After their first 2-0 start in over a decade, the UNI Panther football team met its match in the 23rd-ranked team in the country: the Nebraska Cornhuskers

“They’re a great football team. They have good coaches,” said junior quarterback Aidan Dunne. 

Nebraska showed why they are widely regarded as one of the best teams in the country, jumping out to a quick lead thanks to a 24-yard touchdown pass from freshman Dylan Raiola to freshman Carter Nelson. Nelson found the endzone for the first time in an 11-on-11 football game, as he played high school football for Ainsworth High School, a small school in Nebraska in the 8-man division. 

Following the Cornhusker touchdown, the UNI offense had a successful drive of their own. A 10 minute, 16 play drive mixed with short passes and effective runs resulted in a Caden Palmer 30-yard field goal, which would eventually be the lone Panther points of the day. 

Nebraska picked up right where they left off, marching down the field in 8 plays for another touchdown. This time, it was Isaiah Neyor finding the endzone, thanks to a 18-yard pass from Raiola. 

The next drive for the Panthers stalled, despite multiple completions of 15+ yards. On the Huskers next drive, Raiola evaded a Panther pass rusher and unleashed a 59-yard bomb to Jaylen Lloyd, sending Memorial Stadium into a frenzy. Nebraska capped off the drive with another Raiola touchdown pass, completing with Jacory Barney Jr. on a 10-yard score. 

Unsuccessful drives by both teams brought the halftime score to 21-3 in favor of the home team. 

The Panthers came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Dunne, Tye Edwards, and Amauri Pesek-Hickson ran all over “the Blackshirts.” Just when they got to the Nebraska doorstep, an intercepted pass on the four yard line stopped the drive cold in its tracks. 

“They adjusted well,” said Dunne when asked about Nebraska’s defensive adjustments. “They ran a lot of [man to man] on the perimeters and made it harder on us in the box.”

On the ensuing Nebraska drive, the Panther defense stood strong in the red zone, holding the Huskers to a field goal. Another unsuccessful drive for the Panthers led to another 3 points for Nebraska, bringing the score to 27-3. 

In the early stages of the fourth quarter, Raiola dropped back and heaved a pass down the field that was intercepted by Fletcher Marshall Jr. On the play, it looked as if Nebraska’s wideout Jaylen Lloyd had come down with the catch. As he was coming down with the ball, Marshall Jr. ripped the ball from his hands, causing some confusion around the stadium as it looked as if both players had the ball. The referee determined Marshall Jr. had possession, giving him his first interception of his career as well as Raiola’s his first interception. After the game, Lloyd took the blame for the turnover.

“I should have done a better job going up for the ball,” Lloyd said. “I had my hands low. I should have went up for the ball with my hands high. I do think he got an interception. It was a great job by him.”

Nebraska found the endzone one last time, bringing the final score to 34-3 in favor of the Cornhuskers. After the game, coach Mark Farley had some good things to take away despite the defeat. 

“We showed a lot of toughness. We should do that when you start rushing the football against Nebraska, or anybody like Nebraska. It’s a standard that you’re rushing against,” said Farley. “I think that we did a great job at the line of scrimmage. Our running backs ran hard. They got the extra yards. They’re always going forward, and then did it all night long, for four quarters. What our crew did, I thought they walked away with a toughness and that rushing game that we can build from. 

Dunne led the Panthers both through the air and on the ground. He recorded 117 passing yards and scampered for 49 more on the ground.  Pesek-Hickson added 39 rushing yards and Sergio Morancy led the Panthers with two receptions for 30 yards. The Nebraska defense did a good job of limiting Tye Edwards, who recorded just 37 yards on 10 attempts. The Panthers owned the time of possession battle, occupying the ball for nearly 17 more minutes than Nebraska. 

“They did a great job all game of keeping the ball away from us on offense,” Raiola said. “On the sideline we just kept saying, ‘We’ve gotta make it count, we’ve gotta make sure we put points up when we get the ball back.’”

“They did a great job in that they used up 10 minutes on that first drive. They were literally just sitting in the huddle, looking to the sideline. It was a master class by Coach Farley,” said Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule. 

The Panthers will hop on a plane and fly to Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Warriors this Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11 p.m. central time and can be watched on Spectrum Sports PPV or listened to on the Panther Sports Radio Network.