Northern Iowa attacked Nebraska’s defense with everything they had. They found early success on Saturday night and chewed up over 10 minutes on its opening drive.

The problem was that they went against Dylan Raiola and the Husker offense on the other sideline. Raiola’s presence makes games like this much more comfortable if you are a Husker fan. He executes nearly every throw, and he always sees the open man.

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“We had three possessions and we scored on three possessions,” head coach Matt Rhule said following his team’s 34-3 win over Northern Iowa. “(Northern Iowa) 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.”

On a night when the Blackshirt defense was off-balanced at times, Raiola and the offense made quick work of its opportunities. The Huskers had 256 yards of offense on its first four possessions, including touchdown scoring drives of 75, 75 and 80 yards to open the game.

Raiola’s final line of the game was 17-of-23 for 247 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

“Coach (Marcus) Satterfield was just dialing it up,” Raiola said. “He knows the strengths of his players, he knows what we’re good at, and he allows us to capitalize on what we’re good at.”

The win over the Panthers gives the Huskers its first perfect 3-0 non-conference start to a season since 2016.

Rhule and his team must turn around on a short week for a potential ranked-on-ranked match-up against Illinois on Friday. There has not been a ranked vs. ranked match-up at Memorial Stadium since the 2014 season.

“I like being 3-0,” Rhule said. “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 that the narrative of losing close games comes from when you get the lead, not trying to put the game away.’

Now on to the breakdown…

What I saw on Saturday

***Offensive lineman Micah Mazzccua was a scratch on Saturday vs. Northern Iowa. He was not seen on the sidelines. Henry Lutovsky got the start at right guard in his place.

Rhule said Mazzccua was out for a coach’s decision and he would expand more on it later.

***We saw linebacker Mikai Gbayor on the field in the first defensive series after being suspended for the first half from a targeting call last week. Syracuse transfer Stefon Thompson got the start in his place.

***The 1890 Nebraska logo was not on the field this week against Northern Iowa after being prominently placed on each 25-yard line a week ago. I’m told it will be something NU showcases at different times, but it won’t be permanently on the field for each game.

***NU wasted no time getting freshman wide receiver Carter Nelson on the field after not seeing an offensive snap a week ago. Nelson caught two passes for 38 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown on NU’s opening scoring drive. You could really see the big picture of what Nelson is going to be in this offense and the match-up problems he’s going to cause opposing defenses.

***We saw Heinrich Haarberg come into the game for three plays, in which he played three different positions. Haarberg caught a pass, carried the ball as a running back, and lined up as a quarterback for another running play. I’m sure Illinois’s coaching staff will enjoy the extra prep time that set of plays will give them now that they are on a short week traveling to Lincoln. Rhule even commented about why they do some of those things on offense in the post-game.

***We saw another spectacular fourth-quarter light show on Saturday. A University official said there were plans to incorporate drone show again this week, but some frequency issues kept them grounded on Saturday.

The final grade out

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.

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