What to like and loathe from Nebraska’s win over Northern Iowa

Nebraska football is 3-o for the first time since 2016 following a 34-3 win over Northern Iowa. The Panthers were pesky and hung around, but the Huskers still covered the spread.

The Huskers are now 3-0 against the spread. That’s a positive sign heading into the Illinois game on Friday night. Both teams are 3-0 and ranked in the top 25.

Nebraska football could win its first game against a ranked team since 2016 when the Huskers beat Oregon at Lincoln Memorial Stadium. Matt Rhule’s team looks ready for Big Ten play but here’s a final look back at what we liked and loathed from the Cornhuskers win.

Liked: Offensive efficiency

If you take out the final drive (a kneel down) Nebraska football had just eight possessions all game. Matt Rhule talked about how efficient the offense was and it was striking.

Nebraska scored on six of its eight possessions. One of the drives that came up empty covered 41 yards on six plays before Dylan Raiola was stopped on a short run.

The only other drive that didn’t end up as a score was when Raiola threw an interception. It was a good ball and a good decision, Jaylen Lloyd just got beat out for the ball.

Yet, with only 48 plays, you have to be impressed with 423 yards and four touchdowns. The Huskers scored six times total and it still felt like they left meat on the bone. That shows how quickly Raiola raised the expectations.

Loathed: Third-down defense

Northern Iowa didn’t run 71 plays by accident. The Panthers converted six third downs and two more times on fourth down. The QB run game gave the Huskers problems and Aidan Dunne ran 11 times for 45 yards. Northern Iowa also had six different receivers catch a pass of at least 14 yards. The secondary struggled a little and the entire defense will need to be better against Illinois.

Liked: Tristan Alvano’s field goals

Alvano missed a 31-yarder last week against Colorado. So even though making two short field goals doesn’t sound like much, it should give the Nebraska football kicker a nice confidence boost.

It’s like when shooters are struggling in basketball — sometimes you just need to see the ball go in the hoop. A guy will make a free throw and suddenly hits a 3-pointer. Hopefully, Alvano can convert on a longer try or two next week against Illinois because every point will be important.

Loathed: Lack of holding calls

There isn’t a bigger advantage you can give an offense than by not calling holding. It leads to big plays in the running game and also, more chances to make things happen throwing the ball.

After seeing a bunch of holds not called against Colorado, the same thing happened against Nortern Iowa. It wasn’t quite as bad, but man, it feels like Nebraska is being penalized for being dominant.

Teams are holding so often, refs are letting it slide. It’s understandable, I don’t know how you’d block Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher either, but those guys are getting held and it’s not getting called nearly enough.

Liked: Carter Nelson’s touchdown catch

There’s not much to loathe from a 34-3 win, but a final thing I liked was the Carter Nelson touchdown catch. The freshman caught four passes for 42 yards the win, yet he nabbed a 24-yard pass in the first quarter to score his first ever Nebraska football touchdown.

It was the first touchdown connection between Nelson and Dylan Raiola but it won’t be the last. And even though Nelson was playing in just his third 11-man football game, he feels like a weapon and Nebraska football isn’t afraid to use him.

Loathed: #29

Carter Nelson is too good to be wearing No. 29. Unless there is some kind of significance to him, that needs to change. I’m joking of course, at least partially, but it seems like a single digit (someday) or something in the 80s would suffice.

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