Nebraska vs UTEP Game Preview | College Football Game Predictions

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football deal officially game week officially the dill and royola era getting started in Lincoln Nebraska hosting UTEP Saturday afternoon want to go over you know a few things that we are looking for from this Nebraska team where you look at this matchup 27 and a half Point favorites we've been extremely vocal that you know we're pretty high on this Nebraska program heading into 2024 this game from an outcome standpoint probably shouldn't be much of a sweat for Nebraska if they are as good as we think they are and if they play it up to their standard that being said there's a lot of different storylines that you kind of want to see play out Saturday afternoon want to go over a few things that we're looking for from this Nebraska program obviously leading into a massive week 2 matchup against Colorado really excited to get into it now before we do an as always one to the Nebraska fans would love to hear how you guys are feeling about this match up but I think more importantly what do you want to see from this Nebraska team going into year two under Matt rule going into the Dylan Rola era and I think more importantly we can't thank you guys enough for all the support you guys have shown it though we've talked a lot of Nebraska football over the eight last eight months a lot of the Nebraska fans have been rocking with the boys in the middle of the summer talk in this program we can't thank you guys enough if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel and D without further Ado let's get into this one now I'm going to go with a quick pivot here and we're going to talk extensively about Dylan and what we want to see from from him I want to see the rushing attack and we've talked a lot during this offseason how do we make Dylan most comfortable as a freshman quarterback it's no secret Matt rule wants to be a team that establishes the line of scrimmage runs the football the best thing you can do for a freshman quarterback is have an effective and explosive and an efficient Run game look utep's defense was brutal against the run last year there's a lot this UTEP program is going to look a lot different though new head coach brought in 28 players in the transfer portal but at the end of the day Nebraska should be able to run the football here and I want to see them run the football and kind of get some confidence in this ground attack heading into the 2024 year yeah that's kind of one thing I'll be looking at kind of all season is I don't think you want to see Nebraska stray too far from their identity and I know you want to use Dylan rayola and I think they should I don't necess see what want to see them keep him on the leash either not let him throw the ball at all because that'd just be like well they're gonna have to do it at some point but I still think you want the identity of this football team to be extremely physical think that's that's Matt ru's best chance of making Nebraska really really good on the national stage so I don't think you want to see them straight too far from it and I think you want to see them really take it to you and I look at Dylan's presence in the offense and say that's only gonna help the rushing attack I mean you go back to Nebraska last year trying to run the football when you have no presence of attacking the deeper third it is really hard to run the football so I think just Dylan being president in this offense and having that ability and look nobody throws the B the Deep ball better than Dylan at coming out of that freshman class him having that presence of pushing the ball down the field I think's only going to help this rushing attack and you know one of the things I'm looking at is and Matt rule has been pretty vocal hey we got four running backs that we like a lot all four running backs kind of do some different things I think one of the storylines is all right who emerges out of that running back committee to kind of be the running back one and again I think it's going to be a committee approach but who kind of gets the hot hand and who is the running back that again going into week two for Colorado who's going to be the guy that's toen the rock the most for this Nebraska offense I guess I'll ask you you got any prediction there I honestly think they're gonna go back to Irvin and I lo I loved what we saw from Irvin last year I think again his style fits exactly what I think Nebraska is gonna want to do that heavy physical kind of approach I think that's what they should do kind of going forward all year but especially in that Colorado game where again that's kind of where I think that Nebraska has that huge Advantage is their physicality I think should be a problem for a lot of teams and I think again Gabe Irving really allows them to establish that sort of presence of all right we're just gonna line up and you try to be try to match what we're gonna bring yeah the Nebraska fans know Gabe Irvin's kind of our guy heading into 2024 and hey I love EMT Johnson we're excited about Dante D coming in from Oregon and we like Raheem ramir Johnson as well I mean you go back to what 2021 ramir Johnson was this Dynamic offensive weapon for Nebraska and then obviously got bang up into 2023 and then just wasn't used by Scott Frost in 2022 they're going to use them all but I'm kind of with you you look at the kind of Run game that Nebraska wants we go back to efficiency right keeping this Nebraska offense on schedule yeah we want to be explosive in the rushing attack but I think most importantly we want second and six we want third and three what running back can give that to Nebraska most effectively I I think it could be a guy like Gabe Irvin I think that's a fascinating storyline is all right what running back emerges for this Nebraska rushing attack now D getting into Dylan what do you want to see most from him I guess for me it's two things one you obviously just the command of the offense and I think this new helmet communication is massive for freshman quarterbacks right what is the biggest thing that keeps freshman quarterbacks off the field they're really from having success year one it's kind of understanding the defense and understanding the offense I think having coaches being able to talk to Dylan Roa until that 15 second Mark kind of talk hey if you can line up fast and you see what the defense is looking like that last 5 Seconds kind of talking about Dylan hey this is what we're looking at this is what you're doing when you're hot I think that could be a game changer for Dylan in terms of having commanded this offense as a true freshman and just avoiding any those big mistakes that I feel like can kind of just derail not not necessarily your career but whether it's a game whether it's just avoiding those sort of things that frankly I think you saw harber get caught off a little bit with that along with all the quarterbacks are kind of playing and that Nebraska offense is they just early on in the season it didn't feel like anyone really had a great sense they're making a lot of mistakes snaps getting dropped all sorts of chaos and I think there is an element of probably just having to think too much not being particularly comfortable in what they're doing so yeah that'll be interesting to see and and that's not just for Nebraska but teams across the country like do quarterbacks look a little less or a little more comfortable than a lot of times because college quarterback there's a big big variance and there has been one thing that's worth noting is all right small sample size in week zero there were not a lot of interceptions thrown by quarterbacks yesterday and so I wonder if that helps like where you get a coach in the headset saying hey this is where you can't this is where you're getting crushed like this is where you can't go with the football based on what we're seeing up in the booth that I'm kind of fascinated to see how that helps Dylan take command of this Nebraska offense I think it only helps and I'm interested to see if Nebraska kind of lines up early to see what the defense is looking and kind of get five seconds of talk Dylan through what he's looking from that defense I think the second thing I want to see is a little bit of verticality this was something that Nebraska just didn't have in the 2023 year I think this is really important again we don't need to be pushing the ball down the field every single play but we know Dylan can push the ball down the field and we have wide receivers who can work vertically right whether it's Isaiah neor whether it's a GU like Jamaal Banks whether it's Malik Coleman or Jaylen Lloyd with the speed there are wide receivers that can access the deeper third can Nebraska at least just put some of that on film so when you're you're playing Colorado and you're getting into the Big 10 schedule if you're a defensive coordinator you're looking at this Nebraska offense and saying hey we can't just keep walking our safeties into the box because we are going to get punished if we do want to see some of that in this UTEP game as well I think that's a big thing I'll be looking at it's just not having him play like muzzled if you will just being like just play something really Bland and again Nebraska certainly could go through this game and go through the motions and not really ask Dylan to do anything at all they'll probably be just fine they're just way out classing UTEP in this game but at the end of the day I think you want to show the country I think you want to show Dylan I think you want to show the program I think you want to show recruits you want to show everyone that this is going to be a new era I think you want to give him a chance to make some throws make some big plays again I don't think you necessarily want to like what I said earlier diverge too far from that idea like we're going to be a really physical team in the Run game is going to be kind of what we're based off but again give him a couple play actions let him try to make some plays because at the end of the day Nebraska needs to prove that there's something what they were last year 100% agree and I'm not saying you have to unload the clip like there are probably some plays and packages that you want to save for that Colorado game game two but I don't think it hurts to show on the film that hey we can push the ball down the field if you want to roll safeties into the box that's only going to help this Nebraska rushing attack you know last storyline on the offense is just the left tackle spot you know whether it's Turner whether it's Gunner and kind of just seeing how we're looking at left tackle cuz D we've said it all off season like you look at the rest of that offensive line we feel really good about this Nebraska starting offensive line but with the injury to Teddy it's suddenly a question mark heading into 2024 now flipping over to the defensive side of the football Nebraska should have their way on defense right I do not think UTP is going to have many consistent drives that being said there are a few things that we want to see Nebraska take that step we think this defense is we we kind of know this defense is going to be damn good in 2024 one thing I'm looking at UTEP was not very good pass protecting last year they bring in a lot of offensive lineman through the transfer portal can Nebraska get pressure and get to the quarterback just with the front four because you go back to 2023 yes guys like tyan Nash on the inside they were massive presences in the pass rush specifically The Edge rushers probably left a little bit to be desired you were playing with some young cats guys like Prince leyu that being said you're coming out of fall Camp saying ton of Buzz around princ Ley ton of Buzz around Jamari Butler can this Nebraska defensive line show that they can get after the quarterback just with their front four because you go back to 2023 yes Nebraska was able to impact a passer but a lot of times it was kind of Tony white scheming up some blitzes it's gonna get a lot easier for Tony white to run this defense if you can rely on that front four to win in the pass rush yeah that's gonna be a monster one and Prince will use emergence I think is almost story of this season if he's a really really Premier addresser in the way you saw the flashes of if he develops into that and is that way consistently being able to beat tackles really quickly and be able to put a lot of pressure on the quarterback I mean that changes my whole outlook on this Nebraska team because at the end of the day they were a good defense last year for sure but obviously when you went up and played the better teams you kind of saw the moments where all right we there's some spots we're definitely missing at and I think again that pass rush if they can really develop it with that front four and you know you're going to get it from the inside those guys did their thing last year Ty Robinson might be one of the better interior pass rushers I think in the game college football but that edge spot is the one we're looking at and Prince willu seems like the guy who's yeah you want to see that for lack of better terms that Alpha merge that guy that when it is third and Long hey you're pinning yours back and you're a guy that can go for eight to 10 sacks in a football season I think it can be Prince Leu I think James Williams could be a guy that's a pass rush specialist I think Jamari Butler little bit of a different flavor a little bit more heavy hands a little bit more of that Mac Truck pass rusher Jamar well there sounds to be earned the single digit for Nebraska he sounds like a guy that could be a real presence for Nebraska on the defensive line and I think depth right I think we talk about the guys behind Ty and Ash on the inside how do they look on the inside of the defensive line is probably another thing that you're looking at last thing I'm kind of looking at for this defense creating turnovers again you look at all the Havoc that Nebraska created last year didn't really result in those turnovers only averaged 1.2 turnovers for us for game that was a 100th in the country look there was not a lot of statistical categories that Nebraska wasn't very good in on defense last year that was one of the only ones and you look at Nebraska what cost him a lot of football games last year was the turnover margin we expected turnovers to get significantly decreased on offense the second step now is can this Nebraska defense it's been a focal point every time Tony W's up there talking to the media we are trying to take away the football and create those game-changing plays can Nebraska get their hands on the football on the defensive side of the football another thing that I'm looking for in this football game yeah something we've always talked about that theme of when it's the second year for a defensive coordinator you typically do see and I think a lot of teams are hoping for you got Florida you had Oklahoma obviously when Brent venables took over you saw those defenses take steps and I think Florida Nebraska some of those teams that I think performed decently with their pre or first first year coordinator if you will I think you want to see that really expand and like again do what you said like not just play good defense but play great defense and be a be a defense that can like win you legitimately the year the year two defensive coordinator bum it's there like it is there historically with a lot of different programs Michigan's a good example I think Oklahoma with Bren venables I know not the defensive coordinator but kind of his defense they massively improved Kirby Smart at Georgia you saw Georgia year one struggle year two dominant you see it all over the place can Nebraska take that jump year two under Tony white massive storyline turnovers are probably the biggest thing we are looking for D we'll close it out there 27 and a half points I lead Nebraska but it's not something that I think anybody's really itching to bet I think this is more of a game that hey we want to learn from Nebraska who are the guys that are stepping up heading into Colorado this is a massive tuneup game really excited for it they probably game that we're going to break down again a lot of takeaways that you can get from this football game we'll close it out there appreciate you guys rocking with the fellas again if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys and we'll talk to you all later