5 things learned in Nebraska football win over Cincinnati

You might not know it based on the reaction of some Nebraska football fans, but the Huskers are 1-0 thanks to a 20-17 victory over Cincinnati on Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium.

It wasn’t a perfect performance. It wasn’t pretty, but they don’t judge “pretty” on the scoreboard, just points, and Nebraska had more than Cincinnati.

Do that eight or nine more times this season, and no one will care how it looks. There were things to feel good about, such as Dylan Raiola and Emmett Johnson. There are also things to be worried about.

One game doesn’t make a season. This team won’t be the same in Week 4, Week 8, or Week 12. So it’s nowhere close to the time to panic.

Here’s what we learned from the first Nebraska football game of the season.

Dylan Raiola has matured

Raiola wasn’t perfect. The fourth-and-two that turned into an incompletion should have been a touchdown, but it was nearly a pick-six. Raiola didn’t see an open man for a touchdown, then threw a ball into the hands of a Cincinnati defender.

Outside of that, the ball was never at risk, outside of a Raiola fumble. He was accurate, even if the game plan felt a little conservative. Yet, that’s based on the defense. Nebraska took what the defense gave it and was really good on third down.

The biggest issue was a red-zone field goal, the failed fourth-and-two, and, in total, five possessions in plus territory that ended up in just three points. With an elite quarterback, that number should be higher.

So Raiola still has room to grow. But this was a solid start.

The run defense is a concern

We have heard Nebraska coaches talk up the defensive line throughout fall camp; however, it was clear that Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson were missed.

I don’t put a ton of stock in PFF grades. They are valuable, but they aren’t the only tool of evaluation. That being said, the 30.6 run grade for Elijah Jeudy and a 48.8 run grade for Riley Van Poppel matched what I saw.

Jeudy got blown off the ball a few times. Neither applied any sort of interior pressure. Dylan Parrott at 320 pounds might deserve a chance. Again, it was one game, but that was worrisome.

The pass rush has to improve

Not to harp on the defensive line, but until this defense can consistently get pressure on the quarterback, it’s going to struggle to take the next step.

Nebraska has had a good defense the past two seasons. Not a great or elite defense — it wasn’t the kind of defense that could stop an elite quarterback. The Ohio State game was the one instance where it looked elite.

The defensive line was great that day. It got after the quarterback, which didn’t happen on Thursday. The running ability of Brendan Sorsby might have impacted that. Yet, there were just nine pressures. Three of them were from Williams Nwaneri, which was good to see.

Nebraska was 47th in sacks last season and got zero on Thursday night. That’s not going to cut it if this team wants to win nine or 10 games.

Emmett Johnson is going to have a huge season

The former three-star recruit certainly looked like a bell-cow running back against the Bearcats with 108 rushing yards on 25 attempts (4.8 average). He also caught seven passes for 27 yards.

Before the season, I predicted Johnson to get 1,500 total yards, which seems plausible after 135 total yards in the opener, which puts him on pace for 1,755 total yards this season.

Mekhi Nelson and Isaiah Mozee only got two combined carries, so the coaching staff might not have a ton of confidence in his backups, but Johnson has the look of an All-Big Ten running back.

Close games will be the norm

The most encouraging thing to me about Thursday night was the fact that Nebraska won a close game. It was the first game Matt Rhule won with the Huskers that was decided by three points or less. They also won a tight game in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Nebraska is learning how to win, which is good, because even though the schedule isn’t crazy difficult, it’s not easy. There are going to be a bunch of close games like this.

Gridning out wins; Finding a way — that’s what good teams do. It’s what Nebraska hasn’t done consistently for a decade. That’s starting to change, and if the Huskers can be good in close games, this season will go how we all want it to.

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