Report Card: Huskers 59, Houston Christian Huskies 7

To be honest, Nebraska’s blowout victory over Houston Christian felt like a meaningless exhibition game to me. I understand Nebraska’s financial need to have seven home games each season, and sometimes that means having to schedule a FCS schools like HCU. Some FCS schools like North Dakota State can be solid opponents, but those are the exception, not the rule. HCU is definitely NOT one of those.

It really makes it difficult to take much out of this game, other than getting backups and youngsters

game snaps. Frankly, you could feel the lack of gravitas throughout the state. Many people stayed home, based on traffic and empty seats. (Notable exception: the student section was nearly completely full at kickoff. Props to the students!) Add in the blistering heat and the morning kickoff, and it’s basically a big “why are we here” question.

Last week against Akron, I thought Nebraska played about as well as they could have against an inferior opponent. I’m not sure I can say the same thing this week against an even more inferior opponent. Nebraska scored at will in the first half, and we saw some exciting things in the second half as the reserves took over. But when the talent difference is so lopsided, what can you really take away from a mismatch like this?

So here’s my report card, and frankly, the negatives are bigger enough that I just can’t push them aside and award A’s across the board. I’m sure many of you will disagree, and let me know in the comments.

QB: Dylan Raiola was efficient. But once again this week, he underthrew a wide open receiver on a deep throw. To be honest, it’s happened enough that it’s starting to become a trend. This week, he fired deep to a wide open Dane Key who had to stop to make the catch inside the ten. Still a big throw, but Nebraska’s offense couldn’t find the end zone, so Nebraska had to settle for three points. You can get away with this against HCU; not sure you can do that against a team like Michigan. TJ Lateef played much of the second half, and made a deep throw to Cortez Mills in stride. 62 yard touchdown, the way that you want that play executed. #14 made the play, #15 did not. Grade: B

I-Back: Emmitt Johnson ran hard, but it was disappointing how hard he had to work to get the yards he got. Kwinten Ives had a really nice second half, averaging 7.1 yards a carry for 85 yards. Grade: B

Wide Receivers: The only real drop on the day was on tight end Luke Lindenmeyer, and I say that not to pick on Lindenmeyer. Everybody caught everything. Grade: A

Offensive Line: My big negative on the day was the lack of push from the offensive line. HCU may have been crowding the line, but Nebraska should still be able to run on a lower-level FCS team better than this. Grade: C

Defensive Line: All across the board, I think the defense did what they needed to do, except for a couple of notable exceptions. So the defense is going to get great grades across the board. Riley Van Poppel had a splash play for the second week in a row, forcing the fumble that Williams Nwaneri scooped up for his first touchdown ever in organized football. He looked awfully uncomfortable running with it for the first 20 yards or so, though…but hey, he’s a lineman not a running back. Grade: A

Linebacker: Marques Watston-Trent had a big sack. Now the top linebackers need to get ready to play a full 60 minutes because “that team up north” is going to be bringing it to Lincoln. Grade: A

Secondary: Who has the best passing defense in the nation? Your Nebraska Cornhuskers. #1 in passing yards allowed, averaging just 66 yards per game. #2 in pass defense rating, per ESPN. #1 in the longest pass allowed this season, just 19 yards. #1 in average yards per attempt at 3.0 yards per pass attempt. That being said, things get a whole lot tougher from here on out. Grade: A

Special Teams: Nebraska finally got a kickoff return past the 25 yard line. Now, the need for kickoff returns was pretty minimal thus far, but that changes this week. We’ll see how things progress against B1G competition, but continually negative yards on returns (by not getting the ball past the 25 yardline) is not smart football. One fun note: former Nebraska kicker Charlie Weinrich (2022-23) is HCU’s kicker; he transferred there after spending 2024 at Kansas. Grade: B

Overall: B+ Exhibition season is over now. It gets B1G now.