Nebraska’s turnover turnaround is powering wins

Last season, Nebraska turned the ball over 31 times — the most of any FBS program — and finished with a lopsided minus-17 turnover margin which Rhule called a “blemish,” the Husker coaching staff set out to change their fortunes.

“We’ll fix it, we’ll fix it,” Rhule insisted at Big Ten Media Days in July.

Midway through Nebraska’s 2024 season, the Huskers have done just that. Nebraska has turned the ball over just four times and had produced 10 takeaways for a plus-6 turnover margin that’s tied for second-best in the Big Ten and No. 13 nationally.

“It’s been months and months of work,” Rhule said Monday. “We were working on it last year and while it wasn’t coming to fruition, I still think the work we did last year, the work we did this offseason and in training camp has helped.”

Comparing Nebraska’s previous turnover struggles with this year’s team, which has shown few of the same tendencies, marks a clear contrast in the way the Huskers have played. It all starts on offense, where a team that had committed 13 turnovers at the midway point of its 2023 season has trimmed that number to four this time around.

Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola hasn’t shied away from attempting downfield passes or trusting his wide receivers in one-on-one coverage, but he has avoided the simple interceptions that plagued Nebraska in the past.

That is, with the exception of a recent interception against Rutgers where Raiola threw into traffic and was easily picked off by an opposing defender. Raiola’s two other interceptions this season, according to Rhule, weren’t bad throws at all.

“The thing with Dylan is you’re gonna play NFL football with him,” Rhule said in September. “He’s gonna throw the ball to a spot and he’s expecting his guys to go make a play on the ball.”

Raiola’s pace of three interceptions across six games played marks a significant improvement from a Nebraska quarterback room that threw 16 interceptions a year ago — seven from Heinrich Haarberg, six from Jeff Sims and three from Chubba Purdy.

NU’s three-headed monster at quarterback also accounted for nine fumbles last season, with Sims and Haarberg having coughed up four turnovers apiece.

Those struggles in both areas meant that Haarberg averaged one turnover in every 42 snaps he was on the field, while Purdy (36.8 snaps per turnover) and Sims (14.3 snaps per turnover) fared much worse. In contrast, Raiola’s three interceptions across 380 snaps played mean he’s averaged 126.7 snaps per turnover.

Nebraska has only lost one fumble this season, a Dante Dowdell turnover against UTEP in the team’s season opener. The Huskers have played five games without losing a fumble since.

“It’s just the guys; the guys are protecting the football, they’re running violently but still have great ball security,” Rhule said.

Just as Nebraska has made strides in the turnover department on offense, it’s managed to help itself out on defense too. Having forced 14 turnovers across a 12-game slate last season, Nebraska has picked up the pace with 10 takeaways across its first six games.

Six different Huskers have intercepted a pass — junior Malcolm Hartzog has two to his name — and the NU defense has also jarred three fumbles loose.

Nebraska has a long way to go with six games on the horizon that could affect those season totals. But in every aspect of the game, the Huskers aren’t the same team that turned the ball over with reckless abandon and couldn’t get it back in 2023.

Instead, this year’s Nebraska football team put in the work to make sure that didn’t happen again.

“It’s a good example of putting your mind to something and getting it done,” Rhule said.”