Huskers Football Recap: HUSKERS 40 UTEP 7 Nebraska Matt Rhule Dylan Raiola

There were actually three instances where fans began to wonder if the Huskers were up to their old tricks:

1) After moving the ball four or five minutes in, the Huskers took back-to-back procedure and offensive PI penalties to put themselves in a 2nd and 30 situation on their own 45.

2) With about three minutes left in the first quarter, the Huskers decided to go for it on 4th and 5 at the UTEP 40. A Raiola pass to Isaiah Neyor came up short by 2 yards.

3) Dante Dowdell who had been impressive early rushed for 12 yards to the UTEP 3, but then fumbled it away at the end of the run.

In past years against most any oppenent, all of these mistakes would have had negative effects and been pointed to after the game as examples of why bowl eligibility had eluded this squad for so long.

Instead:

1) Raiola completed consecutive passes of 19 and 16 yards to Jahmal Banks and Neyor refiring the drive. A few plays later Dowdell would shoot in for a 7-0 lead.

2) Alright, that time it didn’t didn’t work out so well. UTEP scored three plays later to tie the game.

3) Ty Robinson stormed in with host of other Blackshirts for a safety. Two plays later Raiola found Neyor for a 59-yard TD pass on which he unleashed a nifty balancing act to keep his feet before taking it the last few yards. They followed with touchdowns on their final two drives to effectively end the game 30-7 at halftime. Raiola threw for 192 yards and two TD’s and Neyor had five grabs for 109 yards in the first half.

After several years of disappointments in openers, home openers, road openers – hell, opening for Tom Jones impersonators – it was nice to finally tell the B1G to get bent with a conference tilt in Game #1 and throw money at a mid-major for the opener the way the college football gods intended.

UTEP rolled into Lincoln coming off a 3-9 record in 2023 with a wide-open offense and a defense which tended to give up 30+ points more often than not. A solid performance and easy victory in this one would establish some early confidence for a change and leave them waiting for the Buffalos with a jump in their step.

To be fair, a struggle with these guys would have let everyone know we were going to be well and truly f*****d this year, but fortunately the team responded well to those aforementioned blips in the middle of the first half.

After the Huskers tacked on a Gabe Erving TD – his second of the day – following an 11 play 73-yard drive which ate up over five minutes of clock for a 37-7 lead, it was time to send in the backups.

In addition to Raiola and Neyor’s heroics, the running backs split carries evenly and all showed well, the lone error being the Dowdell fumble for which he was consigned to football jail for the rest of the game after appearing to have grabbed lead back duties early on.

And take a look who noticed:

The quarterbacks distributed the ball to 12 different receivers while throwing for 284 yards and two scores.

The Husker defense managed nine tackles for loss and snagged two picks to win the turnover battle and harried UTEP QB’s all day.

Special teams took care of business as Brian Buschini averaged 48.5 yards per punt and Tristan Alvano made his only FG attempt an no XP’s were missed.

The Huskers rolled for 507 yards while holding the Miners to 205. hey averaged over 6 yards per play and 11 yards per completion. While it would’ve been nice to average over 5 yards per rush (4.7), they moved the ball in short yardage situations when they had to.

The Huskers return to Memorial Stadium to face Colorado next Saturday evening.

PRE-GAME NOTES & SIGHTS

• The B1G Availability Report is, as Dodgeball’s Patches O’Houlihan would say, about as dependable as a poopy-filled diaper. But here you go – We know Teddy’s done, am only assuming Gottula’s is not too serious since he was #2 on the depth chart (unless hurt after) and it confirms Blye Hill listed at #3 is not yet full speed.

• Little something that got me going:

• Our QB’s taking a test drive in warm-ups.

Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska Cornhuskers

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