WATCH: Nebraska Football Coach Matt Rhule Postgame; Cornhuskers Top UNI Panthers

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule met with the media following a 34-3 win over Northern Iowa. The Huskers improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2016.

Nebraska Football Coach Matt Rhule - Post Northern Iowa / HuskerMax

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule met with the media following a 34-3 win over Northern Iowa. The Huskers improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2016.

You can watch the full appearance above. Below is a portion of what Rhule had to say.

Opening Statement

“Really happy with our twos, at the end of the game to keep them out of the end zone. Two out of the three games we’ve had a fourth quarter shutout. Really happy with our two offense. They went down and scored a touchdown.”

On the rhythm and flow of the game

“We had three possessions and we scored on three possessions. They did a great job in that they used up 10 minutes on that first drive. They were literally just sitting in the huddle, looking to the sideline. It was a master class by Coach (Mark) Farley, in how to keep these games how you want to keep them. Move the pocket, run the quarterback, they cut us a ton. We have these pass rushers and now all of a sudden they’ve got a fullback cutting them, it was really well done by them. But I think offensively, we scored touchdowns on our first three drives, we got down there and went for it on fourth-and-three on that fourth drive. Yes, I’d love for the defense to be able to get the ball back for us a little bit sooner, but I also thought the offense was unbelievably efficient. Out of the half, we get a takeaway, go down and score, then the next drive we score. Not a lot of punt work from (Brian) Buschini.

On Dylan Raiola’s pass to Jaylen Lloyd

“That’s the same play we ran last week, that everyone made a highlight reel play that he threw on the run. That’s the play where we roll right and we throw a post back left. You have to have an elite athlete like Jaylen (Lloyd) to do that. They blitzed off the edge, so it’s not the right play for that defense. Even in the first game, Lloyd has always done a good job at finding space and time and making the throw. He knew that’s where to go. He knows that’s where he’s going to flatten it and Jaylen (Lloyd) was right where he was supposed to be.”

On Dylan Raiola’s ability to avoid the pass rush 

“People have asked me what makes him special, I said, ‘He’s not a 7 v. 7 quarterback.’ He likes the game part of it, even the short yardage play. That’s what JJ McCarthy was doing in Michigan last year, handing off the football like that. Pulling it every once in a while. He just knows when to make the right play.” 

On ‘loves and hates’ from the first quarter of the season

“I like being 3 and 0. There’s nothing that I hate. We are just going to get better each week. We start Big Ten play. I refer to this as the preseason. In my mind we are learning how to win. I told our team, the narrative of losing close games comes from when you get the lead, not trying to put the game away. The questions I get asked a lot of, ‘Why don’t you do more of this in the second half… that led to a lot of close losses.’ We want to score, get a lead, play defense and run the football. Then I want everyone to say why are you so boring in the fourth quarter and then we win. I want to make sure my team hears that. We wanted to be aggressive because this was a good night for us to work on our passing game and that’s why we threw that post at the end because it was there and we thought we had it. I thought we came down with it. We didn’t. I’ll watch the tape early on. I felt like we didn’t tackle like we usually do, but I like the energy the defense came out with in the second half. That had all the makings of one of those games, if you aren’t locked in the second half, they score a touchdown, looks like a game you are not in control of. We are trying to control games, control games, that's what good teams do. I felt some of that tonight.”

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