Carriker Chronicles: How Good Is Nebraska?

“The question today is how good is Nebraska?! Are they the team that barely beat Cincinnati or are they the team that found a way to be a much improved Cincinnati team that will be bowl bound?! Are they the team that dropped over 700 yards and 68 points on another FBS team, or are they the team that beat down one of the worst teams in the country in Akron? Is this a team that will struggle to make a ball game like a lot of people thought after our first game of the season, or will this be the best team Nebraska has had since 2016?”

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“Let’s start with our starting quarterback, Dylan Raiola. ... Dylan is completing 78% of his passes so far this year has six touchdowns and zero interceptions. He’s been very efficient. He’s taking care of the ball and making good decisions. For those who say he doesn’t run enough, when he does run this year, he’s at least being decisive, I’ll take that! Also, I don’t remember anybody saying Zac Taylor needed to run more when he and I were playing here together.”

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“The offensive line is playing better. The strength of our offensive line is pass blocking. I’m not sure if we’re better at zone blocking or power blocking in the run game just yet. With our size we should be more physical, but we’ve had some really good runs on zone place so far this year. We need to figure out who our five best lineman are and establish an identity in the run game as well. ”

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“When it comes to defense, our pass defense has been lockdown so far this year. We’re only allowing a 46% completion of percentage to opposing quarterbacks through two games and only allowing 2.8 yards per pass attempt as well. Our front seven allowed 3.1 yards per rush on Saturday and had nine tackles for loss. We did allow more rush yards to Akron, 113, than Wyoming did. Wyoming only allowed 89 rush yards to Akron. We also didn’t get our first sack of the season until five minutes were left in the fourth quarter. ”

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“Our punt return game has much improved, but we need to continue to improve our kick return game. Every time you return a kick and don’t get to the 25 yard line, you’re leaving yards on the field.”

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“The question is how good is Nebraska? I predicted Nebraska to go nine and three before the season started. I’m sticking with that prediction. We’re gonna be three and 0 after three games. There are things we’re doing well while there’s things we need to continue to improve on. A lot of teams will start three and 0 and then struggle once they hit conference play. How do we do when it gets to Big Ten teams week in and week out? How much we do or do not improve in certain areas will make a big impact on our final record.”

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“If we continue to improve throughout this season, we will win at least eight games if not nine. The possibility of winning more is there as well, but I’m not gonna talk about any of that yet. If we don’t continue to improve throughout the season, those are the teams that get left behind. There’s every reason to expect this team to win eight games this year, which again would make us the best Nebraska team since 2016. The question is will we make an actual jump? When will we get to that nine-win mark or more? I can’t wait to see how this season unfolds! Throw the bones!”