Dylan Raiola, talented receivers had Nebraska humming

As several Huskers headed for the locker room, quarterback Dylan Raiola found his family for a quick embrace. So did head coach Matt Rhule as the band played in the background and opposing players shared handshakes with each other.

There was no drama in the fourth quarter, and there were no hard feelings after a big Nebraska win. The Huskers had taken care of business and earned a win, leaving a happy moment for all those who remained on the field to soak in. Let’s drop into coverage:

All eyes were on how the freshman would handle his first game, and he passed the test with flying colors.

From short passes over the middle of the field to deep shots that utilized his big arm, Raiola was calm and confident as he led the Husker offense to five touchdown drives. And of the 27 passes Raiola attempted on Saturday, his third may have been his best.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield dialed up a play-action look where Raiola rolled out of the pocket to his right.

His first read, a deep shot to the streaking Isaiah Neyor, was covered. Scanning the field in front of him, Raiola saw that Jahmal Banks and Thomas Fidone II also had defenders on them.

Raiola turned back to the middle of the field, knowing that Janiran Bonner would be there for a 7-yard catch.

It was a simple completion, but it required Raiola to go through all of his reads in a split-second, something the young quarterback did with ease.

Raiola elevated the offense in every aspect, which was evident when Nebraska was backed up into a 2nd-and-30 situation early on. The Huskers would’ve struggled mightily to convert from that distance a year ago, but Raiola kept them steady.

Not needing to gain back the entire 30 yards on one play, Raiola delivered a strike to Banks on second down. Needing to avoid a UTEP linebacker in the throwing lane, Raiola’s touch pass sailed over the defender’s outstretched arm into Banks’ hands.

On the next play, he stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure, finding Neyor for a third-down conversion that led to an eventual touchdown.

The Nebraska offensive line did a good job of protecting Raiola, who displayed a strong pocket presence in his first start. On the most explosive play the Husker offense had all game, a 59-yard strike to Neyor, Raiola hung in the pocket with pressure bearing down on him to make sure he hit Neyor in stride.

“The biggest thing that I noticed about him is his poise,” Neyor said of Raiola. “Being a freshman quarterback at a university like this, to come out and perform the way he did, it’s very nice to see. He’s very talented and I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of him throughout this season.”

The struggles of Nebraska’s passing offense in 2023 weren’t just down to the play of its quarterbacks; a lack of separation from its wide receivers when running routes played a part in NU’s passing deficiencies.

Raiola has elevated Nebraska’s passing game on his own, but his impact is greatly helped by the presence of a deep, talented wide receiver room that showed up on Saturday.

Banks, who hauled in a back-shoulder throw from Raiola in the end zone, looked every bit the consistent target and red zone threat he was billed to be. And Neyor, in his most significant game action of the last two seasons, was a game-changer in his own right.

Nebraska looked to take the top off the defense early and often with Neyor, eventually breaking through in the second quarter. Neyor beat his coverage on the touchdown throw, but it wasn’t pure speed — after a little stutter-step to the inside, Neyor planted his foot and cut to the outside, sprinting off to the end zone.

Alongside Neyor and Banks, Janiran Bonner and Jacory Barney Jr. were the other wideouts who featured heavily early on.

Barney’s first reception, a touch pass from Raiola as he motioned across the field, showed just how dangerous the freshman can be. If opposing defenses want their defensive backs to follow players in motion, you’d be hard-pressed to find many who can keep up with Barney’s acceleration.

Several other Husker wideouts — Jaylen Lloyd, Alex Bullock, Carter Nelson and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda — only featured on about 10 snaps, showing that the Huskers have depth at the position too.

“That receiving corps, there was no jealousy out there today,” Rhule said. “It was just an amazing vibe from those guys.”

Nebraska’s dominance over the game meant that the team’s starting defense didn’t have much to do in the second half. Nebraska ran 83 plays on offense compared to just 50 for UTEP, controlling the time of possession with nearly 17 minutes more than the Miners.

UTEP’s pass-heavy offense meant a heavier workload for the Husker secondary, but even that meant just 30 snaps played for the likes of Tommi Hill and Isaac Gifford as DeShon Singleton and Malcolm Hartzog remained on the field the longest of any Husker defender.

Nebraska rotated heavily along the defensive line and at linebacker, with its starters showing early on why they’d earned those roles.

On UTEP’s first offensive snap of the game, the Miners wanted to swing the ball outside instantly without giving the Huskers time to rush the passer.

The entire offensive line chop blocked, with all three interior linemen diving at Nash Hutmacher while Ty Robinson and Jimari Butler shook off their blockers. There was no play as a false start was whistled instead, but seeing a three-on-one block showed just how worried UTEP was about Nebraska’s dynamic pass rush.

They were right to be concerned because Nebraska did plenty of damage with a base three or four-man rush. The Huskers were dangerous on third downs, especially early on when linebacker MJ Sherman came flying off the edge to rush the UTEP screen and force a punt — and it was Hutmacher who pulled down the pass-catcher over on the sideline.

And how about Nebraska’s surge up front on the safety? If you’re inside your 5-yard line, you might want to block Robinson, who was untouched off the edge while linebacker Mikai Gbayor broke through the interior to bring down UTEP’s rushing attempt.

Having limited the workload of its starters and excelled outside of UTEP’s lone touchdown drive, it was a highly successful day for the Husker defense.

For as good as Raiola was in his debut, Nebraska’s ability to run the ball with its first-team offense was perhaps even better. Every running back ran well because the Nebraska offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the contest.

Nebraska found plenty of success running off its tackles, with Bonner and Fidone often being the players who helped seal the edge and gave the Husker backs a clear lane to run through. That was the case on Dante Dowdell’s first-quarter touchdown run, where UTEP crashed the interior leading to Dowdell bouncing outside and crossing the goal line untouched.

The same look kept working, to the point that Nebraska ran Dowdell off the tackle on three straight plays to begin a drive. And on the longest run of the day, a 42-yard gain for Emmett Johnson, it was Corcoran who single-handedly opened a large gap between him and left guard Justin Evans.

The Huskers also allowed just one sack in pass protection.

“I thought the O-line gave great, great, great protection,” Rhule said.

With Gunnar Gottula (ankle) and Henry Lutovsky (calf) sitting out of the opener, Nebraska’s second-team offensive line consisted of Grant Seagren, Jason Maciejczak, Sam Sledge, Gibson Pyle and Tyler Knaak.

Coming off a game where Nebraska out-gained its opponent by 300 yards and won the contest by a 33-point margin, it’s difficult to find areas of the game where major improvements are needed.

How about turnovers? Nebraska did lose a fumble, but the Huskers emerged plus-one in the turnover department having intercepted UTEP twice.

Penalties? Nebraska committed three, including an early false start and an offensive pass interference where Fidone’s block wiped out a gain of 20-plus yards for Barney.

Offensive miscommunication? A play where Raiola and Lloyd were not on the same page when a third-down pass sailed to the sidelines could’ve been executed better.

Special teams? John Hohl’s first kickoff of the game went out of bounds, but he kept the rest within the field of play. Brian Buschini averaged 48.5 yards per punt and Nebraska returned both punts and kickoffs, so its special teams unit had a solid day as well.

Only UTEP’s rapid-fire touchdown drive in which the Miners caught the Husker defense sleeping stands out as the biggest learning moment on film.