After the Colorado game, Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule said his team is not at a place where it can look past opponents.  

In a similar vein, Nebraska is not at a place where fans can – or, at least, should – nitpick the team’s performance. Yes, Northern Iowa used its ground-and-pound offense to control the pace of the game and the time of possession.  Sure, I was hoping the defense would be more dominant against an FCS team.  And for the third straight game, the second half offense was very pedestrian.  

But I don’t care. 

The Huskers are 3-0, have yet to trail in a game, and really have not been tested. There’s speed and potential all across the offense.  The defense has all-conference caliber playmakers at all three levels.  For every negative we can find on special teams, I can point out a positive. 

So, I’m not going to sound a doom-and-gloom siren when NU is playing some of its best ball in almost a decade. I’m just not.  If somebody on a call-in show, Twitter, or message board tries to spin a yarn about how the Huskers “underachieved” on Saturday, ignore them. 

That Northern Iowa team was a solid squad.  I believe the Panthers would be capable of beating some recent Husker teams – especially the ones that lacked defensive (and/or mental) toughness or lived to give away “close” games in the final minutes.   

Instead, the 2024 Huskers took the opening kickoff down for a touchdown.  Even though the Blackshirts allowed a field goal on the following possession, the offense answered with another 75-yard touchdown drive.  After that, the game was essentially over. 

But now things get serious. 

The schedule – viewed all summer as “easy” – is suddenly challenging.  A ranked Illinois squad is coming to town Friday.  Upstart Indiana will be ready to ambush the Huskers in a month.  Nebraska is not at a place where it can just show up and expect to win. 

Someday, I promise you can stomp and snort because Nebraska won by “only” 31 points.  But we’re not there yet. 

For now, we gladly accept wins and know that the coaching staff will spend the week working to correct all the things we saw – and dozens of others we did not. 

Things I believe 

Matt Rhule is not concerned about “style points”.  The Huskers could have won this game by much more if they wanted to.  It was clear they took their foot off the gas when they could have run up the score.  They could have brought Dylan Raiola out for another drive instead of going to the bench. 

I said a version of this after UTEP, and repeated myself after Colorado.  And I’ll say it again after Northern Iowa. 

I don’t think Rhule sees an upside in winning a game by 14, 21, or 42 points.  The win is more important than the margin of victory.  He’s going to be okay with coasting to the finish line – relying on an experienced offense line, a stable of good backs, and a beast of a defense to close out games. 

In a “developmental program”, Rhule understands that it is much better to get the reserves some live snaps instead of trying to pad stats or cover the spread.  By my count, 76 Huskers played Saturday.  On a young team, that matters more than any style point. 

Raiola’s deep ball to Jaylen Lloyd told me a lot about this team.  Halfway through the second quarter, Nebraska had first down on their own 31-yard line.  Dylan Raiola fakes a handoff to Rahmir Johnson and rolls to his right.  A Panther cornerback on a blitz is coming untouched directly at Raiola.  Dylan does a little stutter step, and the corner is rolling on the turf empty handed. 

Jaylen Lloyd, who had started in the slot near the blitzing cornerback, went sprinting down the middle of the field at the snap.  At the same time as Raiola was evading the sack, Lloyd cut his route toward the corner in front of the safety, whose eyes are locked on the scrambling QB.  When Raiola sees his receiver and starts to throw, nobody is within 10 yards of Lloyd.  Rahmir Johnson is about 25 yards behind Lloyd. 

Raiola rears back and throws.  The ball is not perfect – Lloyd has to stop, slipping a little as he makes the catch.  Meanwhile, Rahmir has pressed the turbo button and is sprinting as fast as I’ve ever seen him move, looking for somebody to block.  Lloyd is tackled on the 10 after a 59-yard gain. 

I absolutely love everything about this play – and have been watching it on a loop.  Dylan subtly evading a sack while keeping his eyes up to find an open receiver.  Lloyd’s track speed and greatly improved receiver skills to bring in the pass.  And my favorite part: Rahmir absolutely selling out to try to get his teammate into the end zone. 

When you can combine raw athleticism, speed, and selfless desire, good things will happen. 

That’s about as good an outcome as you can get against an FCS opponent.  Ever since Ameer Abdullah delayed Bo Pelini and Nebraska from being a national laughingstock, I’ve firmly believed that FCS games are all risk and no reward.  FBS vs FCS games tend to be one of three outcomes: 

1. A blowout romp that is less productive than the spring scrimmage, such as Nebraska vs. Idaho State, 2012. 
2. An uncomfortably close win that serves as a harbinger for future struggles.  The aforementioned McNeese State game fits this category.
3. An embarrassing loss.  Appalachian State over #5 Michigan.  North Dakota State over #13 Iowa.  Montana over #20 Washington.  Thankfully, NU has avoided this trap. 

Northern Iowa has 12 wins over FBS / Division I opponents since 1985.  They were less intimidated by Nebraska’s environment than Colorado or UTEP.  The Panthers had a strong game plan and stuck to it. 

It wasn’t a behind-the-woodshed beating, but Nebraska did what they needed to do to win comfortably.  They were able to get the starters out early – very important with a short week ahead – and appeared to come out of the game fairly healthy. 

I’m not sure what else you can ask for against an FCS team. 

Things I don’t know 

What happens when NU gets punched in the mouth?  In all three games, NU has come out swinging, landing early knockouts against UTEP and Colorado. Northern Iowa stood in the longest, but the game was still over before halftime.  

At some point – possibly as soon as Friday night – an opponent is going to be the aggressor.  They’re going to (metaphorically) punch the Huskers in the face.  Or they’ll refuse to be crushed like a grape if Nebraska goes up by 10 points.   

It’s Big Ten time, boys and girls.  The majority of teams in this league are not going to lay down – especially for a Nebraska team that still is viewed as an outsider. 

What will happen when other teams stand their ground?  Will NU keep swinging?  Will they get tight and press, making silly mistakes?  Or, heaven forbid, will they fall down?  

The answer to this question will determine what the ceiling is for this team. 

What’s going on with the red zone play calling?  In the second half, Nebraska had two straight possessions that got into the UNI red zone.  Both stalled out, resulting in short field goal attempts. 

Without getting into the individual play calls, I think Nebraska got a little too cute on Saturday, especially considering the opponent is from a lower division.  An inside handoff to Janiran Bonner that we haven’t seen before.  Dylan Raiola trying a keeper.  And a lot of Heinrich Haarberg – either as the primary option or as a decoy.    

I can understand showing some of the Haarberg package to make future opponents have to account for it.  But I also understand lining up and running power at an FCS team.  I’m glad Thomas Fidone got a touch in the red zone (a six-yard gain down to the 1), but I’d like to see him utilized more as well. 

Where is the cutoff for where Nebraska trusts its FG kickers?  We talked about this last week, as Nebraska chose went for a few fourth down opportunities against Colorado instead of trying kicks well beyond 50 yards.   

On Saturday, we got a better indication when the Huskers went for it on 4th & 3 from the 25.  That suggests that the trust zone is inside of 42 yards.  

Later in the game, Rhule opted to have Tristan Alvano kick short field goals (from 31 and 21 yards).  Maybe that’s the football equivalent of having a cold 3-point shooter make some layups in hopes of getting hot from distance. 

Huskerigami Update 

A “Huskerigami” is a final score combination (win or lose) that has never happened in the 130+ year history of Nebraska football. 

Final score:  34-3 

Is that a Huskerigami?  No… but it was darn close.  There have two previous 34-3 games.  The first time was a win over Iowa State in 1979.  The most recent was a loss at Michigan in 2022. 

Had Northern Iowa scored a touchdown on its final possession we would have had a Huskerigami (34-9, 34-10, and 34-11 are all open).  But the backups stopped the Panthers two yards shy of the end zone on 4th and goal. 

For the record, the Huskerigami committee will always root for NU’s defense to get a stop and was doing so Saturday night. 

5 Things I loved 

1. John Bullock.  The senior linebacker is playing at a very high level.  He flies around the field making tackles, disrupting plays, and being an impact player. 
2. Dylan Raiola.  It’s only Week 3, but I’ve already several moments where I see him do something – an effortless pass, a little slide step to avoid a blitz (and make his uncle look good), or his ridiculous poise – and I just laugh and think about how I still can’t believe that he’s here and appears to be as good as advertised. 
3. Rahmir Johnson.  Aside from the impressive hustle play we discussed earlier; I’ve been loving Rahmir’s start to his senior season.  He’s becoming one of the best receivers out of the backfield since Marlon Lucky almost 20 years ago.  I’m excited for him to take one to the house.
4. Carter Nelson.  The true freshman from Ainsworth, playing in just his third 11-man football game, led NU with four catches for 48 yards and a 24-yard touchdown.  You can see why the staff has been so high on him.  His future is bright.
5. Heinrich Haarberg.  I’m guessing it has been a few years since a Husker carried the ball, threw it, and caught it in the same game.  While I like seeing Haarberg out there as part decoy, part red zone threat, he’s on this list for his passing.  A perfect 3 for 3 on Saturday, bringing his season total to 8 for 8.  Yes, that’s all in garbage time but he’s clearly improved as a passer.  

Honorable mention:  Isaac Gifford, Jacory Barney, Jr., Ty Robinson, Emmett Johnson, Malcom Hartzog, Jr., Tristan Alvano, Derek Branch, Mason Goldman, Jaylen Lloyd, Stefon Thompson, Aidan Flege, Jacob Bower, Will Compton, night games in Memorial Stadium. 

5 Areas for improvement 

1. Tackling.  Let’s give credit to Amauri Pesek-Hickson and Tye Edwards, two good backs (and former three-star recruits).  They were patient runners who ran hard and were absolute loads to bring down.  But I doubt Tony White was thrilled with the number of missed tackles and yards after contact.
2. Special Teams.  The third phase remains a mixed bag.  Not much happening on NU’s punt returns, and a roughing the kicker penalty extended a UNI drive.
3. Forced fumbles.  I’d like to see the defense knock the ball out more than what we’ve seen through three games.
4. “Dylan Raiola needs to stop copying Patrick Mahomes”.  We need to stop with the tired “somebody needs to tell Dylan to stop copying Mahomes” takes.  For as great as he is, Patrick Mahomes did not invent jumping up and down before a sporting event.  And if Dylan is doing it to copy him, why should anybody care?  It is a stupid argument made by stupid people looking for attention.  Don’t give it to them.
5. Game pace.  Thanks largely to Northern Iowa pounding the rock and burning clock (a great podcast name by the way), the first quarter went by in about 35 minutes.  Unfortunately, that meant full media timeouts during every dead ball for the rest of the night.  A game against an FCS team isn’t going to be a ratings bonanza.  It’s okay if we get things wrapped up in two and a half hours. 

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Heinrich Haarberg is not the starting quarterback for Nebraska football.

Unless you’ve been under a rock since the midway point of the 2023 season, this isn’t a surprise. But that fact doesn’t stop the Nebraska native from being a threat to defenses when he gets on the field with the first team offense.

Haarberg got on the field early against Northern Iowa, first lining up in the backfield next to quarterback Dylan Raiola. Haarberg floated into the flat to the right and Raiola threw to fellow freshman Carter Nelson on a screen. On the next play, Haarberg split out wide to the left. Again, Raiola found Nelson, this time on an option route that Nelson took into the end zone.

Two plays, two uses as essentially a decoy.

“I think there’s a lot of things that we want Heinrich to be able to do,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said after the game. “Every time he goes in, we don’t just want him to be a Wildcat quarterback.”

And yet, most playmakers aren’t getting the ball simply by being on the field. As matter of fact, Haarberg being on the field is for more than just that particular game.

“We’d like to get a little bit more out of the quarterback run part of it, but I’ll be honest, one thing I’ve learned: every time we put a quarterback run on tape, another team has to practice it,” Rhule said. “(The plays) don’t necessarily have to work. I just have to chew up 20 minutes of (the opponent’s) time each day, worrying about option and worrying about those things.

“Because we can run all the options with Heinrich. We can get under center still and run belly G-option. I need (the opponents) practicing that, because that’s less time they’re practicing the other stuff that we’re doing.

Haarberg’s full use as a football player came in a spurt in the third quarter.

The Husker junior lined up to the left of Raiola, running an angle route out of the backfield and making a catch for eight yards. On the next play, he lined up to the right of Raiola and ran the ball to the left for five yards. On the final play of the sequence, Raiola split wide while Haarberg lined up in shotgun behind the center to run a quarterback power to the left for one yard.

“We all have our own traits and we have a lot of talented people on this team,” Haarberg said. “Trying to get everyone the ball that we can.”

His QB1 enjoyed having the athletic veteran on the field at the same time.

“Love seeing him make plays,” Raiola said. “We all knew he was capable of it.”

Haarberg also got some run in the fourth quarter with Raiola pulled from the game due to the large lead.

“What I was really pleased with Heinrich was when he got in at quarterback, the way he managed that third down, (to) find the check down was awesome,” Rhule said. “They were bringing a lot of zero blitz. He checked, they checked, he reloaded it on the long touchdown run.”

That touchdown run was from 36 yards by Emmett Johnson late in the fourth quarter.

At the end of the game, Haarberg was 3-for-3 passing for 34 yards, adding seven yards on the ground and a catch for eight yards. Opposing defenses may want to spend more than 20 minutes on what Haarberg can do on the football field.

MORE: LOOK: Photos From Nebraska Football’s 34-3 Win Over Northern Iowa

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Northern Iowa attacked Nebraska’s defense with everything they had. They found early success on Saturday night and chewed up over 10 minutes on its opening drive.

The problem was that they went against Dylan Raiola and the Husker offense on the other sideline. Raiola’s presence makes games like this much more comfortable if you are a Husker fan. He executes nearly every throw, and he always sees the open man.

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“We had three possessions and we scored on three possessions,” head coach Matt Rhule said following his team’s 34-3 win over Northern Iowa. “(Northern Iowa) did a great job in that they used up 10 minutes on that first drive. They were literally just sitting in the huddle, looking to the sideline.”

On a night when the Blackshirt defense was off-balanced at times, Raiola and the offense made quick work of its opportunities. The Huskers had 256 yards of offense on its first four possessions, including touchdown scoring drives of 75, 75 and 80 yards to open the game.

Raiola’s final line of the game was 17-of-23 for 247 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

“Coach (Marcus) Satterfield was just dialing it up,” Raiola said. “He knows the strengths of his players, he knows what we’re good at, and he allows us to capitalize on what we’re good at.”

The win over the Panthers gives the Huskers its first perfect 3-0 non-conference start to a season since 2016.

Rhule and his team must turn around on a short week for a potential ranked-on-ranked match-up against Illinois on Friday. There has not been a ranked vs. ranked match-up at Memorial Stadium since the 2014 season.

“I like being 3-0,” Rhule said. “There’s nothing that I hate. We are just going to get better each week. We start Big Ten play. I refer to this as the preseason. In my mind, we are learning how to win. I told our team that the narrative of losing close games comes from when you get the lead, not trying to put the game away.’

Now on to the breakdown…

What I saw on Saturday

***Offensive lineman Micah Mazzccua was a scratch on Saturday vs. Northern Iowa. He was not seen on the sidelines. Henry Lutovsky got the start at right guard in his place.

Rhule said Mazzccua was out for a coach’s decision and he would expand more on it later.

***We saw linebacker Mikai Gbayor on the field in the first defensive series after being suspended for the first half from a targeting call last week. Syracuse transfer Stefon Thompson got the start in his place.

***The 1890 Nebraska logo was not on the field this week against Northern Iowa after being prominently placed on each 25-yard line a week ago. I’m told it will be something NU showcases at different times, but it won’t be permanently on the field for each game.

***NU wasted no time getting freshman wide receiver Carter Nelson on the field after not seeing an offensive snap a week ago. Nelson caught two passes for 38 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown on NU’s opening scoring drive. You could really see the big picture of what Nelson is going to be in this offense and the match-up problems he’s going to cause opposing defenses.

***We saw Heinrich Haarberg come into the game for three plays, in which he played three different positions. Haarberg caught a pass, carried the ball as a running back, and lined up as a quarterback for another running play. I’m sure Illinois’s coaching staff will enjoy the extra prep time that set of plays will give them now that they are on a short week traveling to Lincoln. Rhule even commented about why they do some of those things on offense in the post-game.

***We saw another spectacular fourth-quarter light show on Saturday. A University official said there were plans to incorporate drone show again this week, but some frequency issues kept them grounded on Saturday.

***Walk-on Aidan Flege took all of the snaps at long snapper for the Huskers on Saturday.

***73 players saw action in Nebraska’s game on Saturday.

The final grade out

Sean Callahan can be reached at [email protected] and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.

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