Tad Stryker: Even-Keeled Huskers Smack UNI

Enough of the drama already. When you don’t shoot yourself in the foot, things seem a lot more normal, and Nebraska is thriving on normality to open Matt Rhule’s second season.

This is what it looks like when a team in withdrawal from years of self-defeating habits starts to embrace self-discipline instead. Going even-steven in turnover margin and committing just four penalties will keep a team out of a lot of bad situations.

A 34-3 win over FCS school Northern Iowa was a night of contentment, if not inspiration, in Memorial Stadium, although wrapping up the nonconference season with low blood pressure, a 3-0 record and only 20 points allowed by a stingy defense can be pretty exciting if you stop and think for a minute about the alternatives.

UNI (2-1), which kept the ball on the ground much of the night, balanced its offense enough to keep the Blackshirts off balance and moved the ball fairly effectively between the 20s, hung its hat on an impressive 10-minute first-quarter drive that ended in a field goal, seemingly satisfied to leave town with health and pride intact.

Rhule seemed satisfied to wave goodbye to the visitors while presiding over a stable program that’s trending upward.

“We are trying to control games,” Rhule said. “That’s what good teams do. I felt some of that tonight.”

The Blackshirts recovered from a first half of sloppy tackling and did the “bend-but-don’t-break” routine that most people were anticipating last week against Colorado, allowing 301 total yards but no touchdowns. The Panthers’ main goal appeared to be avoiding getting pushed around by the Big Red, and they seemed content to burn clock in the second half even while trailing by three scores.

“The challenge was to come in here and go toe to toe with you,” said veteran UNI coach Mark Farley. “And I thought we did that.”

Meanwhile, NU scored on its first three possessions as quarterback Dylan Raiola tossed touchdown passes to Carter Nelson and Isaiah Neyor. The Raiola-to-Nelson score, a 24-yarder, was the Huskers’ first true-freshman-to-true-freshman touchdown pass since Adrian Martinez and Maurice Washington hooked up for a score in the season finale at Iowa in 2018. Raiola threw his first interception as a Husker, but now has five touchdown passes and a 73.7 completion percentage to more than make up for that pick. He has avoided pass rushers and problems like a seasoned veteran, and was up to the challenge when the Panthers forced him to throw to move the ball early.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield appears to be willing to risk using Raiola as a ball carrier on a limited basis when the reward is high enough. Raiola crossed up the Panthers when he pulled the ball on a read option and dashed 15 yards and out of bounds for a first down on the opening play of the second quarter, just before throwing an 18-yard scoring pass to Neyor on a crossing route.

Raiola completed 13 of 16 passes in the first half and four of seven in the second. He used a host of pass receivers, including Nelson, who had four receptions, and Heinrich Haarberg, who appeared in the offense with Raiola, and also briefly ran the wildcat formation a couple of plays. Haarberg moved the ball better with his arm than his legs, but the wildcat is on film now for opponents to prepare for.

Nebraska rode its early lead and leaned on its defense, which went without starting linebacker Mikai Gbayor in the first half while he served his sentence for targeting against CU. Isaac Gifford and John Bullock led a steady defensive effort with 10 and nine tackles, respectively.

Meanwhile, Nebraska used more than 70 players. Rhule, who improved his record as Husker coach to 8-7, seemed most excited about the performance of his second-team offense, which scored a fourth-quarter touchdown on Emmett Johnson’s 36-yard run, and his second-team defense, which kept UNI out of the end zone in the game’s final minute.

Still, there are concerns for Nebraska, which likely will be a slight favorite when it hosts Illinois in a rare Friday night home game that most likely will be a four-quarter battle.

The Huskers have a short-range field goal kicker. It’s hard to say what Tristan Alvano can do beyond 35 yards, because Rhule opted not to give him a 42-yard try when the Huskers’ two-minute drive bogged down. It didn’t appear to be an injury-related move, because he was used to kick off several times. Why Rhule and Ed Foley allow Alvano to kick off but not try 40-yard field goals is a mystery that can’t be blamed on an erratic long snapper.

Another concern for the Big Red is tight end Thomas Fidone’s ongoing absence from the vertical passing game. Fidone caught a pair of short screens, but has problems getting his body turned upfield in traffic. It’s said that a good tight end is a young quarterback’s best friend, but luckily, at this early stage in his career, Raiola appears to be comfortable mingling with his entire crowd of pass receivers. With maturity beyond his years, he comes just as advertised, which gives this Husker team a sense of calm purpose.

Just what a recovering football program would like to see as it strives to put some distance between itself and a near-decade of bad memories. Rhule has said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t put much stock in curses or bad karma that many have claimed hovers around Lincoln. And it sure helps when your quarterback shares that belief.

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