It seemed like old times, old, old times, like Nebraska football’s “Scoring Explosion” team in 1983, almost. The Huskers defeated Akron 68-0 at Memorial Stadium Saturday night — again, 68-0.
The last time they scored more was in 2012, a 73-7 victory against Idaho State.
OK, maybe not “Scoring Explosion” worthy. Let’s not get carried away. But it was an explosion, and a shutout, Nebraska’s first since the 2009 Holiday Bowl against Arizona, 33-0.
The shutout was “important to us,” Matt Rhule said, by certifying what the defense did.
And it was a group effort; 40 Huskers were credited with at least one tackle, led by freshman defensive tackle Kade Pietrzak, who had four including two for losses, one of which resulted in a safety. The safety followed an Emmett Johnson fumble at the Akron 2-yard line with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter and increased Nebraska’s lead to 9-0.
But no reason to get down on Johnson. He carried 14 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes, one of which also went for a touchdown.
Johnson carried only once in the second half, giving way to back-ups, two of whom, Kwinten Ives and Mekhi Nelson, also scored touchdowns. Four touchdowns came on Dylan Raiola passes. In addition to the one to Johnson, he connected with Dane Key, Quinn Clark and tight end Luke Lindenmeyer, who made post-game news by proposing to his now fiancée, a member of the Scarlets. Post-game interviews all included questions about that, of course. It probably could’ve been the lead to this story.
Raiola completed 24-of-31 passes for 364 yards and the touchdowns. Freshman TJ Lateef went 6-of-7 for 128 yards and ran 8-yards for the final touchdown.
Rhule was especially complimentary of Raiola, who has now completed 57-of-78 passes (78.1%) for 607 yards and six touchdowns, without an interception. As with last week, he played “superb,” Rhule said. “I don’t want to see a lot of ‘wow’ plays,” plays where Raiola might do something out of system.
Rhule said he “just thinks (Raiola) is ascending” in his play.
Raiola completed his first nine passes Saturday night and his last 11 in the Huskers’ 20-17 victory against Cincinnati. His 20 consecutive completions are a school record. Dave Humm held the previous record, 15 in a row against Kansas in 1974.
Kyle Cunanan accounted for the other points with a 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter to make the score 12-0, after a series that included two incomplete passes resulting in fourth-and-6.
Nebraska led 33-0 at halftime, during which Rhule told his players to “finish the game and have a killer instinct.” Not because he wanted to embarrass Akron, but rather for his team to do the right thing and not back off. Among what he considered negatives was Akron’s second possession of the third quarter, when the Zips drove from their own 35-yard line to the Nebraska 16.
The Huskers forced a 33-yard field goal attempt, which nose guard Riley Van Poppel smothered. As mentioned, Johnson’s fumble resulted in a safety, and Heinrich Haarberg’s failure to push the ball in from the 1-yard line came in the closing seconds of the first half. Akron only got to the 3.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention Nebraska finished with 728 yards of offense, the eighth-most in Husker history, and the highest total since 2014, 784 yards against FAU.
Your head must be spinning with numbers by now, but here’s another to consider. Nebraska had 92 punt-return yards, including four for 87 by Jacory Barney Jr. The 92 return yards exceeded last season’s total — that’s last season, in its entirety. So special teams got into the act, too.
Nebraska used everyone able to play except maybe one or two, according to Rhule. By my count, 108 Huskers saw action. It was a great night to be a Husker, none better than Lindenmeyer.
He caught his first touchdown pass, and even better, proposed to his wife-to-be, with teammates and family on hand near the entrance to the field for the Tunnel Walk, a special conclusion to a special effort.
