This could be the start of something big.
It was an almost perfect debut by both the 2024 Nebraska Football team and its biggest star, freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, as the Huskers rolled to a 40-7 victory over UTEP Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Raiola was 19-for-27 for 238 yards and two touchdowns in his college debut. He spearheaded a Husker offense that rolled up 507 yards, the most since the Georgia Southern game in 2022. That was also the last time the Huskers gained both 200 yards in both rushing and passing. In fact, the 339 yards of total offense were just 80 yards shy of last year’s season high for an entire game. Meanwhile, Nebraska’s defense stifled UTEP’s fast-paced offense, holding the Miners to 205 yards of offense while forcing four three-and-outs, two interceptions and one safety. Isaiah Neyor caught six passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, his fourth career 100-yard receiving game, but his first since 2021 at Wyoming.
Opening a season at home for the first time since 2019, the Huskers opened their season with a win, also for the first time since 2019, and from the start, it was the heralded five-star freshman quarterback leading the charge. Nebraska received the opening kickoff and started its drive at its 28-yard line. From there, the Huskers steadily marched, 12 plays, 72 yards in just under six minutes. Raiola led the march, going 5-for-7 for 54 yards. The drive was capped by a powerful 5-yard touchdown run by Dante Dowdell. A Miners’ three-and-out gave NU the ball back at its own 29-yard line, but the Huskers failed to convert a fourth down and gave the ball back to UTEP. The Miners wasted no time, darting 63 yards in three plays and 42 seconds to tie the game at seven on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Skyler Locklear to Kam Thomas.
The teams traded three-and-outs before a promising Nebraska drive ended with a fumble by Dowdell, the only giveaway by the Huskers (1-0) on the day. But with UTEP buried at its three-yard line, Ty Robinson dropped Jevon Jackson in the end zone for a safety, giving Nebraska a 9-7 lead with 10:29 to go until halftime.
From there, the rout was on. Jacory Barney returned the ensuing kickoff to the Huskers’ 41. Two plays later, Raiola connected with Neyor for a 59-yard touchdown to boost the lead to 16-7. After another UTEP three-and-out, Nebraska took over on its own 37. After Gabe Ervin, Jr., converted one third down with a four-yard run to the Huskers’ 48, Emmett Johnson converted another with a 42-yard run to the UTEP 5. Two plays later, Ervin bowled in for a three-yard touchdown run to boost Nebraska’s lead to 23-7.
The Miners (0-1) picked up a couple first downs on their next drive, but a Cade McConnell pass was intercepted by Malcolm Hartzog, Jr., to snuff out the drive and to give the Huskers the ball at their 41-yard line with 2:05 to go until halftime.
The two-minute drill didn’t start promisingly, as Raiola was sacked on the first play of the drive. But a 15-yard pass on 3rd and 12 to Neyor got the drive going. A 3rd and 2 run by Rahmir Johnson for three yards kept it alive. After a Raiola to Bonner pass took the Huskers to the UTEP 21, Raiola connected with Jahmal Banks two plays later for a 21-yard touchdown that pushed the score to 30-7 with two seconds to go in the half. The second quarter was arguably the best 15 minutes of football Nebraska has played in some time. They outgained the Miners 223-36 and outscored them 23-0 while holding the ball for 10 minutes, 15 seconds.
The second half saw the Huskers mostly hold UTEP at bay. NU scored on its first drive of the half, with Ervin hammering in a one-yard touchdown, and from there, the Huskers burned clock to capture a 40-7 win. It was Nebraska’s biggest margin of victory since a 33-point win against Northwestern in 2021. 11 different Huskers caught a pass while 11 different Nebraska players attempted a rush. 28 Huskers registered a tackle. In all, 107 different Huskers were able to play in the game, the deepest Nebraska has gone to its bench in some time.
All of it was a perfect start to the season, with a huge matchup against longtime rival Colorado looming next Saturday (kickoff 6:30 p.m., pregame 2:30 p.m. on KLIN).