It was finally time for Nebraska to open the season with a game like this...and frankly, it was especially important for Nebraska to open the 2024 season like this. Nebraska opened the previous four seasons with a conference game away from Lincoln; a combination that is especially ill-advised with a true freshman quarterback starting his first game. With a new head coach and only seven returning starters from a three-win team, UTEP is a team that shouldn’t have presented a particularly tough test in week one. And they weren’t.
It’s a combination that allowed Dylan Raiola to ease into the starting quarterback role, and Raiola delivered a solid introductory performance.