Did spring game give Big Red football fans more hope?

By DYLAN JURGENS/UNLimited Sports

LINCOLN -- There's hope with Nebraska football. And on Saturday, fans got their first in-person glimpse of it.

The Huskers ended their spring season with the annual Red-White scrimmage at Memorial Stadium. Even after seven consecutive losing seasons, more than 60,000 fans were hand for the scrimmage, where the White defeated the Red team 25-21.

The quarterbacks and running backs stood out in the scrimmage, while freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 recruit in the 2024 class who's fueled the hype, stood out in his first game in Memorial Stadium. Raiola completed 16 of 22 passes for 239 yards with two touchdowns. He had one interception, off a deflected pass, but did nothing to diminish the hype that has accompanied one of the most heralded players who's ever suited up for Nebraska.

However, Raiola wasn’t the first quarterback to play as junior Heinrich Haarberg started the first drive before Raiola came in on the second possession and freshman Daniel Kaelin on the third possession.

Coach Matt Rhule said he was very pleased with what he saw on Saturday and believes that there is a starter between the three quarterbacks.

“I think we have the starter in that room,” Rhule said. “We have three guys that we believe in.”

It shows what the Huskers will bring in the fall after seeing three different quarterbacks start in 2023.

Quarterbacks

Heinrich Haarberg

Haarberg got the majority of the starts just a season ago and got to continue that on Saturday. He started off slow but the biggest strive seen during the game was getting completions.

Haarberg completed 8 of 13 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. The first touchdown came on the first play of the second quarter from a 41-yard completion to freshman wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. His second touchdown came on a 25-yard completion to junior tight end Thomas Fidone with 6:33 left in the second quarter.

Haarberg said some of the biggest steps he’s taken this spring have been getting better at knowing where receivers are and trying to get completions.

“I think easily I’ve done better about knowing guys are and getting completions,” he said. “It’s what we are trying to accomplish this spring and that we are doing to help each other.”

Haarberg has also worked on his throwing motion this spring and he said that it's better from last season but not where he wants to be.

“It was something that me and coach talked about last season,” he said. “It’s by no means anywhere close to where I want to be. I’m going to keep working on it this summer and part of that is to work to be more comfortable.”

Dylan Raiola

The news of the offseason came in December, when Raiola flipped his commitment from the Georgia Bulldogs to Nebraska. It was a major recruiting win for Rhule and it seems like it paid off throughout the spring and on Saturday.

He started off hot and completed all four passes on his first drive, which ended on a 16-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver Janiran Bonner. Though he threw an interception on his second drive, Raiola made up for it later on with a 64-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Jaylen Lloyd with 11:07 left in the second quarter.

Coach Rhule spoke on how well Raiola has done this spring and believes that he does well throwing the ball where it needs to go.

“A lot of times, young quarterbacks can pass on if a player is kind of covered,” he said. “Whereas Dylan knows where the ball needs to go and he’s going to throw it there.”

That was something that Raiola was able to do on Saturday with both of his touchdown passes in the first half. He said he was able to feel comfortable in his first appearance in a Nebraska uniform due to the coaching staff and his teammates.

“I have great coaches that prepared me for this. Great teammates that made plays,” he said. “I was just getting the ball to my playmakers and they made me look good. The O-line blocked great and running backs ran hard and made plays.”

Raiola said now he has a few days off before finishing up school and will continue to get work done in Kansas City with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to help elevate his game.

He said that he doesn’t know exactly what he will work on with Mahomes but likes being around greatness and to keep working on his game.

Daniel Kaelin

Kaelin was the third quarterback who played on Saturday and got a chance to show he's also capable. Kaelin had a rough start to the game, as he threw an interception in the first quarter. However, he was able to get things going and helped the offense get into positions to score.

Kaelin completed 9 of 16 passes for 91 yards with no touchdowns but was able to find receivers when he needed to.

He said postgame that he felt that he was able to accomplish what he wanted this spring.

“I think coming into this spring, I just wanted to attack it everyday,” Kaelin said. “Wanted to be aggressive and try to learn as much as I could. There were some good and some bad but I think overall, I improved a lot and learned a lot.”

He also said that he’s been looking forward to being able to play in front of the crowd at Nebraska and the type of atmosphere it has.

“The type of atmosphere we had today was something I’ve been looking forward to playing in for a long time,” Kaelin said. “So, there were those kinds of butterflies beforehand, but I think obviously it just felt really good to be out there.”

Rhule said postgame that he could really see the improvement from all of the quarterbacks even with Kaelin and Raiola as true freshmen.

“You can see the improvement from Heinrich," Rhule said. "You can see Danny (Kaelin) as a true freshman go out there and complete those goals everyday,” he said. “It’s just what I love about quarterback play. So each guy from there has to bring their own sensibility.”

Running Backs

The running back position group was rocked by injuries last season, but from what was shown on Saturday, the Huskers will have a really deep group in the fall.

“We have a pretty deep running back room,” Rhule said. “We will have to do a good job as coaches to figure out what each guy does well.”

A player who really showed out on Saturday was sophomore running back Dante Dowdell. Dowdell transferred to Nebraska from the Oregon Ducks and has the potential to make an impact on the Huskers' offense.

Rhule said postgame that he saw a burst from Dowdell that he hadn’t seen from him from the other scrimmages this spring.

“It was great to see that from Dante,” he said. “He’s had a good spring, but I saw a burst. From where I stand down there, you could see him accelerate from the point of contact and on the long run down the sideline.”

Dowdell finished with seven carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Emmett Johnson got limited action on Saturday, with only five carries for 25 yards. There were a couple of players that didn’t get to see action on Saturday, which included senior Rahmir Johnson and junior Gabe Ervin Jr.

Rhule said that Johnson was able to get a lot of reps during practice and he sees him as a fit in the no-huddle packages that they plan on running this season. He also said that getting Ervin Jr back will help as well.

Now with the conclusion of the 2024 spring season, the Huskers will be back together later this summer for fall training camp as they prepare for the upcoming season. Nebraska will return to Memorial Stadium on Aug. 31 as it hosts the UTEP Miners to begin the 2024 regular season.

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