Nebraska Cornhuskers Open Football Season with Blowout Win over UTEP

A season-opening win for Nebraska football, as the Huskers top UTEP 40-7.

Aug 31, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Gabe Ervin Jr. (22) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the UTEP Miners during the second quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

A no-doubter to open the season for Nebraska football.

The Huskers dominated UTEP 40-7 Saturday. NU is now 1-0 while the Miners are 0-1.

Nebraska opened with a dominant drive, going 72 yards in 12 players to get on the board first. The drive took nearly six minutes off of the game clock.

A few less than optimal drives in a row had the game tied at 7-7, but a safety by the Blackshirts ended any hopes the Miners would have on the day. Nebraska scored on its next five possessions to put the game well out of reach while the defense forced four punts and grabbed a pair of interceptions the rest of the way.

Aug 31, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; UTEP Miners quarterback Skyler Locklear (9) throws as he is hit by Nebraska Cornhuskers linebacker MJ Sherman (48) during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

The Huskers totaled 507 yards on the day. UTEP managed 205, including just 56 yards rushing.

Husker quarterback Dylan Raiola's debut was magnificent. The true freshmanwas 19-of-27 passing for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He did not throw an interception while being sacked just once.

Nearly a dozen Huskers recorded a rush in the contest. Emmett Johnson led the way with eight carries for 71 yards. Dante Dowdell (55) and Rahmir Johnson (50) both had productive days. Gabe Ervin toted the rock six times for 24 yards, scoring two touchdowns.

Isaiah Neyor had a stellar debut for the Huskers as well, reeling in six receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Blackshirts did not notch a sack in the contest. They did, however, get a pair of takeaways on interceptions from Malcolm Hartzog and Rahmir Stewart.

Nebraska stays home next Saturday to host Colorado.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Game Notes

• Today’s game marked the first time Nebraska opened the season at home since 2019, and the victory was the Huskers’ first in a season opener since 2019.  Nebraska improved to 99-31-5 all-time in season openers, including 86-14-3 when opening at home.
• Nebraska’s 40 points marked its first 40+ point game since a 56-7 victory over Northwestern in 2021. The 33-point margin of victory was Nebraska’s largest since that 49-point victory over the Wildcats. The victory margin was Nebraska’s largest in an opener since a 43-10 win over Fresno State to open the 2016 season.
• The Huskers’ 23-point second quarter was their highest-scoring quarter since scoring 28 in the first quarter against Bethune-Cookman in 2018. It was Nebraska’s most lopsided shutout quarter since outscoring Wyoming 28-0 in the fourth quarter in September of 2016.
• True freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola became just the second Husker true freshman quarterback to start a season opener since WWII, joining Adrian Martinez who started in 2018 against Colorado.
• Raiola completed 19-of-27 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns, including 192 yards before halftime. Raiola played just one drive in the second half.
• Nebraska threw for 284 yards, its highest total since throwing for 354 yards at Purdue in 2022. Nebraska’s season high in passing in 2023 was 199 yards vs. Michigan.
• Nebraska finished with 507 yards of total offense, including 284 passing yards and 223 on the ground. The total offense output was Nebraska’s best since gaining 575 yards against Georgia Southern in 2022, which was also Nebraska’s last 500-yard output. The Huskers had 339 yards before halftime, just 80 yards shy of the Huskers’ 2023 game high (419 yards vs. Louisiana Tech). 
• Today marked the first time Nebraska has topped 200 yards in both rushing and passing offense since 2022 against Georgia Southern.
• Receiver Isaiah Neyor caught five passes for 107 yards and a 59-yard second-quarter touchdown in the first half.  He finished the game with 121 yards on six catches, tying his career high in receptions and falling just five yards short of his career high in yardage (126 at Boise State in 2021).
• This marked Neyor’s fourth career 100-yard receiving game. The previous three came while he played at Wyoming including 2020 at Nevada (3-102), 2021 at Boise State (6-126) and 2021 at Utah State (4-125).
• Neyor’s 100-yard receiving game is the first by a Husker since Trey Palmer had 165 receiving yards at Iowa in 2022.
• Sophomore running back Dante Dowdell opened the scoring for Nebraska with a five-yard TD run on the Huskers’ opening series. It marked Dowdell’s second career touchdown, after having one TD run at Oregon last season.
• Dowdell finished the game with eight carries for 55 yards, all in the first half. Those totals tied his career high with Dowdell posting the same numbers for Oregon in a game against Portland State last season. 
• Sophomore running back Emmett Johnson had a 42-yard run to set up a second-quarter touchdown. The run was the longest of Johnson’s career, bettering a 29-yard run against Maryland last season. Johnson finished the game with eight carries for 71 yards.
• Junior running back Gabe Ervin Jr. had a pair of touchdown runs (3 yards, 1 yard) tying his career high for rushing touchdowns (also 2 vs. Buffalo in 2021).
• Offensive tackle Bryce Benhart made his 42nd career start in today’s game, setting a record for the most career starts by a Husker offensive lineman.
• Nebraska held UTEP to seven points, marking the eighth consecutive opponent the Huskers have limited to 24 or fewer points.  This is the longest stretch Nebraska has limited the opposition to 24 or less points since a 14-game stretch spanning the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
• NU limited UTEP to 205 total yards, marking its eight consecutive opponent to gain less than 400 yards. The last time Nebraska had held eight straight opponents to less than 400 yards was an eight-game stretching spanning the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
• Nebraska limited UTEP to 56 rushing yards, marking the ninth time in 13 games under Head Coach Matt Rhule the Huskers have held the opponent to less than 100 rushing yards.
• Defensive lineman Ty Robinson had a three-yard TFL in the second quarter resulting in a safety. Robinson finished the game with two tackles, including 2.0 TFLs for eight yards.
• The safety was Nebraska’s first defensive safety since recording a safety in the 2009 Holiday Bowl against Arizona.
• Today’s game captains for Nebraska were safety DeShon Singleton, offensive tackle Turner Corcoran, long snapper Camden Witucki and safety Derek Branch.

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