over the last two seasons, Neyor finished as NU’s leading receiver with six receptions for 121 yards. The Huskers’ other impact transfer at the position, Jahmal Banks, also scored a touchdown after catching four passes in the win.

With under 10 seconds left in the half, enough time for one shot into the end zone, Raiola threw a well-placed 21-yard dart which Banks hauled in between two defenders.

“That’s what we train for, that’s what we sacrifice for and suffer for, is moments like that to just go execute,” Banks said.

The touchdown grab put Nebraska up big, 30-7, at halftime — but the atmosphere in the locker room didn’t reflect it. Pushed by their head coach to keep their foot on the gas and win the game for good, Nebraska kept the same level of play in the second half.

After putting together a long 11-play, 73-yard march down the field, Raiola’s day ended late in the third quarter. Raiola had led four straight touchdown drives before exiting, and the Husker run game did the rest.

Dowdell, who featured heavily early in the contest but took a backseat role after his fumble, finished with 55 yards rushing. Sophomore Emmett Johnson led the team with 71 yards on the ground as Nebraska averaged 4.7 yards per carry overall.

Gabe Ervin only recorded six carries but found the end zone twice, while senior Rahmir Johnson also ran efficiently with 50 yards gained on 11 attempts.

“Don’t be surprised if each and every week, one person might go off or two people might go off; it’s going to be somebody new every week,” Johnson said of Nebraska’s running back rotation.

There will be bigger games and tougher opponents that stand in the way of Nebraska later this season, but there’s no erasing the win the Huskers have already put on the board. As they move forward with their 2024 season, that building block will always remain in place.

“I’m happy for our guys,” Rhule said. “We’re 1-0 and I told them, ‘I don’t care about next week’s game yet. I’m going to wake up tomorrow morning and I’m going to enjoy this; this was hard to do.’”