For the first time in five years, Nebraska football has made it through week one of the season on the right side of the win/loss column.
Dylan Raiola not only lived up to expectations in their first game against UTEP, in many ways he exceeded them.
Changing protections at the line. Reading the defense. Stepping up into the pocket and buying just enough time to convert a 3rd and 11 with a side arm pass to Isaiah Neyor. It was the kind of sorcery that has people comparing him to a certain quarterback down in Kansas City.
The defense did their part, too, perhaps changing the scope of the game. After the Dante Dowdell fumble deep in the red zone, the Blackshirts pinned their ears back. Ty Robinson zipped off the edge, wreaking havoc in the backfield, and Nash Hutmacher, a wall on the goal line, kept the Miners running back from getting out of the endzone.
Safety.
A few plays later, Raiola again found Neyor. This time, a 59 yard drop in the bucket for 6. It was a thing of beauty. The pass, the catch, the balance of Neyor to keep on his feet to find paydirt. All set up by the defense taking adversity on the chin and bailing out a turnover by the offense.
The sequence was something the Nebraska team of last year was devoid of— complementary football. The defense knows how to go and win games on that side of the ball. All of last year, there was a weight on their shoulders to carry the team to victory, an expectation to be perfect because of the constant woes on offense, a learned behavior to be resolute and tenacious. It’s one of the positives to a season most Nebraska fans would like to forget.
In comes Colorado. Under the lights. Memorial Stadium jumping like it hasn’t since the Miami Hurricanes came to town in 2014.
The Buffaloes are not UTEP, and the connection of Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. will be unlike anything the Blackshirts will see all season.
Malcom Hartzog and Deshon Singleton will have to stay over-top of the speedy duo of Hunter and Horn Jr. and limit the big play. Corners Tommi Hill and Marques Buford will have to stay on the hips of the receivers. The secondary as a whole will be crucial to the outcome of this game, but maybe nothing will be more important than the play up front.
If our defensive line can get consistent pressure to Sanders, it will greatly relieve the strain downfield, but getting all the way home to the quarterback will be equally significant. Sanders is extremely dangerous when he gets outside the pocket. He keeps his eyes downfield like a next level guy, and a few extra seconds is all their offense needs to find a lapse in coverage. A big game from a pass rusher like Pricewill Umanmielen or Jimari Butler could be the difference on Saturday night.
On offense, the key will be to establish the run, especially in the trenches. Nebraska has the size advantage on the line, and controlling the time of possession in a game like this would be a massive victory for the Cornhuskers. The Dante Dowdell fumble was unfortunate, and he needs to take better care of the ball, but hard running by him and Gabe Ervin Jr. will set the table for shots down the field.
Last year’s game against Colorado, like many others, was defined by turnovers. There is a confidence in this team that makes me believe we have left that problem in the past. If that’s true, I see a happy Husker Nation when the clock hits 00:00.
Score Prediction: 38-35, Nebraska with the win.
