HuskerOnline observations from Nebraska’s open practice on Saturday night
Nebraska opened the Memorial Stadium gates to fans to get a first look at the 2024 Huskers football team on Saturday night.
Here are the HuskerOnline staff’s biggest observations and takeaways from the practice…
Dylan Raiola keeps living up to the hype
***Who was one of the players to lead the Huskers out of the tunnel to start practice? That’s right, Dylan Raiola.
The freshmen looked every bit the part of Nebraska’s starting quarterback. Not only did he ace the eyeball test, he also led about a 12-play touchdown on the opening drive of team compete.
Raiola hit Jahmal Banks on a pretty fade in the corner of the end zone from about 10 yards out. Raiola connected with Banks for another TD later in 7-on-7 that drew cheers from the crowd.
His composure and arm talent for a true freshman continue to impress.
***Heinrich Haarberg was the second QB during team compete. He had a nice scramble for a first down but ended his drive with an interception. Daniel Kaelin ran the third and final drive and made some nice completions through traffic. His drive stalled out without a score, though.
***Nebraska held out Jaylen Lloyd (hamstring), Tommi Hill (load management), and Princewill Umanmielen (bone bruise/knee) won’t practice Saturday. Matt Rhule said before practice that none of the injuries were “long-term.”
Offensive lineman Henry Lutovsky reaggravated a lingering calf injury and won’t practice on Saturday. He’ll likely miss 2-3 weeks but should return in time for the season opener.
***Rhule also said Marques Buford Jr. (bone bruise/knee) wouldn’t practice, but Buford was out there for the entire session.
***Hill suited up and went through warmups and stretching but didn’t participate in the team portion of practice.
Nebraska’s first offense, defense during team compete
***Here was the first offense with Raiola during team compete:
QB – Dylan Raiola
RB – Emmett Johnson
WR – Jahmal Banks, Isaiah Neyor, Janiran Bonner
TE – Thomas Fidone
LT – Turner Corcoran
LG – Justin Evans
C – Ben Scott
RG – Micah Mazzccua
RT – Bryce Benhart
***This was the first defense:
DL – Ty Robinson, Nash Hutmacher, Jimari Butler
LB – Javin Wright, John Bullock, MJ Sherman
CB – Jeremiah Charles, Marques Buford
S – Isaac Gifford, DeShon Singleton, Malcolm Hartzog
Plenty of subs with the top groups
***Rahmir Johnson was the No. 2 running back on the opening drive after Emmett. Gabe Ervin Jr. also saw snaps with the first offense and showed some nice burst and power.
It should be noted that Rahmir Johnson was the first RB with Raiola later in practice during team ones vs. ones.
***It was notable that Corcoran was the top left tackle over Teddy Prochazka, who worked with the second offense during team compete. Prochazka did take over as the top LT after Corcoran looked to ding up his ankle/foot midway through practice.
***The second offensive line group was:
LT – Teddy Prochazka
LG – Jason Maciejczak
C – Sam Sledge
RG – Tyler Knaak
RT – Gunnar Gottula
Some players who caught our eyes
***Speaking of looking the part, Isaiah Neyor checks about every box. He also had an excellent practice and was nearly unguardable during 7-on-7s.
***Nebraska rotated early and often with the first groups. Riley Van Poppel and Sua Lefotu worked in on the d-line, while Jacory Barney and Keelan Smith got reps with the ones at receiver.
***Ceyair Wright was with the second defense during team compete, with Mario Buford as the other cornerback.
***Nebraska’s intensity was high from the jump. James Williams got into a brief scuffle with Knaak player after Haarberg’s interception.
***Who knows where Jalyn Gramstad will factor into Nebraska’s quarterback depth chart. What was clear on Saturday is that the former NAIA Player of the Year can ball. He threw at least two pretty touchdown passes, including a deep shot to Coleman during team drills.
***We got our first look at Ismael Smith Flores as a Jack linebacker after switching from tight end this summer. He got some reps with the third defense.
***Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda was the first punt returner on Saturday night. Barney, Coleman, and Emmett Johnson followed.
***Freshman defensive back Roger Gradney got carted off with an apparent right ankle/foot injury toward the end of practice.
***Kickers John Hohl and Nico Ottomanelli made all of their attempts from 47 yards out. That was encouraging.
***The amount of talent and weapons that Nebraska will have at wide receiver immediately stood out immediately. Neyor and Banks on the same field together will be a pretty sight for NU fans. They are about as physically impressive on the outside as could be.
***Barney was used a lot on the first drive with motions and sweeps to the boundaries. Nebraska also used Bonner more frequently than you might expect. You guys have also heard it plenty from Sipple, but Nelson will also be the real deal.
NU’s coaches were dialed in
***The top offensive line went and sat down on the bench after paving the way to a touchdown drive during team compete. Moments later, strength coach Corey Campbell came over and yelled, “Get up! Get up!”
The unit quickly stood up, and no player sat on the bench for the rest of the practice.
***Raiola had an impressive night, but Nebraska’s staff isn’t rolling out the red carpet for him by any means. Co-OC/QBs coach Glenn Thomas was mic’d up during individuals and talked through the drills and what the coaches wanted.
Raiola missed a throw and Thomas immediately said, “Terrible throw by Dylan there.”
***New defensive backs coach John Butler is all business during practice. There wasn’t a wasted second between reps and he was actively involved in everything his unit did throughout the night.
***Midway through the night, Rhule stopped the practice because he saw too many players walking between drills instead of running. So, he made the entire team – including the coaching staff – run sideline-to-sideline sprints.
“We’re walking around the field too much, so we’re going to run a little bit,” Rhule said into the microphone. Fans responded with loud cheers of approval.
***It was fun to see Nebraska’s new on-field coaches get involved during practice. Pretty much every player got extensive individual attention from a position coach. That’s going to be so important in terms of player development and roster retention.
Nebraska’s ‘Big Red Preview’ was a big success
***There was an obvious attempt to make the practice a great fan experience. Rhule came out 25 minutes early to allow kids to line up and take pictures with him. Husker employees threw 1890 Nebraska t-shirts into the stands and NU showed clips of the “Chasing 3” series on the big screen inside Memorial before hand.
***Nebraska ended the night with one last offensive vs. defense competition: linemen – and coaches – trying to catch punts to avoid gassers. Hutmacher and Butler dropped theirs for the defense. Benhart caught his, but Knaak dropped it.
Defensive line coach Terrance Knighton dropped his, but Rashaan Melvin answered with a catch. Running backs coach E.J. Barthel caught his, leaving the defense to run two gassers.
***Dylan Raiola was the only offensive player to run the gassers with the defense.
The post HuskerOnline observations from Nebraska’s open practice on Saturday night appeared first on On3.
