Nebraska bye weekend: Early-season awards and Week 5 picks
As Nebraska football sits in its bye weekend, here are HuskerOnline’s mid-season awards and our expert game picks for Week 5.
NU takes the field next week against Michigan State at 3 p.m. on FS1.
Join today: Get your first week of HuskerOnline for $1
Nebraska bye weekend: Early-season awards
Offensive MVP: QB Dylan Raiola
Through four games, this one is pretty easy. QB Dylan Raiola has completed 102-of-136 passes (75 percent) for 1,137 yards, 11 touchdowns, and just one interception. Six of Raiola’s 11 touchdown passes have come from the play action.
Raiola has also completed 8-of-12 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns on his throws of 20+ yards, and 21-of-30 passes for 408 yards and six touchdowns on throws of 10 to 19 yards down the field. A year ago, Raiola completed just 19-of-56 passes for 606 yards, two touchdowns, and five interceptions on throws 20+ yards down the field.
Offensive surprise player: TE Luke Lindenmeyer
One of the real surprise players through four games has been tight end Luke Lindenmeyer. On 19 targets, he has 16 receptions for 160 yards and one touchdown.
In 2024, Lindenmeyer had just five catches on seven targets for 50 yards. In comparison, former Husker tight end Thomas Fidone had just seven catches on nine targets for 73 yards over the first four games of 2024.
Biggest offensive moment: Raiola’s fourth-down TD throw to Dane Key vs. Cincinnati
What was the biggest offensive moment thus far through four games? Two come to mind. Obviously, last week’s Hail Mary touchdown pass from Raiola to Jacory Barney is right up there.
However, the fourth down TD pass from Raiola to Dane Key against Cincinnati was the difference in the game. That play took major guts by Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen to call, and ultimately was the difference in a 20-17 win.
Defensive MVP: DB DeShon Singleton
Who has been the early-season defensive MVP for Nebraska? It’s probably between linebacker Vincent Shavers Jr. and safety DeShon Singleton.
Top 10
- 1New
Brett Favre
Pitches Gruden for SEC job
- 2Hot
Tony Vitello
Linked to MLB opening
- 3
Kirk Herbstreit Top 5
New No. 1 team
- 4
National Title Odds
Chaos causes big movement
- 5
Paul Finebaum
Weighing ESPN exit, Senate run
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Today, I’ll give the nod to Singleton just with the overall value he has in John Butler’s defense. He’s also played by far the most snaps of any player on the defense at 168. Corner Ceyair Wright is second with 155.
Defensive surprise player: DL Kade Pietrzak
Freshman defensive lineman Kade Pietrzak has played just 59 snaps, but he’s been very impactful at times over the last few games, including a forced safety against Akron.
This has been a surprise, considering Pietrzak was a late arrival to campus and was not here in the spring.
Biggest defensive moment: Malcolm Hartzog’s interception to beat Cincinnati
What was the biggest defensive moment over the first four games? Again, I go back to the opener against Cincinnati. Nebraska’s history in one-score games has been well documented. It appeared NU was in position to lose another one, as the Bearcats were driving down 20-17 in the final moments.
They were already in field goal range, but wanted to go for the win. Defensive back Malcolm Hartzog baited Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby to throw deep, and he broke on the ball and came down with a game-winning interception. We haven’t seen the Huskers close out a game in this type of fashion in quite some time.
HuskerOnline Week 5 Score Predictions
| Week 5 | Sean Callahan | Steven Sipple | Robin Washut | Andy Kendeigh | Jim Rose | Mike’l Severe |
| USC at Illinois (+6.5) | 34-24 USC | 35-24 USC | 28-27 Illinois | 31-24 USC | 28-17 USC | 38-27 USC |
| Rutgers at Minnesota (-5.5) | 23-20 Minnesota | 28-27 Minnesota | 31-21 Minnesota | 27-20 Minnesota | 20-17 Minnesota | 30-26 Minnesota |
| Indiana at Iowa (+7.5) | 31-13 Indiana | 35-20 Indiana | 38-14 Indiana | 37-21 Indiana | 31-17 Indiana | 27-20 Indiana |
| Oregon at Penn State (-3.5) | 27-20 Penn State | 28-17 Oregon | 38-35 Oregon | 34-31 Oregon | 31-28 Penn State | 31-30 Penn State |
| LSU at Ole Miss (-2.5) | 34-30 Ole Miss | 24-21 Ole Miss. | 30-24 Ole Miss. | 34-27 Ole Miss | 31-30 LSU | 24-23 Ole Miss |
| Alabama at Georgia (-3.5) | 38-31 Georgia | 37-27 Georgia | 23-17 Georgia | 34-17 Georgia | 35-20 Georgia | 29-26 Alabama |
HuskerOnline Pick Standings
| Picker | Straight Up | Vs. Spread | Cumulative |
| Jim Rose | 15-9 | 15-9 | 30 |
| Robin Washut | 16-8 | 14-10 | 30 |
| Sean Callahan | 14-10 | 12-12 | 26 |
| Mike’l Severe | 13-11 | 13-11 | 26 |
| Steven Sipple | 14-10 | 11-13 | 25 |
| Andy Kendeigh | 13-11 | 12-12 | 25 |
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.
