Four drives in, there was a little bit of anxiety in Husker Nation. Yes, the Huskers led 12-0 and there was no real danger of losing, but after an opening drive on which Emmett Johnson broke loose for a 47-yard sprint after coming oh-so-close a few times against Cincinnati, the Huskers failed to finish on the next three.
First, Johnson fumbled at the Akron 1 which soon turned into a safety to the Huskers. Then, trying to play power ball, the Huskers were stopped on the Akron 1 when Heinrich Haarberg
couldn’t power in. Finally, after one of Jacory Barney Jr’s big punt returns, the Huskers had to settle for a Will Cunanan field goal. The Huskers had already rolled up over 200 yards of offense but had only 10 offensive points to show for it.
The next eight drives all went for touchdowns. Huskers 68 Akron 0. Next.
Dylan Raiola was spot on through air until his evening ended in the third quarter. He began with 9 straight completions and when added to 11 consecutive with which he finished the Cincinnati game, he had set a new Nebraska record with 20 straight completions.
And for fans who had groused about his yards per attempt of 5.8 against the Bearcats, he answered with 11.7 YPA tonight in Memorial’s home opener, courtesy of a 24-31 364 yard 4 TD performance over roughly 2 1/2 quarters.
Emmett Johnson carried 14 times for 140 yards and hit the end zone three times. He becomes the first Husker since Anthony Grant in 2022 to open the season with back-to-back 100-yard games. Jacory Barney Jr. had a huge night by grabbing 7 passes for 132 yards to add to his 4 punt returns for 87 yards, giving 219 all-purpose on the night.
Heroes were scattered about in a team defensive effort which produced 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and held the Zips under 200 yards. Probably the most notable tackle was the safety by true freshman defensive lineman Kade Pietrzak – the 2 Husker points came on Pietrzak’s first tackle as a Husker.
The benches were emptied in the third quarter with most everyone on the roster getting snaps. Back-up T.J. Lateef notably debuted by going 6-7 with 128 yards passing and had 2 carries for 17 yards and a touchdown.
With the victory, the Huskers move to 2-0 and are very likely to see their poll votes increase after beginning to gaining some last week. Houston Christian comes to town for a brunch game next Saturday, but looming large behind that is Michigan the next week. The Wolverines lost to Oklahoma 24-13 and somewhat dashed their hopes that a freshman quarterback would immediately supercharge their offense which was fairly putrid in 2024.
We know a little about that.
The Wolverines will obviously be a major upgrade in defense. Can the Huskers offense we saw tonight put up enough points to get us over that hump?
