How Nebraska football offense is generating big plays

For much of quarterback Dylan Raiola’s young career, that’s been the message handed down by his coaches. Five games into his college career, Raiola has done just that by completing over 70% of his passes, consistently driving the Nebraska offense down the field without forcing the ball.

Raiola has thrown just two interceptions — turnovers that head coach Matt Rhule attributes to the team’s wide receivers as much as they belong to Raiola — while also throwing nine touchdowns and averaging nearly 250 yards in the air per week.

Not wanting to force the ball into windows that aren’t there doesn’t mean the Nebraska offense hasn’t been aggressive, though. Alongside the consistent play from Raiola, the Huskers’ ability to create explosive plays has been up there with the nation’s best.

The Huskers have totaled 77 plays gaining 10 or more yards, 26th-best nationally, alongside 23 total plays which have gone for 20-plus yards.

“You have to cover the whole field when you play against us,” offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said. “(I’m) real pleased with different traits by different receivers — fast guys and big guys — and then the ability to push the ball down the field by the quarterback and the layers of protection that go along with that.”

Indeed, it’s been a team-wide success that Nebraska has managed to create three or more plays of 20-plus yards in every game it’s played this season.

NU’s recent win over Purdue was its best yet in that department as the Huskers created seven explosive plays, with Rhule pointing out that he thought that total could’ve been much higher if not for several pass interference penalties committed by the Boilermakers.

The Nebraska offensive line deserves much of the credit for their pass protection which allows Raiola to stay in the pocket and let plays develop. Rhule also said running backs Emmett and Rahmir Johnson’s ability to pick up blitzes was crucial against Purdue.

Of the players who’ve created the most explosive plays for Nebraska this season, Emmett Johnson and freshman wideout Jacory Barney Jr. are at the top of the list. Johnson’s 42-yard run against UTEP, 36-yard run against Northern Iowa and 27-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass last week have shown why the sophomore running back continues to carve out more and more playing time.

As for Barney, who tight end Thomas Fidone calls a “jar of lightning,” the freshman has created explosive plays both as a runner and receiver and is averaging 9.8 yards gained with every touch of the ball he gets on offense.

“When you have (players) like that, it opens up everything and it’s huge for us to go out and make those plays,” Fidone said. “Especially when teams play man (defense) it’s hard to cover everyone, especially the big boys.”

While Johnson and Barney lead the way, Nebraska has gotten big gains out of just about every contributor on its offense. Wide receivers Isaiah Neyor and Jaylen Lloyd have both recorded catches of 50 yards or longer, and Jahmal Banks has multiple 20-plus yard grabs.

Fidone and Nate Boerkircher have both provided explosive plays at tight end, running back Dante Dowdell has rumbled for many long gains and freshman Carter Nelson’s gotten in on the action too.

“We’ve had the ability to get the ball to a bunch of different people; you can’t sit there and key in on, ‘Hey, they really like to favor Neyor or they really like to favor this guy,’” Rhule said of Nebraska’s ability to create explosive plays.

In total, 16 different Huskers — including quarterbacks Heinrich Haarberg and Raiola — have created chunk plays of 10 or more yards.

The way Nebraska has created its explosive plays has varied, too, with the bulk of the plays coming in the passing game. Raiola’s big arm has led to plays like Jaylen Lloyd’s 59-yard catch against Northern Iowa, in which his pass traveled 40 yards in the air.

Other big plays have come on simple, short passes from Raiola. In Lloyd’s most recent explosive play against Purdue, he caught a pass at the line of scrimmage before sprinting to the sideline and breaking a tackle on his way to a 25-yard catch-and-run.

“They can win either way, down the field or (with a) catch-and-run,” Raiola said of Nebraska’s pass-catchers. “That’s the beauty of it; you don’t have to force it down the field, you can get them the ball in space and they’ll make plays.”

For all of Nebraska’s success in creating explosive plays through its first five games, the Huskers are about to be tested by an opponent that excels at stopping them from happening. Rutgers ranks in the top 30 nationally in the fewest explosive plays allowed thanks to its status as a “disciplined football team” which avoids making mistakes according to Raiola.

The Scarlet Knights might allow plenty of yards — opponents are gaining 350-plus yards per game this season on average — but they don’t get beat over the top often. That’s due to an aggressive play-making secondary which often features two deep safeties capable of blowing up big plays before they happen.

Rhule said that Rutgers disguises its coverages well and often uses its safeties as run defenders too, crediting Rutgers’ Greg Schiano for building a “well-coached defense.”

“He’s known for elite (defensive back) play and elite defenses,” Rhule said of Schiano.

The Nebraska head coach also said that there’s “no better-coached defensive front you’ll see than the Rutgers D-line,” again stressing the talent present in NU’s upcoming opponent.

But no matter who they’ve played this season, the Nebraska offense has found a way to move the ball and create big plays.

Rutgers may seek to reduce the number of overall chances Raiola and the Husker offense get — but if recent trends continue, Nebraska will be able to break a big gain or two again this Saturday.

“You’re seeing other people now slow the game down, run the ball, try to bleed our defense and try to keep us off the field,” Rhule said. “If we can stay on the field a little bit more, maybe get a few more turnovers from the defense, I think we could really see some explosive things happen. But Rutgers, they don’t give up explosive plays; they make you earn it.”