Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns to guide No. 23 Nebraska to a 34-3 victory over Northern Iowa Saturday night in Lincoln, Neb.
“I thought he was excellent,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said of Raiola, who connected on 17 of his 23 attempts.
The Cornhuskers (3-0) scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to win their first game as a ranked team since 2019. Dante Dowdell rushed six times for 55 yards as Nebraska finished with 423 total yards to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2016.
For Northern Iowa (2-1), which entered the night ranked 21st in the FCS poll, quarterback Aidan Dunne completed 13 of 25 passes for 117 yards and rushed for a team-high 49 yards before getting knocked out of the game with 10 minutes to go.
The Panthers dominated time of possession (38:07), but their drives repeatedly came up short due to a combination of penalties (nine for 95 yards) and Nebraska’s bend-but-don’t-break defense.
The Cornhuskers produced a touchdown on its initial possession for the third week in a row. Raiola capped the Huskers’ 75-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Carter Nelson, who made the catch over the middle at the 15-yard line and sprinted into the end zone.
Northern Iowa responded with a 10-minute, 8-second drive that bogged down in the red zone. Caden Palmer converted a 31-yard field goal to pull the Panthers within 7-3 at the 1:32 mark of the first quarter.
Raiola orchestrated another 75-yard scoring drive on Nebraska’s next possession. Faced with third-and-9, he found Isaiah Neyor open over the middle for an 18-yard score that gave the Huskers a 14-3 lead with 13:04 to go in the first half.
Nebraska shook it up on its third drive by zipping 80 yards in just four plays for another score. Raiola’s 59-yard strike to Jaylen Lloyd set up Jacory Barney Jr.’s 10-yard end-around that pushed the lead to 21-3 with 6:51 left.
Northern Iowa cranked up its running game for a lengthy drive to start the second half, but Dunne overthrew an open receiver on play-action and Nebraska safety Malcolm Hartzog Jr. picked it off.
That turnover led to Tristan Alvano’s 31-yard field goal at 6:17 of the third to extend Nebraska’s margin to 24-3. Alvano booted a 21-yarder near the end of the third quarter, then Emmett Johnson closed the scoring by bouncing outside and outracing UNI’s secondary for a 36-yard score with 4:31 to play.
Northern Iowa forced Raiola’s first career interception early in the fourth quarter when defensive back Fletcher Marshall Jr. wrenched the ball from Lloyd as they leaped for a deep pass.
