During Nebraska’s season opener against Cincinnati, Arrowhead Stadium was packed with nearly 70,000 fans waiting for that first big play to lift the roof off, but it never really came.
The biggest Nebraska offensive play by quarter in the 20-17 Husker win over Cincinnati went as follows:
1st Quarter: 11-yard Emmett Johnson rush, 11-yard Dane Key reception
2nd Quarter: 24-yard Nyziah Hunter reception
3rd Quarter: 16-yard Emmett Johnson rush
4th Quarter: 19-yard Luke Lindenmeyer reception
Some of it could be credited to Cincinnati’s defense with multiple high safeties keeping Nebraska contained underneath, but Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen admitted some of the blame needs to go to the Huskers as well.
“We had the ball three times in the open field and fell down,” Holgorsen said. “I saw people falling down out there (Wednesday). It’s staying on your feet, being athletic, making people miss. It’s the emphasis of where I’m at right now, because we have to become more explosive. Right now, we’re just not.”
Nebraska did what it needed to in the 20-17 win, however, and a lot of the credit went to sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola.
“He did what we asked him to do,” Holgorsen said of Raiola. “I didn’t want to start forcing things downfield into eight people covering. That was the game plan. It’s a combination of what the game plan was but also downfield blocks, springing people.”
It also shouldn’t be lost on anyone following the team that this was the first time Nebraska and its significant haul of transfers all took the field together for the first time. Receiving stars Nyziah Hunter and Dane Key saw their first competition with an “N” on their helmet, as did the likes of special teams standouts Kyle Cunanan and Archie Wilson. Several players were getting a fit for playing as a team while also trying to get a good fit on their opponent.
During his Wednesday media briefing, Holgorsen said he’s not letting that or anything else become an excuse for the team’s inability to get vertical against Cincinnati.
“We’re going to keep harping on that,” Holgorsen said. “How do you fix that? One is the structure of the defense that we played and what the gameplan was that allowed us to win. Two, we have to do a better job of blocking down the field and getting people downfield.”
As for Raiola, he’s throwing the ball to a whole new cast of characters, and given the lack of game experience with his new targets, he fared pretty well. Raiola threw two touchdowns in the win, fittingly to his new targets in both Hunter and Key. In total, he went 33-of-42 through the air with those two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Even if bottled up, Raiola found the winning formula against the Bearcats.
“My role is to read the defense, and if it allows me to push the ball down the field and if not, get the ball in play and let my guys catch and run; they do that very well,” Raiola said. “Like (Coach Holgorsen) always says routine plays – routine plays lead to x plays, and x plays lead to first downs, and first downs lead to touchdowns.”
Right now, Holgorsen and the offense are frustratingly in the routine plays portion of that equation. It also means there isn’t a shortage of things to work on for a Nebraska football team that now faces a two-game stretch where they may be able to work on a few things they might not have in the opener.
Up next is a showdown with an Akron team that fell to Wyoming 10-0 in their season opener. Following that, NU takes on FCS foe Houston Christian. The game isn’t played on paper for a reason, but Nebraska will not only be looking to secure wins earlier than they did against Cincinnati, but they also hope to iron out the kinks that held them back from a more comfortable win in week one.
“We have to do a better job of getting people downfield, and we have to do a better job of staying on our feet and making people miss,” Holgorsen said after watching the game tape of the team’s win against Cincinnati. “We made somebody miss six times out of 64 times. We’re going to work hard on that.”
That work is well underway in practice this week in Lincoln — a city Nebraska won’t have to leave until Oct. 11 when they travel to take on Maryland. The extra time at home is expected to give the team plenty of time to draw up better game plans to spring players free.
Unlike last year, where Raiola did a lot more listening, the now sophomore is helping lead by example on the field — and has been given a lot more freedom to make his own checks at the line if needed.
“I love it,” Raiola said. “It gives us the best ability to make plays happen. For that to happen, all our guys have to be focused and know what we’re doing, so kudos to them. It doesn’t mean anything if I know it all and they don’t, but they know everything I’m thinking. It’s pretty cool to have that much freedom.”
We’ll see if that freedom leads to more open space in just a few short days.
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