Dylan Raiola

The most striking thing I saw last week, Dylan had oodles of time in the pocket. We heard all week how UTEP would disguise blitzes and flood a freshman who hasn’t seen live shots. You know what I ended seeing, fail pressure off blitzes and Dylan just standing in the pocket for 3 seconds with no defender close to collapsing the pocket. 
 

Colorado will step up the competition level, but the whole “vibe” of Dylan the first game just seemed to be smooth operator. Dylan looks like a Junior in the peek of his career working his way toward the NFL. The calm within the storm and the potential to take the top off at any point lead to a offense that seems to be unwavering in the worst of it that leads me to believe we are closer to a dark horse playoff contender than a 7-5 or 6-6 solid team.

I see what Miami did with Cam Ward and that seems to be what NU did, but with a freshman. Let the kool-aid flow!!!

 
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admo said:
As for the Huskers, Sanders has played a ton of college ball.  Although I think we have good enough talent in the secondary to send pressure from the front 5-6, I think that's what he thrives in.  Therefor I would limit blitzes and play coverage to keep him in the pocket for several seconds.  That way he forces a throw or our front 4 gets to him.
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See I would do the opposite.   Whenever I watch Colorado and see their opponent rush 3 or 4 and try and sit in a soft zone, Shadeur is athletic enough to move around in the pocket or get outside the pocket to avoid what little rush is there.   It also gives Hunter and Horn time to freelance once the route breaks down which is a good amount of the longer third down conversions.   If NU wants to only rush 4 most of the time, they better get quick pressure from the middle of the pocket and contain the edge.  
 

I’d like to see NU bring 5 a healthy amount of time and force a quicker throw or have Shadeur do his yolo throws downfield.   I’m assuming NU can defend those.  

 
admo said:
Dylan looked great and played really well.

But don't make no mistake.  He's played one college football game (a half really).  Understanding this, Colo will likely send pressure often and hit him, tackle him to the ground, maybe some sacks, and try to rush his throws.  They have enough talent in the secondary to play man in those situations.

I mean, that's what I would do to a young buck.  Or against every Iowa QB, Wisconsin QB, etc....   

As for the Huskers, Sanders has played a ton of college ball.  Although I think we have good enough talent in the secondary to send pressure from the front 5-6, I think that's what he thrives in.  Therefor I would limit blitzes and play coverage to keep him in the pocket for several seconds.  That way he forces a throw or our front 4 gets to him.

I just hope the Husker O-Line provides protection and the RBs help too.   And the communication is good so if we need to drop off a quick pass to a RB to avoid the pressure, it gets the job done and we keep getting yards and avoid sacks and hits.  

I hope this makes sense?
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Totally makes sense.  The key to beating good QBs is pressure from your front 4.  You can't blitz all day against an experienced, at least somewhat mobile QB and expect to not have some chunk plays given up.   But as @Archy1221 just said, you can't give him all day back there either.  The key is the front 4 actually getting pressure, which we have long struggled to do.  If they aren't getting pressure early, then you have to bring more as you have no choice.

As far as CU on defense, they will no doubt try and pressure DR as much as possible, that is the right thing to do at least to start the game.  The way we beat that is going to be by running the ball, to set up some shots.  I don't like the prospects of a game where each team has to throw 40+ times in DR's second college game versus Sheduer.  We probably don't win that one a that is not a recipe for success.  Keeping the ball away from them, running for 200+ and taking timely shots down the field is the recipe. 

 
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runningblind said:
The way we beat that is going to be by running the ball, to set up some shots.  I don't like the prospects of a game where each team has to throw 40+ times in DR's second college game versus Sheduer.  We probably don't win that one a that is not a recipe for success.  Keeping the ball away from them, running for 200+ and taking timely shots down the field is the recipe. 
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Great point and I agree that is a key to the game.  Gotta have a run game and keep CU offense off the field.   If they have limited possessions and a few of them are three and outs, CU’s offense may get a little antsy and try to force a few things which generally leads to mistakes.  

 
deedsker said:
The most striking thing I saw last week, Dylan had oodles of time in the pocket. We heard all week how UTEP would disguise blitzes and flood a freshman who hasn’t seen live shots. You know what I ended seeing, fail pressure off blitzes and Dylan just standing in the pocket for 3 seconds with no defender close to collapsing the pocket. 
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To add onto this, I think what UTEP wanted to do and what they could do from a pass rush standpoint ended up being two very different things (largely due to the size and skill differences, but also that the Huskers came to play). It harkens back to one of the biggest takeaways of the game that Nebraska actually outplayed and out-performed a weaker opponent. It means nothing going into this week's game, but it sure was nice to see.

admo said:
Dylan looked great and played really well.

But don't make no mistake.  He's played one college football game (a half really).  Understanding this, Colo will likely send pressure often and hit him, tackle him to the ground, maybe some sacks, and try to rush his throws.  They have enough talent in the secondary to play man in those situations.
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Good point, although one thing that gives me some hope is that two of DR's best throws last week came under pressure. The first was the side-arm pass everybody loved to compare to Mahomes and the second was the first deep sideline TD pass where he got pressured and I think even got hit. It gives me some confidence that he'll be able to push through some of that adversity despite his age and relative college inexperience.

 
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Yall made some good points 

@runningblind @Archy1221 @Enhance

Running the ball will be important, but also, if you are having success with it, stick with it which will open up some passing.

I'm going into the game with high confidence in Dylan.  I"m just mainly preparing myself for Colorado giving some unnecessary hits on our QB any chance they get.  I don't trust those fools or Warren Sapp.  

 
We lined up against UTEP in the same formations we used last year, but I think there were more pass reads on any given play than what Sims & Haarberg were handed last year because Raiola is much more capable in the pocket.

The big sets seem to have a primary design currently to protect Raiola. The pass blocking - even though it was "just UTEP" - was really good on Saturday.

But, when you line up with more big guys you have 1-2 fewer true receivers out wide. This is the rub of this offense this year, I think.

The staff seems to want to chip block with guys like Bonner and Nelson lined up against a tackle (of course in addition to Fidone on the other side) and then let Raiola read and check down to one of these guys if he needs to.

 
Enhance said:
To add onto this, I think what UTEP wanted to do and what they could do from a pass rush standpoint ended up being two very different things (largely due to the size and skill differences, but also that the Huskers came to play). It harkens back to one of the biggest takeaways of the game that Nebraska actually outplayed and out-performed a weaker opponent. It means nothing going into this week's game, but it sure was nice to see.
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The first 3 offensive plays against LA Tech are a big reason why the UTEP win was exciting for me. The LA Tech game was 3 games in.



 
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