After an emotional win last week, Matt McMaster offers his three keys for the Huskers to see success this Saturday night against Northern Iowa.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers welcome the Northern Iowa Panthers in a game that can take the Huskers to 3-0 for the first time since 2016. While on paper this should be an easy victory for the Big Red, the Panthers bring a style of play and a backfield talented enough to crash the party at Memorial Stadium.
After Nebraska’s dominant win over the Colorado Buffaloes last week, the Huskers enter Saturday’s contest ranked No. 23 (AP) in the country. While this is not the end goal for Big Red, it’s a step in the right direction and a distinction they haven’t received in five years.
The team’s early-season success has brought the nation’s attention and high expectations. With that comes pressure that can crumble a team.
But they also possess that the program hasn’t had in ages. The positivity flowing around the buildings in Lincoln hasn’t been there since the Bo Pelini era. The easiest way to lose the positive stigma is to have a letdown week against an FCS opponent.
A loss against Northern Iowa would destroy the program’s momentum and perceived progress over the last few weeks. Even a close win deteriorates what NU has accomplished this season.
The Huskers need to take the momentum from the win over the Buffaloes and roll it into their performance against Northern Iowa. They need to take the confidence instilled from rewriting the biggest wrong of last season and turn it into another masterclass on both sides of the ball.
I’m always on the side of deferring to receive the ball in the second half if you win the coin toss, but not in this game. Nebraska needs to make this a boat race.
The Northern Iowa offense is a boa constrictor that gives opposing defenses a slow and painful death. This team likes to dominate up front.
Over their first two games, they’re averaging an astounding 298 rushing yards. The Panthers want to suffocate opponents on offense. They want to take the ball, pound it up the middle, tire you out, and drain the clock. They do this with two elite backs, Tye Edwards and Amauri Pesek-Henderson. Henderson and Edwards are elite FCS backs, averaging over 6 yards per carry. Nebraska’s gap integrity must be at its best, or the Huskers will get gashed all night by these two.
While UNI’s rushing game is elite, the passing game is far from it. The Panthers have 215 passing yards in two games. They simply don’t have the quarterback or outside weapons to compete on the outside against FBS opponents, let alone one of the better secondaries in the Big Ten.
While UNI’s style of play works for them, it’s not meant to get into shootouts. If the Huskers are aggressive early on offense, they can force the Panthers to veer away from their preferred style of play.
