Akron vs. Nebraska: Keys to victory, HuskerOnline score predictions for Saturday
Nebraska (1-0) opens its home slate tonight against Akron (0-1) at Memorial Stadium. It marks the Zips’ first trip to Lincoln since 2018, when a lightning storm wiped out the scheduled game.
The question now: what will Joe Moorhead’s Akron team bring to Lincoln, and can the Huskers build on last week’s 20-17 win over Cincinnati at Arrowhead?
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As kickoff approaches, here are today’s keys to victory for Nebraska. The Huskers enter as a 34.5-point favorite. Saturday’s game is set for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on BTN.
KEY TO VICTORY: Akron vs. Nebraska
KEY 1: Early rhythm on offense
Nebraska’s offense needs to come out of the gates with rhythm and a plan. They need to make the first couple of drives look easy with their overall level of execution.
KEY 2: Play within the scheme on defense
The Huskers now have a full game of film to work off of last week. There are definitely areas that need improvement, and a lot of it comes down to players executing within the scheme, getting off blocks, and making plays on the football.
KEY 3: Explosive plays on offense
Last week, Nebraska played station-to-station baseball. They hit several singles and left a lot of runners on base. There were a few doubles, but really no home runs. That has to change today against Akron. NU needs to find more explosive plays as an offense.
KEY 4: Create pressure with a four-man rush
Last week vs. Cincinnati, Nebraska had zero sacks and quarterback hits. The four-man rush needs to be a bigger factor moving forward. If it can, this secondary behind them is good enough to force a lot of turnovers.
KEY 5: Take care of business early
This is the type of game that, if Nebraska takes care of business, the starters won’t need to play much more than three quarters of football. That said, I’d love to see guys like quarterback Dylan Raiola and running back Emmett Johnson rack up some numbers and build some swagger moving forward.
Expert takes
Sean Callahan – HuskerOnline Publisher
Nebraska will jump out big early, but then the pace of this game will slow down once NU begins working more guys into the line-up off the bench. It will be a comfortable win. Dylan Raiola will throw for over 300 yards.
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Nebraska 41, Akron 10
Steven Sipple – HuskerOnline columnist
Good heavens, I had a horrible first week of picks. I was a big loser. It’s embarrassing. Nebraska, though, emerged victorious in its opener and now gets a night game as a reward of sorts. The 6:30 p.m. kickoff is a good thing for the Huskers because players get fired up to play under the lights, and the only way Nebraska will lose this game is if it shows up in sleep-walking mode.
Nebraska 38, Akron 10
Robin Washut – HuskerOnline senior writer
Nebraska may not have played its best game in last week’s win over Cincinnati, but it found a way to win against a Bearcat team that could be much better than many assumed. Tonight should be a much different story. Akron is a bad football team, and the Huskers will get right in all three phases in a blowout victory.
Nebraska 49, Akron 10
Andy Kendeigh – KETV ABC-Omaha
A game seven years in the making. Back in 2018, storms washed out Nebraska’s season opener and Scott Frost’s NU coaching debut against Akron. Despite plans and pleas from the Huskers to reschedule the game for Sunday, Akron left town.
This is a flex game for Nebraska. No, not in terms of scheduling (although Nebraska wanted to flex its rained-out game back in 2018 to Sunday, but Akron left town), but in terms of performance. Nebraska will see improvement from the defensive line, the offensive line–especially the running game, the back-up running backs and the return game. This is a blowout on paper and should be on the field.
Nebraska 40, Akron 10
Jim Rose – 1110 KFAB Radio-Omaha
Night games in Lincoln are fun except when Mother Nature drops a severe thunderstorm right AFTER kickoff. If she does that again, it’s because she wants to watch the Michigan-OU game. The Husker win over Cincinnati will improve as the season progresses, and when the time comes to play the Big Ten, it should be a confidence booster. However, the next two weeks had better resemble scrimmages, or Michigan’s confidence will not hold up.
Nebraska 54, Akron 17
Mike’l Severe – Big Red Wrap-Up
Akron has struggled against Power 4 teams for the most part since 2022, being out-scored 330 to 66. Nebraska should be able to establish both lines of scrimmage vs the Zips. Akron also allowed seven explosive pass plays to Wyoming, so Raiola should have success with some deep shots. Hopefully, this is the first of two opportunities to get all the backups some playing time.
Nebraska 41, Akron 7
HuskerOnline Week 2 Score Predictions
| Week 2 | Sean Callahan | Steven Sipple | Robin Washut | Andy Kendeigh | Jim Rose | Mike’l Severe |
| Akron at Nebraska (-34.5) | 41-10 Nebraska | 38-10 Nebraska | 49-10 Nebraska | 40-7 Nebraska | 54-17 Nebraska | 41-7 Nebraska |
| Illinois at Duke (+3) | 23-17 Illinois | 20-14 Illinois | 28-21 Illinois | 20-10 Illinois | 31-24 Illinois | 27-26 Duke |
| Iowa at Iowa State (-3) | 17-16 Iowa | 24-17 Iowa State | 11-5 Iowa | 20-17 Iowa | 17-13 Iowa State | 26-20 Iowa |
| Michigan at Oklahoma (-6) | 31-20 Oklahoma | 28-17 Oklahoma | 20-17 Michigan | 24-17 Oklahoma | 28-27 Michigan | 27-17 Oklahoma |
| Boston College at Mich. State (-3.5) | 31-27 Mich. State | 20-13 Mich. State | 24-21 Mich. State | 27-21 B.C. | 24-20 Mich. State | 30-20 Mich. State |
| Kansas at Missouri (-6.5) | 34-31 Missouri | 21-20 Missouri | 31-23 Missouri | 31-28 Missouri | 35-27 Missouri | 28-24 Missouri |
HuskerOnline Score Prediction Standings
| Picker | Straight Up | Vs. Spread | Total |
| Jim Rose | 4-2 | 4-2 | 8 |
| Mike’l Severe | 3-3 | 4-2 | 7 |
| Sean Callahan | 3-3 | 3-3 | 6 |
| Robin Washut | 3-3 | 2-4 | 5 |
| Andy Kendeigh | 2-4 | 2-4 | 4 |
| Steven Sipple | 1-5 | 2-4 | 3 |
Sean Callahan can be reached at [email protected] and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.
