Tad Stryker: Quick Knockout

The unbeaten Cornhuskers learned a few things about how they stack up through three nonconference games. Dylan Raiola has played three above-average, mistake-free games to begin his sophomore season, and with eight touchdown passes and no interceptions, has set himself up to have an excellent season. The Huskers will need excellence from him against the Wolverines if they’re going to beat a nationally ranked team for the first time in nine years. The Huskers have an above-average running game, featuring Emmett Johnson, and they’ve already shown that their wideouts are clearly a notch above last year’s group, and Luke Lindenmeyer could be one of the better tight ends in the conference.

We know that Raiola and the Nebraska offense can pass the ball and score some points. The Blackshirts have a solid secondary. The big question going into the Michigan game is how well they can handle a good running attack.

Special teams are improved, but really haven’t had an acid test yet. The Huskers piled up 554 total yards without allowing a single tackle for loss on another day when freshman punter Archie Wilson never came into the game. Wilson will be tested next week, as will Nebraska’s entire kicking game, which was not called upon against the outmatched Huskies, who fell to 1-2. Will Jacory Barney, who got his first touchdown reception as a Husker on Saturday, be able to break a big punt return?

Piling up four rushing and three passing touchdowns and one by the defense, the Huskers appear serious about learning how to put teams away. With a 38-0 lead late in the first half, Matt Rhule called three timeouts on defense and put Raiola in harm’s way one last time to give his team a chance to practice a two-minute drill. It didn’t go so well, partly because of a holding penalty. Rhule knows his team has a long way to go.

“Some things that look like they’re good right now aren’t going to be as good versus a different opponent,” Rhule said. “You just have to keep reacting as the year goes on. I think we’re a significantly better team than we have been, but the road gets a lot harder. If we stay where we are right now, we won’t win a lot of games moving forward. We have to improve.”

The biggest news for Nebraska coming out of the Houston Christian game is that Kwinten Ives has fully recovered from the hamstring he tweaked in fall camp. Ives was the game’s leading rusher, gaining 85 yards and scoring a touchdown on 12 carries and catching two passes for 36 yards, and appears ready to back up Emmett Johnson, who had 78 yards rushing and two touchdowns of his own.

Although 192 yards rushing isn’t going to move Nebraska into the top 40 nationwide, it’s enough to provide balance for Raiola. To beat Michigan, Raiola will need to outplay freshman run/pass threat Bryce Underwood, who rushed nine times for 114 yards and two touchdowns Saturday in Michigan’s 63-3 romp over Central Michigan. Underwood also passed 16-for-25 for 235 yards and a touchdown with one interception.

NU held Houston Christian to 10 yards rushing in the first half before flooding the field with reserve players throughout the second half, and still held the Huskies to fewer than 100 yards on the ground. Cincinnati got more than 200 rushing yards against the Big Red, though, and Michigan will try to win in Lincoln for the second time in three years by running the ball early and often.

Nebraska will need to continue to win on third down, which has been a solid part of the game both on offense and defense, and limit mistakes. NU is plus-four in turnover margin through three games.

At 3-0, the Huskers have already proven they can, and very likely will, be a good team. Achieving consistency is the next step on the climb.