Penn State Blog

 

(Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

Nebraska is nothing if not consistent with their drama.  This week during a rather innocuous bye week that didn’t have much in the way of news, Dayton Raiola, brother of Husker quarterback Dylan Raiola and nephew of offensive line coach Donovan Raiola, decommited from the Huskers and brought all sorts of rumors with that decision.

I keep wondering if this is just how college football is from now on, and we just need to harden ourselves to the reality that things like this are going to happen over and over again.  Immediately after Dayton decomitted, rumors began swirling that Dylan would transfer, that their legacy father Dominic was negotiating with other Power Four conference teams for a package deal and that Donnie, the offensive line coach was on his way out.  If this rumor mill is accurate, Nebraska could be in for a rocky offseason, that could change the direction of the program for the rest of Matt Rhule’s tenure.

I’m a big Dylan Raiola supporter and while I understand some Husker fans think he hasn’t lived up to the hype, I’m also a big picture thinker and I believe that Dylan’s best game play has yet to come.  He left the season injured, but he also had improved from 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 13 games to 18 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 8.5 games.  Nebraska is also starting to become a winning program in his two years of leadership, something that hadn’t been the case for the prior 8 seasons.

Don’t get it twisted, I’m a big fan of TJ Lateef as well, and I thought he played awesome in his first start at UCLA.  The problem with that reactionary take that Lateef is better than Raiola after one start, is reaching at best and ludicrous at worst.  Maybe Lateef is the next Eric Crouch, and that would be awesome, but I’m not ready, paraphrasing the late Denny Green, to crown his ass just yet.

Losing Dylan would be like Wan’dale Robinson leaving, on steroids.  If you think Dylan is no good, I’m going to guarantee if he ended up at Oregon, Georgia or Miami next year, you would probably see him become an All American behind their pro style offensive lines.  That would be a hard pill to swallow unless Lateef becomes an All American himself.

Losing a legacy quarterback recruit like Dayton with two weeks to signing day almost guarantees that you will have to pay two quarterbacks a lot of money because if Dylan leaves, you have to pay Lateef, who is not a guarantee, and then go pay more for a portal quarterback because you have lost, not only your starter, but the backup plan in your quarterback development for 2026.  The issue with paying two quarterbacks starter money is that it takes away from the money for other parts of the roster that you need to win in college football.

Nebraska is in a tight spot with Dayton’s decommitment and now we are left waiting to see what carnage is coming should his brother leave as well.  What a week of drama.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was UCLA 31, Nebraska 23. The actual score was Nebraska 28, UCLA 21.  I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting TJ Lateef to look so confident and so comfortable against the Bruins on the road.  He played great and Nebraska leaned on Emmett Johnson’s All American like season to jump to a three-touchdown lead.  The problem was the Blackshirts inability to keep the quarterback run game in check and that is a microcosm of the entire season.  Running quarterbacks have killed the Huskers and no matter how good the offensive game plan was, the inability to turn the Bruins over almost led to a Husker loss.  Lateef was a revelation.  Let’s hope that is the case for the last two games of the season.

Quick Notes:

Emmett Johnson…Johnson was the national player of the week after the UCLA game; he was also vaulted into the Heisman conversation.  Johnson has been everything you could have wanted and more this season for the Huskers. If Johnson continues to play at this level, Nebraska could win their final two games.  Teams will be gearing up to stop him, so he will have his work cut out for him.  Either way, Nebraska wouldn’t be near as good this season without his great play.

TJ Lateef....It feels lazy just to keep highlighting the same guys on offense week to week, but Lateef was a star in his first true college start.  To come up that big on the road, in a game the Huskers really should win, was a big step forward for the Huskers’ future, but also for Lateef.  As I stated above, his play has elevated the rumors about his role moving forward and also how much it will take to keep him in Lincoln next season.  I’ll wait to see what happens against Penn State this week, it is clear that Lateef has talent.  Hopefully Nebraska will continue to utilize it for winning football.

Deshon Singleton...…Singleton has been playing his best football of his career that last few weeks.  Singleton and Rex Guthrie have paired up to really limit the passing game to tight ends and running backs, along with supporting the run.  They haven’t done great limiting opposing quarterbacks from running, but that has as much to do with the linebacker play as the safeties.  Singleton’s physicality has helped set a tone that teams shouldn’t throw down the middle of the field.

Ceyair Wright....When is the last time you can remember hearing Wright’s name on a blown coverage?  I don’t know if I can think of many, or any for that matter.  Wright’s numbers on passes deflected and interceptions won’t show much, but that is because he has completely shut down the passing game for his man.  I don’t know if Wright will be named All-Conference, but he should.  He is the best man to man corner we have had since Prince Amukamara.  That is high praise, and he will be missed next season.

Score Prediction: Penn State 27, Nebraska 24

I would love to tell you that Nebraska is the better team this week.  I’d also love to tell you that Penn State’s inability to play well in the passing game is music to the Blackshirts’ ears.  The problem is, Penn State has not one, but two NFL caliber running backs.  I expect them to carry the ball upwards of 50 times in this game.  Nebraska’s inability to stop the run has hurt them all season.  Keep in mind it is Senior Day in State College, at night, in one of the more difficult places to play in the country.  I recognize that Penn State is 4-6, but they are still playing for the postseason.  If there wasn’t so much riding on this, I’d say Nebraska would win but based on the prior three weeks and how hard Penn State continues to play, I’m guessing this game will be low scoring and very difficult for the Huskers.  This game has a chance to change the outside perception of the Huskers.  If Dylan Raiola was playing, I would pick Nebraska.  If TJ Lateef plays like he did against UCLA, Nebraska has a great chance, I just think the Huskers will come up short.  I was wrong in LA, let’s hope I’m wrong again and GBR!!!