Nebraska football defeats Colorado: The Report Card

Dante Dowdell rewarded Nebraska coaches for sticking with him after last week’s fumble, running for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Rahmir Johnson looks as dangerous as ever, too, both in the run game and as one of Dylan Raiola’s favorite pass targets. A pecking order is being established in NU’s backfield, and it starts with Johnson and Dowdell.

The Patrick Mahomes comparisons aren’t going anywhere for Dylan Raiola. Not if he makes passes like the one he did Saturday, scrambling out of the pocket to his right before launching deep to his left, where Jaylen Lloyd came back to the ball and caught it for a 36-yard reception that set up one of Dowdell’s TDs. Raiola continues to be impressive. He completed 23 of 30 passes for 185 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers. If his fourth-quarter pooch punt would have stayed out of the end zone, the place would have erupted.

No one expected the Buffaloes to make much hay in the run game, and they didn’t. Colorado tried to run it up the middle on a shotgun run on fourth-and-2 in the first half, and Dallan Hayden ran right into Nebraska’s Mikai Gbayor. Inexplicably, the Buffs tried the same play on another fourth-and-short situation later in the game. This time it was John Bullock who came up with the big tackle.

It’s hard to complete a pass with your back turned away from your receivers. Just ask Shedeur Sanders, who had to spin and run away from the likes of Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher all night. Tommi Hill expertly read Sanders’ mind for one of the easier pick-sixes of his life, much to the delight of the 1994 championship team, which set up shop on the sideline near where Hill caught the ball. Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn showed bursts of talent, but the Buffs were pretty well neutralized. 

Down 21-0, Colorado desperately needed any semblance of momentum as it lined up for a routine 29-yard field goal. Nope. Robinson and DeShon Singleton teamed up to block Alejandro Mata’s kick, and the party was on at Memorial Stadium. Tristan Alvano made all of his extra-point attempts but missed a 32-yarder he really should have made. 

Mikai Gbayor was called for targeting on Sanders in the fourth quarter, meaning he was disqualified for the rest of the game and the first half of next week’s game. That was the biggest blemish in this area for the Huskers, who did come a little unbuttoned in the third quarter with back-to-back penalties. Those infractions set the Huskers up with a second-and-24, which was no problem on this night.

The Huskers’ best play call of the game resulted in an incomplete pass. Lloyd, the speedster, lined up at wide receiver on Raiola’s left side and then motioned to the right before the snap. Raiola rolled to his right and had a wide-open Lloyd streaking down the field but just barely overthrew him. Look for that play again sometime down the road.

Sure, Nebraska could have put its foot down in the second half and turned this game into a bonafide blowout. Still, there was really never a doubt as the Huskers steamrolled their way to a signature win — and a shiny 2-0 record in Matt Rhule’s second go-round.