Marcus Satterfield on Dylan Raiola and aggressiveness in 2-minute drill

Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield spoke with the media inside the Hawks Championship Center on Tuesday.

This Saturday Satterfield’s offense will take on a Robert Livingston-coordinated Colorado defense that surrendered 449 total yards — 292 passing, 157 rushing — and 26 points to FCS power North Dakota State last Thursday.

Here are a few highlights of Satterfield’s time at the podium:

The whole operation looked good, Satterfield said.

The offense got players on and off the field efficiently. There wasn’t really a procedural penalty problem. There were just three accepted penalties, though the Huskers had two offensive pass interference calls go against them. The offense also converted third downs well — at a 65% clip (11-of-17) — and even rushed for seven first downs, which made Satterfield feel good inside.

“Staying on schedule, that helps. It helps an offense stay on the field and get rhythm and get that feeling that we had on Saturday,” Satterfield said.

As for the in-helmet communication, that went well too. Considering that the offense has been using the helmet radios at practice since last year, Satterfield wasn’t surprised to see it make a positive impact on Saturday.

So, no issues to speak of. Yet.

“Now, electrical and internet? That could probably jump up and get us at some point, but so far, so good,” Satterfield said.

The players and coaches were also able to use tablets/iPads to watch film while on the sideline and press box. Satterfield gets the replay of the play almost a second or two after it’s completed. That’s not how it was when he was in the NFL when the coaches only got to see still images.

“Being in the box, you’re connected to the ethernet, so you instantaneously get it once the whistle blows,” Satterfield said. “A second goes by and there it is, and you can see kind of what’s happening. I think it helped us just improve as the game went on.”

Dylan Raiola met expectations against UTEP, going 19-of-27 for 238 yards and two touchdowns in three-and-a-half quarters. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Satterfield said Raiola checked off three big boxes in his debut: the operation, the rhythm of the offense and taking care of the football. The play-caller understands things can go sideways for a young player making his first start, especially when it’s a moment like Raiola’s, which is unique considering his family connections to the program.

“Talking about a culture of excellence, I mean, he was prepared. He knew exactly where the ball needed to go. He was accurate with the ball, took care of the ball,” Satterfield said. “I was just really excited to see it, because I knew coming up that tunnel walk, that was a lot of years and a lot of memories and a lot of days of anticipation and excitement.

“I was hoping that he was going to be able to come out and just play, you know? Just play like he does. And you get nervous sometimes that a young guy tries to do too much and it’s just too emotional. And he was like a freakin’ surgeon.”

Throughout his years coaching, Satterfield said he’s seen it all in terms of guys practicing one way and playing another when the bright lights are on. Not the case with Raiola, the coach thinks.

“People start to change and do weird things,” Satterfield said. “He didn’t do that. He, if anything, became more focused, as scary as that is. So I thought he got off to a really good start.”

After Kai Wallin’s pressure created the interception opportunity that Malcolm Hartzog cashed in on to give the offense the ball back on its own 41-yard line with 2:05 left before halftime, Raiola made a mistake.

It was a blown read that led to Raiola getting drilled by Sione Tonga’uiha, a 305-pound interior defensive lineman. The hit was so hard that Raiola’s helmet came off.

“The O-line did a great job, kept me clean all game,” Raiola said Tuesday. “The one hit, the one sack I had, was my fault. I didn’t make the read correctly and unfortunately it falls on their (the O-line’s) plate, but I’ll take that one.”

After a Rahmir Johnson run turned a second-and-15 into a third-and-11, Raiola found Isaiah Neyor for a 15-yard gain in the middle of the field. A throw-away on the ensuing first down led to a second-and-10 from the UTEP 46 with 51 seconds left and one timeout.

Play it safe and head into halftime? No way. Raiola has dramatically changed how this program goes about situational football.

Raiola completed an 8-yard pass in bounds to Jahmal Banks to create a third-and-2. Clock ticking. No timeout. None was needed, though, as Raiola was in control.

The quarterback snapped the ball with 28 seconds left on the play clock, and Johnson got the first down. Still, clock ticking. Still, no timeout. None was needed, again.

Everyone was under control because they’ve repped this situation hundreds of times in spring and fall camp, Satterfield said.

A 14-yard completion to Janiran Bonner in the middle of the field was next up. That got the ball down to the UTEP 21. Raiola spiked the ball to stop the clock with 8 seconds left, keeping that timeout in case it was needed on the next throw.

It wasn’t.

Raiola found Banks for a 21-yard touchdown the next play. It was a 2-minute drill ran to perfection.

“We practiced that so much. We were not going to miss an opportunity to go score a touchdown,” Satterfield said. “We trusted our players, trusted our receivers, trusted our O-line, trusted the quarterback, trusted the running backs and protection and decision-making. We were anxious to get to that moment, to where we could go and see if all the work that we’ve done come to fruition.”

Nebraska rushed for 223 yards and 4.7 yards per carry against UTEP. The Big Four running backs in the program right now — Rahmir Johnson, Emmett Johnson, Dante Dowdell and Gabe Ervin Jr. — combined for 200 of those yards.

Leaning on the offensive line and running backs — and not quarterback run game — is going to need to happen at Nebraska with Raiola under center. Satterfield liked what he saw in that department.

“We were able to run the football by handing it off. And that was something I wanted to see — not utilizing as much a quarterback run, just traditionally handing the ball off,” Satterfield said. “I wanted to see what that would look like, and I was very pleased.”

Dowdell especially looked good against UTEP. He made good reads and didn’t mess around, planting one foot in the turf and exploding upfield. However, he was the one who coughed up the ball inside UTEP’s 5-yard line for a turnover.

Sooner or later, the running back room will need to get situated and the coaches will need to decide which ones will get the bulk of the playing time once Big Ten play starts.

“The most productive guys who take care of the football are going to be out,” Satterfield said. “They need to continue to compete this week. They had a great day today of competition. Some guys did things well, some guys didn’t do things well, back and forth. So we’ll keep working throughout the week, and by the end of the week we’ll play who gives us the best chance to run the football and protect the quarterback.”

On Monday, Rhule said Dowdell will play against Colorado. No doghouse.

“Dante’s gonna keep playing,” Rhule said on Monday. “I put Dante back in. Now, he had to sit for a little, he had to feel it for a little bit, but I put him back in.”

As we detailed in this week’s Checkdown column, those arrow routes/tight end screens to Thomas Fidone II weren’t effective against UTEP’s defense. Many fans had hoped to see Fidone get vertical more often instead of being used horizontally.

Satterfield agrees.

“I came out of that game myself… we’ve got to get vertical concepts for those guys, especially Thomas, with his athletic ability,” Satterfield said. “So we have to continue to make an effort to find ways, find different concepts that you know can show his skill set as well.”

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