Nebraska’s Satterfield, Raiola talk in-helmet communication

Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield was loud and clear against UTEP. Just how he and freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola practiced.

This season is college football’s introduction to helmet communication — where one player on the field, with a green dot on the back of their helmet, can hear a coach until the ball is snapped or the play clock hits 15 seconds.

The Huskers’ first in-game crack at it came in their season-opening 40-7 win over the Miners on Saturday, and they did not have problems with it on either end. Neither Satterfield nor Raiola.

“We’ve been doing it since last spring, so it’s really nothing new,” Satterfield said during Tuesday’s media availability. “It becomes just the way that we communicate every day. We do it every day in practice, every single period, every single scrimmage.”

The NU offense did not have anybody staring at the sideline and awaiting a signaled play call. Opponents can’t pick up on what Satterfield is saying like they could a signal. A roaring crowd of 86,072 — a favorable one at home — never kept Raiola from hearing Satterfield.

“Oh, I loved it. It was great. No issues with it,” said Raiola, who went 19 of 27 with 238 yards and two touchdowns in his college debut. “It’s cool. It’s a nice advantage for the quarterbacks in college football.”

And it saved the Huskers time and got them into the end zone against UTEP.

Malcolm Hartzog Jr. intercepted a pass that gave NU’s offense the ball on its 41-yard line with 2:05 left before halftime. Raiola swiftly marched the Huskers downfield and capped a nine-play, 59-yard drive with an off-platform touchdown pass to wideout Jahmal Banks to go up 23-7.

Satterfield said they would have likely had the same success if he was not in Raiola’s ear. But the helmet communication helped. When seconds mattered, Satterfield did not have to waste any on saying a lengthy call.

It was short and sweet — and it worked.

“Certain situations, we have words that explain situations. So there’s not a lot of talking,” said Satterfield.

“(Rhule) has done an unbelievable job — starting in the spring, through the summer, into fall camp — of creating situational football. As little as, not just that 2-minute, but what we’re doing on third- and fourth downs and the communications that’s layers and layers ahead of before you even have to make a decision, is what allowed us to have success.”

Rhule and Satterfield did not hide their Week 1 plan for the running backs. All four were going to play, they both said, and that is exactly what happened.

But that will not — can’t — be an every-week thing moving forward, and it seemingly won’t be. Someone will emerge from a group of Emmett Johnson, Dante Dowdell, Rahmir Johnson and Gabe Ervin Jr.

“The most productive guys that take care of the football are gonna be out there,” Satterfield said. “We’ll keeping working throughout the week, and by the end of the week we’ll play whoever gives us the best chance to run the football and protect the quarterback.”

Rahmir Johnson, who started against UTEP, had a team-high 11 carries for 50 yards, but the touches were evenly split for the most part.

Dowdell was in a rhythm before fumbling at the goal line. Emmett Johnson’s game-best 42-yard run showed his explosiveness, and Ervin, who scored twice on six touches, looked to be the go-to guy in short-yardage situations.

Colorado hasn’t been known for its defense through the first 13 games of the Deion Sanders era. The Buffaloes allowed the 10th-most points (34.8) in the country last year, but they made sweeping changes on that side of the ball after adding 42 transfers this offseason.

Now, CU’s defense is what Satterfield would call a “pro-style defense.”

The Huskers’ OC pointed to the Buffs athletic corners, such as star two-way player Travis Hunter, at the heart of a defense Satterfield said he thinks covers really well. And, he added, CU has big, long defensive line that can effectively get to the quarterback.

“It’s gonna be an issue,” Satterfield said. “We have to have a nice week of preparation, as coaches and players, to make sure we’re executing at the highest level on Saturday night.”

Satterfield was impressed with the offensive line’s production against UTEP. An experienced, cohesive group paved the way for one of the program’s better offensive days in recent memory.

The Huskers finished with 40 points and 507 yards of total offense, both their highest since the barnburner of a loss to Georgia Southern in early 2022. NU allowed only one sack — which Raiola took the blame for.

“But other than that,” Satterfield said, “I thought they did a tremendous job — with Dylan’s help — of making sure we’re moving in the right direction, to the right people that are rushing to get that protection.”

And NU posted 223 yards rushing on Saturday for their first game with 200-plus on the ground since last year’s Week 4 win over Louisiana Tech.

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