Reviewing the Huskers' Potentially Historic Season

Nebraska football has jumped out to a fast start in 2025 in several key areas. But its overall success as a team may be limited by its weakest points.

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola looks for a receiver against Michigan. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Before the season, I wrote about the Huskers’ records that I thought could be in danger of falling in 2025.

Dana Holgorsen and Raiola are an elite combination of offensive coordinator and quarterback, even if the national media doesn’t seem to agree. With the off week marking the one-third point of the season, it’s a good time to review these predictions and see which records are still at risk and which are safe for another season.

Passing Records

I expect that Raiola would surpass the single-season marks for completions and pass attempts. In the first game, Raiola came within just three completions of the school record. Through four games, he’s fourth in the nation in completions and 21st in attempts. He’s on pace to easily surpass Joe Ganz’s record of 285 completions from 2008. However, he’s been so accurate that the attempts record could be safe. If he maintains his current pace, he’d finish at 405 attempts for the season, 25 behind Zac Taylor’s 2005 record.

Raiola’s accuracy to start the season has been remarkable. He ended his freshman season as the school record holder for completion percentage in a career, despite not surpassing Adrian Martinez’s 2020 record of 71.5%. While I expected Raiola to be more accurate than his freshman mark of 67.1%, I thought a 70% season was out of reach. However, he’s not only over 70%, but he’s also completed 71% of his passes in every game! Raiola is just the 14th player to accomplish this over the last 30 years. Not only could he surpass Martinez’s 2020 season at Nebraska, but he may also threaten to surpass Bo Nix's 2023 NCAA record of 77.4%!

Top 10 most accurate QBs against ranked opponents last 30 years (minimum 150 attempts)

Mac Jones
CJ Stroud
Shedeur Sanders
Cam Ward
Brandon Weeden
Colt McCoy
Andrew Luck
Dan Persa
Case Keenum
Dylan Raiola

— Arbitrary Analytics (@arbitanalytics) September 21, 2025

Raiola is also on pace to easily surpass Zac Taylor’s record of 26 touchdown passes set in 2006. He has 11 touchdown tosses through just four games. Even though the level of competition will get better in conference play, I still expect him to hit the 30-touchdown mark.

I also thought he might surpass the single-season yardage mark at Nebraska. If he maintains his pace of 284 yards per game, he may reach that in the regular season and the bowl game. However, this record may be close, and he may have to settle for second after the 2025 season.

Receiving Records

This offseason, I thought all three single-season receiving records could be broken – receptions, yards, and touchdowns. However, Raiola has been spreading the ball around to multiple options. Eighteen different Huskers have a catch so far in 2025, and no team in college football has more.

Jacory Barney Jr leads the team in all three categories (tied with Dane Key for touchdowns), and he’s only on pace for a top 10 season in each category. I expect the Huskers to continue spreading the ball around to a variety of targets. Multiple players on this team may crack the top 10 in each of these receiving categories.

Nebraska wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. reacts after catching a Hail Mary touchdown to end the first half. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Rushing Records

While most of the Nebraska rushers are safe given the pass acumen of the 2025 roster, the emergence of Emmett Johnson as a bell cow back has given the Huskers a player who will leave his name in the record books. Johnson has already posted the Huskers’ 516th and 517th 100-yard rushing games in school history. He’s also on pace to become the Huskers’ 37th rusher to break the 1,000-yard mark in one season. He may also become the Huskers’ 31st 2000-yard career rusher.

Johnson currently has the highest percentage of the Huskers' rushing yards for a season of any player since they joined the Big Ten. His 391 rushing yards are 1/3 of the team’s total rushing output so far. The Huskers' Big Ten record is held by Anthony Grant, who had 61% of the team’s rushing yards in 2022.

Defensive Records

In the preseason article, I stated that many of the school's defensive records were likely safe, given the legendary Blackshirts at so many positions. I also expected the defense to take a step back after losing Tony White. While the rushing defense has taken many steps backward, the passing defense has emerged as one of the best in the country.

The Blackshirts prepare to take the field for their first defensive series against Houston Christian. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

One record I thought could be broken was Dana Stepehenson’s career interception mark of 14. Malcolm Hartzog entered the season needing to double his career total so far to tie it. His game-winning interception against Cincinnati brought him to eight career interceptions. It's looking doubtful that he will break this record, but he’s just two away from entering the top 10 for his career.

As good as the Huskers' passing defense has been in 2025, allowing just 75 yards per game, this still would be the seventh-best season-long mark in school history. The 1973 team allowed fewer than 40 yards passing per game, although the sport was very different in the 1970s. No team has held its opponents under 1,000 yards passing on the season since 1979 (outside of the shortened 2020 season). While they could finish the season as one of the best in the nation, I don't expect the Blackshirts to continue to allow fewer than 100 yards passing per game this season.

Special Teams

Nebraska punter Archie Wilson | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

While he has a long way to go to surpass Sam Koch’s 2005 record of 46.5 yards per punt, Archie Wilson could contend for the top 10 list for the metric in just his first season. Although he has only kicked the ball in two games so far this year, he averages 43 yards per punt. He needs to add just two more feet to each punt to surpass 2018 Isaac Armstrong for the 10th-best punting season in school history.

That’s not the only history that could be rewritten on special teams in 2025. Barney is making a name for himself in the punt return game. He has 111 yards through four games. If he maintains this pace, he could tie Cortney Grixby for the ninth most punt return yards in a season at Nebraska.

Through three games, Husker kicker Kyle Cunanan has 40 points. If he can maintain that pace through the regular season, he could tie Eric Crouch in 2001 for the fifth-most points scored by an individual Husker in a season. He would also edge out 2012 Brett Maher by just one point for the most points scored by kicking in a single season.

Nebraska place kicker Kyle Cunanan | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

While the Huskers' potent passing offense was to be expected, they're excelling in other areas was also notable. The growth of special teams in just one year is indeed surprising. Nebraska could see a top 10 season in punt returns, punting average, and kicking points scored after it had one of the worst special teams units in the country in 2024.

While these records are fun to talk about, the most important record is the team’s win-loss record. Although individual players may receive their own accolades this season, the Huskers’ success as a team may be limited by its weakest units.

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