Nebraska Football is Leveling Up Right Now

On this weekend's After Nebraska Football, Josh Peterson and Jack Mitchell took a look at Nebraska's 68-0 win over Akron and asked an important question; did you learn anything about the team? In the course of their discussion, they found reasons to buy into things being different around here. Is it time to start believing in the 2025 Cornhuskers?

Below is a lightly edited transcript of their discussion.

Josh: Do you come away from [the Akron] game with a different view on the team as they move forward now? I don't want to make this pod about Michigan just yet because we have time to do that. But I don't know how much you watched of them [against Oklahoma], but I got some questions about the Michigan Wolverines.

Jack: I did going into the game.

Josh: And so I just wonder, like, do you leave this game and think, “I am viewing the season through a different lens?” Or are you telling yourself, “chill out, it's still early? Akron is garbage.” Like, which side do you lean more towards?

Jack: I did this for the Cincinnati game, too. I said, look, I'm not going to get too high or low based on this game. A lot of people got way too low in Cincinnati. [Akron is] one of the worst FBS teams that's out there right now. That said, I think you can celebrate and [be] happy and take some solace in the fact that Nebraska handled a team like that; they haven't always done so from whistle to whistle.

I think there's good in that, but man, in terms of just how Nebraska is gonna match up with better teams, I'm not sure if I feel like I know a whole lot more about this. Honestly, Josh, the biggest thing I take away from it for the second week in a row is just kind of a mentality-type thing again. Because I think we knew that Nebraska was this much better than Akron, but Nebraska has been this much better than other teams they've faced.

Emmett Johnson put up a career-high 140 rushing touchdowns against Akron. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Josh: They haven't won like this!

Jack: They haven't done this. And part of that, I think, is a mentality thing. It really is. That’s probably the biggest thing. I'm starting to feel like the team is in a better headspace than it's been in a long time. We’ll see. But that is the biggest thing that I take away.

in terms of how you match up specifically? I can give you some feelings that are getting more ingrained about the players, about the team, about the strengths and weaknesses, and we can get into all of that. But I'm really not ready to extrapolate those real extensively. And frankly, Josh, probably won't be until after Michigan.

Josh: Yeah. That’s why the early part of the season can be so fun, because you're kicking ass, but also frustrating because you're trying to get data points that you just are unable to pick up.

I want to read this comment and then other comments before I give my answer because [subscriber] Rebound says, “interested to hear Josh's answer to this question.” Adam says, “Akron is garbage.” JB says, “Michigan is beatable. I would expect them to be favored, but Nebraska can win that game.” Sam writes, “We need to repeat this this week, next week, then show up versus Michigan. Then we can talk.” Texas Toast brings up that “Akron is unable to make a bowl game because of their team's GPA.” And that is a great point.

[Another subscriber]; “I don't want to be a downer, but Mike’l [Severe] pointed out Akron hasn't scored a point on Thanksgiving." JB says, “Akron is garbage, but Nebraska exceeded my expectations and did what they should have done, which is important.” And then two more; Dilo says, “I'm ignoring the six to seven drops that should have resulted in at least two TDs, but the eye test tells me Nebraska is improved.”

So I will now answer the question that I asked; I am viewing things a little bit differently right now. And I think that it is because I think they are passing the eye test at this moment in time, or at least they did [against] Akron. You said something a second ago, Jack, they were favored by like 33.5 points. They doubled that number up. So I know that we said, “Well, you know, they've won before.” Yeah, but this was a different type of ass whooping that they delivered.

I think in terms of who is passing my personal eye test right now, I think Emmett Johnson looks faster and think he looks shiftier so far this year. I think he looks like he has leveled up. Maybe not to the way that you and I kind of gassed him up in April and May and June and July, but I think Emmett Johnson is a better running back right now than he has been at any point in his career.

Jack: Agree.

That throw that Dylan Raiola had that finished his night is the best throw that he has had in his young career at Nebraska, and I think he is leveling up right now as we see him. There was a pass, and Matt [McMaster] and I talked about it on [Big Red] Overreaction; there was a pass early in the game where you could see him go like, “nope, that read isn't there. Nope, that read isn't there.” And then he checked it down to a receiver, and I think mentally is grasping the part of the game that I think he was kind of swimming in last year when things were really struggling.

Luke Lindemeyer has had a good start, both on the field and off the field, to the 2025 season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

[Subscriber] Dilo says, “[Nyziah] Hunter and [Luke Lindenmeyer] look better. And Dylan Raiola looks better.” I really like what I'm seeing from Luke Lindenmeyer right now. Talk about a guy who is leveling up on the football field in front of our eyes. I know it was against Akron, but man, like that is the exact type of performance that you want to see where they don't play with their food for two quarters. They had dumb things, and they still were up 33-0. And then suddenly it's [40].

They were smoking them over the course of this game. It was the exact type of game that you want to see. [Subscriber] Jordan says, “The game is really slowed down for him.” I could not agree more. Dylan looks so comfortable right now when he drops back to pass, and we did not say that throughout much of last year.

Jack: Matt Rhule put out a quote after the game. He was like, “This is what I want from Dylan.” I'm paraphrasing: “Don't want him to be making spectacular passes. What we saw tonight is what I want from him,” and what we've seen, basically, is efficient and not turning the ball over. Maybe we took that for granted too much after week one, right?

Watch the entire episode below!

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