Raiola Leads Powerful Offensive Surge in a Week 2 Blowout for the huskers
Quarterback for the Huskers, Danny Raiola, puts on a show at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. A complete masterclass from the quarterback and his offensive squad.
Raiola threw for 364 yards, completing 24/31 passes, with 4 TOT TDs. A superb job was done by Raiola, who hit his receivers with ease, and was kept protected in the pocket the whole game vs a struggling Akron team who now moves to 0-2 on the year after this crushing 0-68 loss over Nebraska.
We knew going into this game that it would be a struggle for Akron to keep up, but quickly we saw that Nebraska was pulling away and showed no signs of slowing up. Emmett Johnson, running back for Nebrasked, rushed for 140 yards on 14 carries and scored 2 touchdowns. An incredible game from Johnson helped power this offense to a win.
If we break down the game though we see that on paper this game could’ve been way closer. Akron only converted 1 out of 14 3rd down plays. While Nebraska converted 8 out of 10 times. This is what it came down to in the end, Nebraska was able to convert while Akron struggled all night. The Huskers also had 6 penalties for 71 yards, while Akron only had 1 measly 5 yard penalty. This game could’ve gone in many different directions had they been able to convert on 3rd down. Throughout the entire game, the Huskers only had 20 more total seconds of possession time over Akron… that says a lot especially considering Akron did not score ONCE!
In the end, the Huskers efficiency on 3rd down led them to win this game, while Akron needs to get back in the film room and figure out why they are struggling to convert on 3rd down. This would have been a whole different ball game had Akron been able to get the ball past the first down marker.
Akron goes on to face UAB September 13, at 8:30pm EST, in which they hope to move up to 1-2 on the season.
Nebraska goes on to face HCU September 13, at 12:00pm EST, as they look to move to 3-0 and continue to build momentum as their big game vs #23 Michigan comes up in two weeks on the 20th.
Cameron Williams
DiSportsPhotoAgency
Senior Writer