Dylan Raiola Named Starting Quarterback for Nebraska
Early Wednesday morning, Matt Rhule announced true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola as this season’s starter. This move was heavily expected to happen at some point during the season but has finally been brought to light before their first game. Nebraska is hoping Raiola can boost them into a bowl game, which they haven’t been able to reach since 2016. In this new Big Ten conference alignment, they’ll be looking to make a statement this year with this newcomer leading the charge.
The former five-star prospect was originally committed to Georgia while in high school, and flipped to Nebraska on early signing day in December this past year. Raiola shined in spring practice and proved to Rhule and the rest of the Cornhuskers staff that he is the guy for the job. In the spring game, Raiola went an impressive 16 of 22 on passes along with 239 yards and two touchdowns to go along with it. As hard as it could be to pass up on that talent following the spring game, Rhule simply waited on this decision due to Raiola’s lack of experience at the college level.
This could be a huge jump for the Cornhuskers offense this upcoming season, considering last year that they finished 129th in the country in turnover margin at -17. Nebraska also didn’t have a single quarterback last year that was the sure starter. Last season, the team had three separate quarterbacks splitting snaps, with none of them being too impressive. This is where things look bright for Nebraska’s offense, looking at Raiola’s high school stats. In his senior season, Raiola threw for 3341 yards, 32 touchdown passes, and only five interceptions. Even if he put up half of those numbers, it would be a significant jump from the previous starters this past season.
Raiola will surely have his work cut out for him this season, where he’ll have to face three AP preseason top 25 teams, including second nationally ranked Ohio State in Columbus at the end of October. The first test for Raiola at the college level will be when the elite tandem of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter roll into Lincoln with the Colorado Buffaloes. This Saturday night showdown will take place on September 7th and will be a tone-setting game for how Nebraska performs the rest of the season, as well as possibly how Raiola can perform the rest of this season.
