Three weeks have already come and gone in the 2024 college football season. For the Nebraska Cornhuskers; the season has started on track, starting 3-0 against the UTEP Miners, Colorado Buffaloes and FCS Northern Iowa Panthers. Now ranked No. 22 in this week’s AP Poll, the Huskers are heading into Big Ten conference play with a truck full of momentum. Here are four takeaways from Nebraska’s first three weeks.
Nebraska football non-conference takeaways
Granted, the Huskers haven’t played against teams that bring a lot on in the trenches, but Nebraska has dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage. You could see it in the game against the Buffaloes on the defensive side of the ball. The Blackshirts were Colorado senior Shedeur Sanders’s worst nightmare. Nebraska’s front seven sacked Sanders six times and forced pressure on him on the majority of snaps. The defensive line is one of, if not the best, units on the roster. The front seven can and has changed the game for Nebraska and will be the major x-factor for the remainder of the season.
On the offensive side of the line of scrimmage, the “pipeline” has played very well protecting true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola and opening holes for the run game. The line has only allowed one sack this season, which came in the UTEP game. If the offensive line continues this high level of play, the Huskers will continue succeeding on that side of the ball.
They have a quarterback
What a THROW by Dylan Raiola 😳@HuskerFootball pic.twitter.com/kXK1nPuir0
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 8, 2024
Flashback to 2023, Nebraska was already on their second starting quarterback and turnovers were the Achilles heel of the team, which is the main factor in the Huskers’ lack of regular season success in the past decade. Within the last three weeks, there has been a major improvement. A lot of that improvement has come from a new face at the quarterback position. True freshman Dylan Raiola, a former five-star out of Buford, GA, has already made a name for himself in the first three weeks of his college playing career. Raiola has completed 59 of 80 passes for 670 yards with five touchdowns and one interception, which is already over half of junior quarterback Heinrich Haarberg’s passing yards in 2023. Raiola has looked polished, especially as a true freshman. He will continue to be one of the major headlines for Nebraska throughout the remainder of the season and upcoming seasons.
The defense has picked up from success in 2023
6 God. https://t.co/3a5a0kofgA pic.twitter.com/vRN6vz68vq
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) September 8, 2024Â
As mentioned before, the Blackshirts have picked right back up from the success that they had in 2023. One aspect of improvement that has been seen in the past few weeks has been the ability to force turnovers. Nebraska had a -17 turnover margin in 2023, which was amplified by the inability to hold onto the ball offense, but the lack thereof forced turnovers on defense. The Huskers have forced five turnovers in the first three weeks, with four interceptions and one forced fumble. Junior defensive back Malcolm Hartzog leads the defense with two interceptions and senior Tommi Hill also has an interception but has the only defensive touchdown of the season. Hill took an intercepted pass from Colorado Buffaloes senior quarterback Shedeur Sanders for a seven-yard pick-six. The front seven also have nine sacks on the season, with senior defensive lineman Ty Robinson leading the team with two sacks and three tackles for loss as well.
AP Top 25 ranking
After the emotional win over the Buffaloes, AP voters ranked Nebraska as the No. 23 ranked team in the week three AP Top 25. It was a monumental moment for coach Rhule and the Huskers as it was the first time Nebraska was ranked nationally since week two of the 2019 season. The Huskers were moved up to No. 22 in the week four AP Top 25 poll after a 34-3 win over the Northern Iowa Panthers.
Next few weeks at a glance
With the first three weeks now passed by, Nebraska will begin Big Ten conference play this week. The Huskers face off against the No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini (3-0) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20 in Lincoln for the 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium. It will be the first ranked matchup hosted at Memorial Stadium since Sept. 14, 2013, when Nebraska lost to the UCLA Bruins 41-24 at home. Since 2016, the Huskers are 1-24 against ranked opponents, with their last win coming against the No. 23 Oregon Ducks in 2016. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Nebraska is currently favored by -8.5 points over the Illini, which would give it its second win over a ranked team since 2016.
After Illinois, the Huskers will head on the road for the first time in 2024 to take on the Purdue Boilermakers (1-1) in front of a sellout crowd at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 in West Lafayette, Ind. In the final game before the first bye week, Nebraska returns home to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-0) for its Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 5. These next three games are crucial for the Huskers’ success this and if they win the next three, Nebraska will be in the College Football Playoff contention.Â
Main Image: © Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
