An Old-School Effort Might Be the Sign of a New Trajectory for Nebraska Football

Dave Feit: The Huskers took care of business against Colorado in a way the 1994 team can appreciate. Does it mean Matt Rhule's program is ready to launch into bigger things?

Nebraska linebacker Princewill Umanmielen sacks Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The play was negated by an offside penalty. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

It has to start somewhere.

It has to start sometime.

What better place than here?

What better time than now?

Those lyrics are from an old Rage Against the Machine song ("Guerrilla Radio") that was on the radio as I drove down to the stadium Saturday.  It's a great encapsulation of the night and where Nebraska can go from here.

How long have we been waiting for a game like this? One where Nebraska can - finally - get out of its own way long enough to have an impressive win in the national spotlight.

Coming into this season, NU was 3-28 in games televised by one of the over-the-air networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) in the last ten seasons, including 0-5 in network night games.

Nebraska is currently 2-0 in network games, and 1-0 in network night games this year.

It has to start somewhere.

It has to start sometime.

It feels like Matt Rhule, Dylan Raiola, and this Nebraska team are on the rise. The evolution from perennial loser to playoff contender that we've dreamt about feels possible. We've just been waiting for everything to launch.

What better place than here?

What better time than now?

One of my worries leading up to this game was that the moment would be too much for them.  The Huskers would wilt under the bright lights, while every national voice tweeted "same old Nebraska".

Sep 7, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Dante Dowdell (23) stiff arms Colorado Buffaloes cornerback Preston Hodge (24) during the third quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

But here's the thing: this was a "same old Nebraska" performance. Except this time, it was an homage to Nebraska of the 1990s. Suffocating defense, power running, making big throws in key moments, and a crowd that was loudly locked in from start to finish. The 1994 national championship team had to like what they saw.

Obviously, the 2024 team is nowhere close to the level of the ’94 team. And make no mistake: beating a surprisingly mediocre Colorado team does not mean Nebraska is "back".

But this victory isn't about beating the Buffs.

It's about doing what needed to be done. Come out swinging, knock them down, and never let them off the mat. I'll take that result, even if the Huskers got a little bored in the second half.

A tune-up win against Northern Iowa awaits, followed by the meat grinder of the conference season.

It has to start somewhere.

It has to start sometime.

What better place than here?

What better time than now?

Things I believe

Tony White's Blackshirts put on a defensive clinic. The Blackshirts were beasts from the first snap (when Ty Robinson batted down a pass) to their final play (a strip sack by true freshman Willis McGahee IV, recovered by Jimari Butler).

In between, we saw a complete dismantling of a high-powered offense. The stats are incredible: six sacks, ten tackles for loss, ten QB hurries, four pass breakups, two turnovers, a defensive score, and a blocked kick. Colorado didn't get a first down until the second quarter, and didn't get positive net rushing yards until after halftime.

It was appropriate that Colt McCoy was in the NBC broadcast booth during the game. He's one of the few people who can truly appreciate how much pressure Shedeur Sanders was under. But unlike Ndamukong Suh batting McCoy around like a cat toy, this was an unrelenting swarm from every possible angle. Six different Huskers recorded a sack, and several others came close.

Sure, Travis Hunter got his yards, but he never felt like a threat. His frustration grew as the game wore on.

The more physical team won. This game was an anachronism to the old-school, smash-'em-up Big 8 days. Ice baths and ibuprofen for everybody who played Saturday night.

Colorado's defense was physical. They put some hits on a number of Huskers. There's an argument to be made that they painted in the margins between physical and dirty, but they made some big hits.

Yet, they couldn't match Nebraska's physicality.

From the opening kickoff - when Mikai Gbayor absolutely trucked a would-be blocker - the Huskers brought it in all three phases.

Nebraska offensive lineman Turner Corcoran and tight end Thomas Fidone II lead the way for running back Emmett Johnson against Colorado. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

There was Dante Dowdell making Shiloh Sanders understand why his dad didn’t like tackling. Colorado's linebackers will be seeing Nebraska's guards and tight ends coming at them in their sleep. Later in the game, Dowdell chose to lower his pads and put a pop on a Buffalo DB instead of running out of bounds.

We talked about the defense above, but you can ask Shedeur Sanders about how physical the game was ... assuming you can find him. With four minutes left in the game, he tapped out and headed for the locker room.

Nebraska can win without Dylan Raiola being Patrick Mahomes. Nebraska's freshman quarterback played well in his second start.  Raiola was 23-30 passing for 185 and one touchdown.  He was credited with three carries for seven yards, including a 12-yard gain to pick up a first down on NU's opening drive.  As we saw against UTEP, Raiola showed great poise, leading the offense like a seasoned veteran.  

But Nebraska didn't need Raiola to be Superman on Saturday night. His longest completion was a 36-yard pass to Jaylen Lloyd, where Lloyd made an impressive adjustment on the ball. Raiola led the Huskers to another touchdown drive in the 2-minute drill, but the pass that Rahmir Johnson scored on probably should have been intercepted.

I say this not to nit-pick Raiola, but to illustrate that there's enough offensive talent around him that he doesn’t have to play hero ball. Do the basics like progressing through reads, hitting receivers in their hands, and being smart with the ball (such as throwing the ball away and not improvising a broken play).

Things I don't know

Do we need to be concerned about the second-half struggles on offense? At halftime, all was right with the world. The Huskers were up 28-0 and were getting the ball to start the third quarter. Matt Rhule could name his number. Jalyn Gramstad, start getting loose!

Thirty minutes later, Nebraska still had 28 points - and not a lot of extra yardage.

This is a classic "multiple things are true" scenario.

• Nebraska let off the gas. The Huskers went conservative in their offensive approach. Frankly, it was a good strategy. There was no need for a team - with a long history of turnover issues - to do anything that would let the Buffs get back in the game.

• Colorado made adjustments. Some of the stuff that worked in the first half - such as those power runs behind a pulling guard and tight end - weren't there in the second half. That happens.

• Penalties - both legit and otherwise - didn't help. Nebraska was penalized nine times in the second half. Ben Scott clearly held a CU player, costing Rahmir Johnson a long touchdown. Rahmir was flagged for a very questionable hold that erased a big gain by Jacory Barney, Jr.

I'm not going to lose sleep over Nebraska being shut out in the second half. Plus, I'm not that interested in nit-picking after a convincing 18-point win.

But it might be something to keep an eye on down the road.

Is Colorado bad, or did Nebraska make them look bad? The phrase "not as close as the final score indicates" definitely applies to this game. This game was a beat-down from the first play to the last. The Huskers probably could have replicated the 52-7 score from 1992 if they wanted to.

In his postgame comments, Rhule said they "expected" the game to play out like it did. But I suspect many people outside of the Nebraska locker room were surprised by what transpired.

For all of their hype, all of their reality-TV swagger, Colorado was not very good. Coach Sanders told us the luggage was Louis Vuitton, but under the lights it looked like a cheap knock-off, coming apart at the seams.

Sep 7, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Dante Dowdell (23) dives over Colorado Buffaloes safety Shilo Sanders (21) during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Are the Buffaloes that bad, or did Nebraska do a tremendous job of exposing them?

I think it is a little of both.

The Colorado team I saw on Saturday looks likely to spiral into the ground with a 2-10 season as Sanders and company grab the first flight out of town. But take nothing away from how the Huskers played. They had a strong game plan, executed it well, and never looked back.

One of the marks of a good team is being able to make your opponents look inept. Nebraska certainly did that.

How much will placekicking impact this team? At the start of the second quarter, Tristan Alvano missed a 32-yard field goal. That was his only attempt of the game.

There hasn't been a true test yet, but I feel like we can see Rhule's unease with the kicking game impacting his decision making. It seems like when NU is on track for what would be a 40-50-yard kick, they're treating it like a four-down situation (i.e., get as much as you can on third, setting up a makeable fourth and short).

Maybe that's analytics. Maybe it's not yet being confident in your kickers.

Against Colorado, the Huskers had two drives that stalled out at spot that would be a very long field goal attempt (over 55 yards). On one, Dylan Raiola did a pooch punt. On the second, Nebraska took a delay of game to give them more space before Brian Buschini's kick was blocked.

When you're up three scores, it's okay to play safe. But a day will come when Nebraska needs some points. Will they feel confident in the kicking game? And where does that confidence start to wane?

Huskerigami Update

A “Huskerigami” is a final score combination (win or lose) that has never happened in the 130+ year history of Nebraska football.

Final score: 28-10

Is that a Huskerigami?No.  It has happened twice before.  The first time was a win in the 1985 Sugar Bowl versus LSU.  The most recent was a loss at Southern Cal on September 19, 2006.  

5 Things I loved

1. The Boneyard. The student section has taken more than their fair share of crap over the years.  "They don't fill their section".  "They leave early."  "They're too quiet."  Not on Saturday.  The first students were there at 9 am - OVER NINE HOURS BEFORE KICKOFF.  With two hours until kick, their section was almost entirely full.  They were loud all night long, and I'm thrilled they were able to rush the field in celebration.  Say what you want about the quality of the opponent, but the students earned the right to celebrate.

2. Ty Robinson. Blackshirt Mountain was a force all night long. He batted down the opening pass, and had a huge sack to shut down Colorado's first possession. He blocked a field goal to preserve the first half shutout. And by drawing double teams, he freed up everybody else to make plays. The impact of a dominating defensive tackle is tough to overstate.

3. Tommi Hill. Tommi had a tough assignment on Saturday, but he more than held his own. After Hill's beautiful pick six put the Huskers up 14-0, the game felt completely in control. Travis Hunter got his yards, but he and Jimmy Horn, Jr. were not the big play threats they have been in other games. It was fun seeing Hunter get noticeably frustrated - partially because his quarterback couldn't find him downfield, and partially because Tommi Hill was in his ear.

4. Jacory Barney Jr. I love how Marcus Satterfield is utilizing the speedy freshman. A nice little package of plays - push passes, reverses, etc. - all designed to get him the ball in space. For all of the crap that Satterfield takes, it's worth noting that he's one of the few Nebraska OC's to properly use somebody with Barney's talents (unlike the freshmen years of Tyjon Lindsey and Wan'Dale Robinson). Just imagine what Tom Osborne would do with Barney as a classic wingback.

5. Dante Dowdell and Rahmir Johnson. The duo of Husker running backs are a great 1-2 combo. Dowdell is used as a bowling ball: hard and fast down the middle of the lane, trying to knock down as many pins as possible. Rahmir is used like a soccer ball: moving down the field with quick strikes and short passes. Together, they accounted for one-third of Nebraska's offensive production.

Honorable mention: Brian Buschini, Dylan Raiola, Mikai Gbayor, John Bullock, Nash Hutmacher, Cam Lenhardt, Jimari Butler, Princewill Umanmielen, Willis McGahee IV, James Williams, Micah Mazzccua, Justin Evans, Ceyair Wright, the 1994 team, Bud Crawford, Will Compton pump-up videos, dancing after turnovers, and never having to pay attention to the Sanders family again.

Sep 7, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers place kicker Tristan Alvano (30) kicks a PAT against the Colorado Buffaloes during the second quarter at Memorial Stadium. Alvano missed his only field goal attempt, from 32 yards. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

5 Areas for improvement

1. Field Goals. A 32-yard field goal attempt on a beautiful and calm September night needs to be as automatic as a PAT. I believe all the kickers would agree with this.

2. Third Down. Nebraska was 3 of 12 on third down, including 0 of 6 in the second half (with one drive getting extended via penalty). The longest third down the offense picked up was on a 10-yard scramble by Raiola on their first drive. The others were 2-yard runs.

3. Ref show. Nebraska was called for holding six times.  Some of them were legit.  Others… not so much.  Meanwhile, on a night where their QB was sacked six times and under constant pressure, Colorado was only called for holding once.  There was no flag thrown on this play - for holding or a horse collar. 

4. NBC. I'm not here to trash on Colt McCoy's overly awkward debut as an analyst.  Yeah, it would have been nice to give him a practice game or three before calling a prime-time game, but NBC was too busy trying to fit every rural ag stereotype into their broadcast.  Between the pregame graphic showing corn filling the entire stadium, the random "Nebraska has more corn than people" claim, and the cringe-worthy corn husking contest during their pregame show, NBC left no stereotype behind.  Lincoln was definitely a smaller town the last time NBC broadcast a game here (1965), but all of the farm imagery was lazy.

5. Fireball. I did not need the shot of cinnamon whiskey I had on my way to the stadium Saturday. I definitely did not need the second one.

MORE: Following Bud Crawford’s Lead, Nebraska Football Delivers Knockout Blow

MORE: Nebraska Football Recruiting: 4-Star Edge Hunter Higgins Details Successful Visit

MORE: Common Fans: Nebraska Stuffs Colorado in a Locker

MORE: Nebraska Football Recruiting: 2025 LB Carter Daniels Recaps Weekend Visit

MORE: Husker Doc Talk: After Smoking Colorado, Nebraska Looks for Bigger Things

---

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, following HuskerMax on X, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.