McMaster's Keys to the Game: Nebraska Football vs. UTEP

Nebraska football opens the season with UTEP, and there are three keys to success for the Big Red.

Dylan Raiola during Nebraska football practice on Aug. 19, 2024. / Nebraska Athletics

Nebraska football opens the season at home against UTEP. Here are three keys for the Huskers to have success against the Miners.

Key No. 1: Get Dylan Going

The long-awaited debut of Lincoln's professed savior, quarterback Dylan Raiola, is Saturday. It's great for the program that Raiola gets to start his career against a non-Power 5 program, a rarity for the Big Red, considering their last four seasons began with conference opponents.

Dylan Raiola calls signals during Nebraska football's public scrimmage on Aug. 3, 2024. / Nebraska Athletics

Despite the clear talent gap for Raiola's first opponent, it's still the best opponent he's faced in his career. The most important thing offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield can do for his freshman gunslinger is get him into a rhythm. Quick, easy, simple reads that will allow him to build confidence. There's a benefit to "seeing the ball go through the hoop."

Games like this against UTEP, where you are clearly more talented than your opponent, are all about shaking off the cobwebs and building toward playing higher levels of competition in the future. If Raiola comes out against the Miners, is put into compromising situations early on, and fails to execute, it can negatively affect his confidence.

Once Raiola can establish his ability to do the simple things against UTEP, the Big Red can open up the playbook and let their five-star quarterback prove to everyone why the hype around his talent is warranted and real. But what's most important in this contest is building his confidence and creating a foundation for what is hopefully for the Huskers a successful rookie season for the future of their program.

Key No. 2: Get Up Early

I find matchups like these in college football so fascinating. You have one team that has every advantage you can think of when it comes to athletic facilities, nutrition, money, coaching, and talent, paying the other team to come to their stadium and get their ass handed to them.

But that doesn't always happen. Every year, there's at least one unexpected upset from a game like this, and every power team's goal is not to be the donkey.

The key to these games is simple: get on the gas early. The longer the game goes on without being a blowout, the longer the opposition believes they can slay the goliath. As the game goes on and continues to be competitive, the more the momentum starts to shift.

Sep 16, 2023; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Herbie Husker waves to fans at the start of the second quarter between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Northern Illinois Huskies at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

The crowd becomes less confident and more fearful. One side becomes less confident and more fearful while the other gains more and more belief that they can accomplish what seemed almost impossible two hours ago.

Nebraska fans experienced this two seasons ago when Georgia Southern ended the Scott Frost era in Memorial Stadium.

UTEP has a new skipper at the helm: Scotty Walden. Walden, 34, comes from Austin Peay, where, over four seasons, he accumulated a record of 26-14 and led the Governors to their first back-to-back winning seasons in 40 years. He takes over a UTEP program with one winning season over its last nine.

Walden is a young, proven winner who is not intimidated by a challenging first opponent as the head coach of the Miners.

We believe UTEP is the less talented team and doesn't deserve to be on the same field as the Cornhuskers. NU needs to prove that immediately because the last thing you want to give a football team with a young and motivated coaching staff is hope.

Key No. 3: Limit Unforced Errors

This can be a key for every game, but I think it's most appropriate for this game in particular. I know I keep hammering on the point of the massive talent gap between the two sides, but it's undeniable.

According to 247 Sports, UTEP's average recruiting class ranking over the last four years is 117th, while NU's was 27th. Based on this, Nebraska will have the advantage in almost every matchup.

Nebraska's head coach Matt Rhule looks on from the sideline during the second quarter in the game against Michigan State on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

This team is going to lose this game in part by beating themselves. We've seen that they're not immune to shooting themselves in the foot. In fact, making unforced errors was the exact reason why they did not make a bowl game last year.

You lose games like this by consistently giving the opponent opportunities to stay in this game. If the Big Red can keep the ball off the turf and out of the hands of the UTEP defense, they will be in a great position to start the season 1-0.

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