While it didn’t live up to some of the big expectations set upon the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2025, the Huskers’ 20-17 season-opening win over Cincinnati gave reason for hope in head coach Matt Rhule’s third season in Lincoln.
Quarterback Dylan Raiola showed restraint and discipline in a 33-for-42, 243-yard performance that saw him connect with new receivers Nyziah Hunter and Dane Key for one touchdown each. Plus, Emmett Johnson exploded for 135 all-purpose yards in a workhorse outing. The Blackshirts slowed down dynamic dual-threat quarterback Brendan Sorsby to only 69 yards passing, but Nebraska’s rushing defense became something to watch going forward as the Bearcats were able to average 6.7 yards per rush with 202 yards on 30 carries.
All in all, while it could’ve been a cleaner win over Cincinnati, a one possession win for NU provides a great foundation to build on for the rest of nonconference play, which continues under the Saturday night lights.
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Here’s all you need to know as the Huskers open up their home slate with a visit from Akron Saturday night in Lincoln.
How to Follow Along
Akron Scout
Head Coach
Joe Moorhead | 4th season at Akron; 10th as HC | 8-29 (.216) Record at Akron; 60-54 (.526) Career Record | Patriot League Coach OTY (2013) | Patriot League Championship (2014) | Previous HC at Mississippi State & Fordham| Previous assistant stops at Oregon, Penn State, UConn, Akron, Georgetown & Pittsburgh.
2024 Finish
2024 Record & Awards
4-8 (3-5 MAC, 8th) | 2x All-MAC First Team, 2x Second Team, 1x Third Team.
All-Time Series
Returning Production
Key Departures
Top Returners
Impact Transfers/Newcomers
Outlook
For the second-straight week, Nebraska will face a program under pressure to perform in 2025 – otherwise, a change in leadership may be in store come December. Under head coach Joe Moorhead, Akron hasn’t looked much different than his predecessor in terms of record. With season records of 2-10, 2-10, and 4-8 in three seasons, little progress has been made under Moorhead, who created explosive offenses in his previous stops at Oregon and Penn State as the OC.
The Zips were 11th out of the 12 schools in the MAC in scoring (20.4), but have some hope in the fact that starter quarterback Ben Finley returns for another season after throwing for over 2,600 yards and 16 touchdowns as Akron finished fifth in the conference in passing. Finley will have to rely upon a new crop of running backs after the team’s three leading rushers from 2024 all transferred. Stepping in are redshirt freshman Sean Patrick, Tennessee State transfer Jordan Grant, and second-year Zip Marquese Williams, who once transferred from Minnesota.
Leading receiver Adrian Norton was named All-MAC Second Team after racking up 831 yards and seven touchdowns, but he took his talents to Marshall. The additional departures of Bobby Golden (Louisville), Ahmarian Granger, and Charles Kellom (Eastern Illinois) mark that four of the team’s leading pass catches from 2024 are gone. However, Akron carries plenty of experience at tight end with its top three players back, including Jake Newell, who had 254 yards and two scores last season.
Keylen Davis, Delvin Morris, and Colin Lyons return on the offensive line, but that group has been a rotating cast with seven transfers and newcomers also battling for playing time. Of those seven, only two have previous experience at a Group of Five school.
Like most MAC schools, Akron was pillaged in the portal with its standouts, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive linemen CJ Nunnally IV broke out for his best season in college with team highs in TFLs (11.0), sacks (6.0), quarterback hurries (5), and fumble recoveries en route to being named to the All-MAC First Team. Barry Odom and Purdue pulled him in the transfer portal away for his final season. The same can be said for the Zips’ 2024 tackling leader, Bryan McCoy Jr. (120 total), who transferred to Stillwater to help Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State for a bounce-back season in 2025.
Akron lost three more players up front to graduation, including Bennett Adler, who was second on the team in both TFLs (7.0) and sacks (3.0) while also having a team-high five quarterback hurries. The secondary was also cleaned out with All-MAC Third Team member Paul Lewis III graduating after collecting 77 tackles and seven TFLs. Darrian Lewis piled up 74 tackles, six pass breakups, three TFLs, and one interception in 12 games while Devonte Golden-Nelson led the Zips with seven pass breakups – both transferred to join Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia.
Moorhead will lean upon the program’s development to replace most defensive starters, but his staff dipped into the portal to grab defensive end Cyrus Durham (Arizona), DT Julien Laventure (Penn West-California), and former Kent State DB Alex Branch.
Akron revamped its special teams unit after losing All-MAC First Team punter Avery Book to graduation and kicker Garrison Smith transferring to FAU. Brayden Johnson joins the Zips for his graduate student season after averaging 41.6 yards per punt in two seasons at Bethel College. Owen Wiley utilized his redshirt last season and now steps in as the starting kicker.
Voted to finish 11th in the MAC’s preseason coaches poll, the 2025 season looks to be another tough one for Moorhead and Akron, who were blanked by Wyoming 10-0 at home in last week’s season opener. The Zips were outgained 426-228 by the Cowboys while only going 3-for-15 on third down conversions.
After facing a Cincinnati defense that limited Nebraska’s downfield throwing opportunities, expect to see Raiola and his receiving group ball out with a big game through the air in what should be a blowout win in NU’s first home game of the season.
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