Dylan Raiola could’ve taken the easy route. After an up-and-down first season at Nebraska — being the only true freshman quarterback to start every game for a Power Four team last year — the former five-star recruit had plenty of suitors waiting if he chose to enter the transfer portal, coach Matt Rhule said on The Jim Rome Show this week. But Raiola never wavered.
“Everyone reached out to him,” Rhule said. “He could have taken the easy way out and left and gone into the portal and gone to someplace where he could start over, maybe where he doesn’t have to do as much himself. But he chose to stick it out and fight. He came back and I’ve been excited to see where he’s at.”
The Huskers ended an eight-year postseason drought with their first bowl game since 2016, finishing with a 7–6 overall record. While that’s certainly not the standard the tradition-rich blue blood aims to uphold, it marked a meaningful step in Rhule’s rebuild — and in Raiola’s development.
Raiola won five of his first six starts as a college quarterback, throwing nine touchdowns to just three interceptions on 169 attempts during that stretch. But a freshman slump followed, with Nebraska dropping four straight games from mid-October to mid-November. Still, Raiola finished the season on a high note, winning two of his final three starts — including a Pinstripe Bowl victory — while completing 72% of his passes down the stretch.
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Author : Cody Nagel
Publish date : 2025-06-12 20:44:00
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