Nebraska Football Has Something to Work With After Win Over Cincinnati

Boy, that was thrilling, wasn't it? With Husker fans packed into Arrowhead Stadium as Nebraska kicked off its 2025 season, the Big Red dominated early and then held on for the win over a pesky Cincinnati squad that was not going down without a fight. I was nervous going into this one…Nebraska teams of recent years have not fared particularly well in season openers outside of Lincoln against power conference opponents. The most important thing was for the boys in red to get out of Kansas City with the W, and that’s what they did.

Both teams looked a bit sluggish as they found their footing in the 1st quarter, and then Nebraska completely took control in the 2nd quarter, scoring 13 points, giving up none, and looking like they were on their way to a comfortable victory. But of course it couldn’t be that easy. The Huskers’ opening drive of the 2nd half stalled, Cincinnati responded with a touchdown, and we were biting our nails the rest of the way.

We cover it all in the Topline Takeaways.

CHEERS TO THAT

Winning Everything About the Turnover Battle. It’s been well documented that turnovers have been at the center of Nebraska’s painful fall from the college football mountaintop. And it’s been both sides of the turnover coin: the Husker offense has given the ball away too much – often at the worst possible moments – and the Blackshirts haven’t taken it away enough. At least one game into the 2025 season, we can echo the recently retired Lee Corso: not so fast, my friend!

Nebraska didn’t turn the ball over once (although there were a couple close calls!). Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen kept the game plan pretty vanilla, and quarterback Dylan Raiola managed it well. On the flip side, the Blackshirts generated two major impact plays: linebacker Vincent Shavers forced a fumble that led to a touchdown, and defensive back Malcolm Hartzog picked off a pass that sealed the victory for Nebraska. That’s exactly what you want to see: not just generating turnovers, but meaningfully impacting the game. It’s a long season, but the Huskers will take a +2 turnover margin every game.

The Youth Movement. Wide receiver Cortez Mills. Running back Isaiah Mozee. Linebacker Dawson Merritt. Punter Archie Wilson. Defensive lineman Kade Pietrzak. All true freshmen who saw the field on Thursday night. We also saw meaningful contributions from guys like redshirt freshmen Williams Nwaneri, Quinn Clark, Jordan Ochoa, and Caleb Benning, as well as true sophomores Vincent Shavers, Willis McGahee IV, Carter Nelson, and Jacob Bower. This staff has shown they are not afraid to play young guys, and Nebraska has a lot of them. The trick in the transfer portal era will be keeping all of these guys on the roster year-over-year, but it’s a good sign for the future that Nebraska has so much young talent.

The New Look Wide Receiver Room. Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter were the two names Husker fans heard about all offseason. Both transfers (Key from Kentucky, Hunter from Cal), it was hoped these two could lead the wide receiver room along with Jacorey Barney. They both looked excellent on Thursday. Each had six receptions and a touchdown, with Hunter racking up 65 receiving yards and Key with 51. I’m excited to see what more these guys have in store in the weeks to come.

Emmett!!!! Emmett Johnson, workhorse. Nebraska’s RB1 had 25 carries for 108 rushing yards, to go along with seven receptions for 27 receiving yards. He looks the part of a big time, Big Ten running back. Nebraska relied on him heavily on Thursday night; hopefully over the next two weeks (vs. Akron and Houston Christian), he can rest the legs a bit more and let some younger guys get more reps. But the Huskers have a dude in Johnson.

Special Teams. Nebraska made two field goals. They did not miss any field goals. The punting was solid, pinning Cincinnati inside their 10 yard line multiple times. These types of things have not happened regularly for Nebraska football in recent years. Clearly new Special Teams Coordinator Mike Ekeler is already having a major impact. The punt and kickoff return efforts left something to be desired, but they at least didn’t have any major mistakes that hurt the Big Red. Look for the entire special teams operation to continue to improve under Ekeler’s tutelage as the season progresses.

Let’s Not Forget Dylan. Let’s use all the cliches: Dylan managed the game well, he took what the defense gave him, didn’t make any back-breaking plays. In doing so, the sophomore QB racked up 33 completions (in 42 attempts), 243 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also made some plays with his feet that we didn’t see for most of last season. Very strong season opening effort from Raiola.

REASONS FOR CONCERN

Mixed Bag on Defense. The Blackshirts gave up only 271 yards total and surrendered 17 points. They held Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby to 13 completions for 69 yards. On the surface, you’ll take that kind of effort every time. But there were definitely some concerning signs. The defensive line appears to be missing the presence of longtime stalwarts Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher, as they got pushed around more often than you’d like to see. The Bearcats had 202 yards rushing on the game, and the Huskers had trouble containing the elusive Sorsby, who ran for 96 of those yards. Nebraska is going to have to button up the run D, and they really need to get better at stopping running quarterbacks. The next two weeks offer the perfect chance to work out some kinks on defense.

Depth at Running Back. We didn’t see much after Emmett Johnson. As far as true running backs go, only Mekhi Nelson and Isaiah Mozee had carries, with one each. You wonder what they would have showed if given more opportunities, and I’m certainly not hitting the panic button yet. It was particularly intriguing to see Mozee, a true freshman, get the first carry after Johnson. I expect we’ll see a steady rotation of running backs not named Emmett Johnson over the next two weeks. Hopefully a solid backup (or two) emerges.

BOTTOM LINE

The social media reactions to this game have been all over the map. It’s been everything from “the sky is falling, these guys are not what we thought they were” to “huge win over a power conference opponent.” Here’s where I come down: Nebraska has an emerging formula they can work with this season. You hope the young talent on defense continues to find its footing, and starts to look more like what Matt Rhule’s defenses showed in 2023 and 2024. But it’s not surprising there are some growing pains, with a new defensive coordinator and a lot of veteran talent no longer on the roster. In the meantime, the offense moved the ball well, limited mistakes, and clearly has much more under the hood than what they showed on Thursday. Importantly, the Husker offense held the ball for almost 40 minutes, nearly twice the amount of time Cincinnati did. That’s an important component to protecting a young defense. Their biggest area of improvement will be finishing drives and scoring more points, but I’m excited to see what Holgorsen has in store. Meanwhile, special teams looks to be drastically improved. Are we ready to declare victory over our special teams struggles of the last decade? Maybe not. But Thursday was a good start. If the offense can continue to grow and the special teams can continue to execute while a young defense gets up to speed, there’s still plenty of reason for hope in 2025.

As always, GBR for LIFE.

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