Was that fun? Well, if you are a Husker fan, it undoubtedly was. A night game that was never in doubt, to be honest. I probably wasn’t the only Husker fan hoping for a running clock in the second half because the only thing to anticipate was the light show after the third quarter. Oh, and looking for those third and fourth team players to get their chance to play in a real game.
But let’s put it in perspective. Akron is a bad college football team right now, outscored 78-0 in their first two games.
They lost nearly everybody from last year, and are building a new team through the transfer portal. They’ll be better in November, but they are just plain awful in early September.
Frankly, there was very little to criticize in this game. Could Nebraska have tried harder to run the ball, especially in the second half? Perhaps, though Akron appeared to be primarily focused on stopping the run defensively. At a certain point, you are nit-picking. There were a couple of nifty one-handed catches, but to be honest, Nebraska doesn’t really need to do that against a team like Akron.
So this report card is going to be pretty easy. I don’t think we can take a lot out of it, other than to enjoy the fun and the chance to see so many Huskers get to contribute. As always, your feedback is welcome in the comments.
QB: Dylan Raiola was efficient and hit some medium and deep passes that we’ve been expected to see. But the excitement came from TJ Lateef, who entertained everyone in red with his elusive running ability as well as a pretty solid arm. I still swore he scored on that first drive of the fourth quarter; no big deal since they scored on the next play. Grade: A
I-Back: The big negative was Emmett Johnson’s fumble, but to be fair, that was a great hit by Akron, putting shoulder on the ball. That really was his only mistake on the day. The other backs showed good running ability on the outside, but we never saw much inside. Grade: A
Wide Receivers: Solid performance all around. Dane Key’s third quarter touchdown catch wrapped up Raiola’s night with a bright red bow. Best catch might have been after the game when Luke Lindenmeyer proposed to his girlfriend in front of their teammates on both the football team and the Scarlets dance squad. I noted Heinrich Haarberg’s struggles in blocking last week, but this week, he made the key block to spring Emmett Johnson’s opening touchdown. Grade: A
Offensive Line: I really would have liked to see more running, and more running room. But I can’t quibble with the final results. Interesting observation in the second quarter, as Turner Corcoran switched jerseys to 89 and took a series at tight end. Don’t need to do that against Akron, but it’s something else for Michigan to think about now when watching film. Grade: A
Defensive Line: A Big Ten freshman of the week candidate is going to be Kade Pietrzak, a three-star recruit from North Dakota who is looking like the sleeper pick of the signing class. Everybody saw the safety, but remember he also lead NU in tackles with four. He might not get it with Penn State’s Chaz Coleman also having a big game, but you never know. Let’s also shout out redshirt freshman Ashton Murphy for a big sack on Akron’s final drive; that scored an 11 on his excitement scale. Grade: A
Linebacker: They were rotating so many guys that nobody really had a standout performance on the stat sheet. Let’s give Javin Wright a shoutout for a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. Grade: A
Secondary: Akron’s Ben Finley was 7 of 21 passing for 54 yards; it’s hard to look worse than Iowa’s Mark Gronowski, but the Husker defense managed to make that happen. Grade: A+
Special Teams: The only people sad about the Huskers dominant performance was the Wilson family, who traveled all the way from a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, only to see freshman punter Archie Wilson be just about the only healthy Husker not play in the blowout. On the positive side, we saw some nice punt returns from Jacory Barney…and Riley Van Poppel blocked a field goal to preserve Nebraska’s first shutout since 2009. Anybody else catch Van Poppel chestbumping a member of the coaching staff into the bench? I initially thought it was Mike Ekeler, but it apparently wasn’t. Careful, big guy. Grade: A+
Overall: A If I was nitpicking, I could have given a B here or there, but frankly, nobody wants a party pooper. It was a fun night for everyone not from Akron.
Elsewhere in College Football
UCLA 0 The way things are going in Westwood, DeShaun Foster might not be around when the Huskers head to the Rose Bowl in November. Yeesh.
Iowa D Bahahahahaha.
Wisconsin D After sleepwalking against some Directional Tennesee school for most of the game, the Badgers finally started to click about 5 o’clock somewhere in Madison.
Southland Conference: 0 A couple of turds by Northwestern State (66-3 loss to Minnesota) and East Texas A&M (77-3 loss to Florida State). Next up? Houston Christian vs. Nebraska next week. Wooo, boy.
