It wasn’t perfect, but it was a solid showing. Say what you want about Nebraska’s performance against Northern Iowa, I was pleased with the 34-3 win.
“I like being 3-0; there’s nothing that I hate. We’re just going to get better each week. We start Big Ten play, I kind of refer to this as the preseason. In my mind, we’re learning how to win. As I told our team, the narrative of losing close games comes from when you get a lead, not trying to put the game away. The questions I get asked are about ‘Why aren’t you guys doing more of this in the second half,’ well, that’s what led to a lot of close losses. We want to score, get a lead if we can, play defense and run the football. I want everyone to say, why are you guys so boring in the fourth quarter, then, we win,” Rhule said after the game.
The statistics below were gathered from espn.com.
NIU controlled the time of possession.
Northern Iowa came out with a great game plan for controlling the football. NIU possessed the ball for 38 minutes to the Huskers’ 22. The Panthers had 69 plays from scrimmage, while Big Red had only 48, and they still controlled the game. Yes, NIU successfully ran the football but only scored three points. Statistics are important, but the scoreboard is what matters at the end of the day.
No Jimari Butler or Micah Mazzccua.
Defensive lineman Jimari Butler was suited up for the contest last night but did not play a single snap.
“Jimari is just still sore from last week. We got him ready to play, he was warmed up and we were going to start Cam. He was kind of questionable and we got out there and just didn’t have the same pop. I was worried that if I played him, he might get hurt,” Rhule said.
Right guard Micah Mazzccua was out due to a coach’s decision on a personal matter.
“Micah, I will probably address that later, it was a coach’s decision. He’s still with us, he just didn’t play tonight,” Rhule said.
Butler should be good to go this upcoming Friday when the Huskers take on Illinois, but Mazzccua being one of Big Red’s top linemen and not playing is concerning.
Carter Nelson shows his talent.
From eight-man football in Ainsworth, Nebraska, to Division I football player, Carter Nelson scored his first touchdown wearing the Red N. Nelson had the most receptions on the team against NIU, with four receptions for 48 yards and his 24-yard touchdown.
“This is his third game playing with 22 people on the field. He’s growing, and he had a couple of little packages for him, two of them got called early, which is great. One was the red zone call, which was an option route, he won on the option and scored, threw the middle screen to him. I think the sky’s the limit for the things he can do,” Rhule said.
The Blackshirts have only given up 20 points through three games.
Even though NIU had success driving the football down the field, the Blackshirts kept them off the scoreboard. After their opening drive field goal, the defense locked in. Watching the football game, missing tackles was the biggest flaw that I noticed, and Coach Rhule did too.
“I felt like early on we didn’t tackle as well as we normally do. I did like the energy the defense came out with in the second half. That had all the makings as one of those games where if you’re not locked in, the second half they score a touchdown, all of the sudden it looks like a game you’re in control that you’re not. What we’re trying to do is: control games, control games, control games, that’s what good teams do. I felt some of that tonight, Rhule said.
The Blackshirts only had one sack the entire night, but players like defensive lineman Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher were blowing through the line of scrimmage, being triple-teamed. It was good that they got many subs in during the second half, giving the starting defenders rest for the quick turnaround this coming Friday.
Heinrich Haarberg made fans excited.
Heinrich Haarberg got into the game at not just quarterback, but running back and receiver too. It sure was a beauty to see. Raiola had to calm the crowd down cheering “We want Haarberg,” so they could get the snap. Having Haarberg in with Raiola creates so much opportunity for the unknown.
“I think there’s a lot of things we want Heinrich to be able to do. And every time he goes in we just don’t want him to always just be a wildcat quarterback. I was really pleased with when Heinrich got in at quarterback, the way he managed that third down, finding the check down was awesome,” Rhule said.
One of Rhule’s favorite things about having packages for Haarberg is that this takes up more time for the opposing teams to focus on during practice.
“Every time we put a quarterback run on tape, another team has to practice it. They don’t have to necessarily have to work, I just have to chew up 20 minutes of their day, worrying about option and worrying about those things,” Rhule said.
The offense does its job.
I expected the Cornhuskers to air the football out this week against the Panthers, and they sure did. Quarterback Dylan Raiola dropped dimes to his receivers. Raiola’s improvising, like the play where he made the blitzing defender miss on his 59-yard play-action pass to Jaylen Lloyd, speaks volumes.
“It was something I didn’t really expect. I turned around and saw a free runner. I just trusted my technique and Jayeln was open. It was just time to make a play and the play was made. I’m happy for Jaylen that he got that big reception,” Raiola said after the game.
If there ever was a “good interception,” the one Raiola threw in the fourth quarter was a good throw. Raiola threw a beauty 50-50 ball to receiver Lloyd who went up and initially grabbed it but NIU defensive back Fletcher Marshall Jr., ripped the ball out of Lloyd’s hand for the turnover.
The rushing attack didn’t put up crazy statistics on Saturday night but the production was there. Between the top four running backs – Dante Dowdell, Rahmir Johnson, Emmett Johnson and Gabe Ervin Jr. – they only had 15 carries; which makes sense due to the lack of clock NU held. Dowdell had a 38-yard run and Johnson had a 36-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The blue-collar, ground-and-pound football in the second half is Nebraska’s bread and butter. For only having 22 carries on the whole team, 6.5 yards per rush will please fans or coaches.
My overall take.
I was happy to see the Huskers win differently. Yes, NIU is an FCS opponent but what impressed me was how the Cornhuskers proved to win with the same formula – just a different route in doing so. The biggest take from this NU football team is that they are confident when they step on the field. For the past seven years, they have lost or struggled significantly against less-talented teams: that’s not happening anymore.
