Saturday in Eugene gave the Raiola family a fresh chapter.
When Oregon starter Dante Moore went down after a late hit against USC, Dylan Raiola was the one who had to step in. The Buford product didn’t waste time settling in. He threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns in Oregon’s 41-27 win, and one of those scoring throws - the fourth-quarter strike that put the Ducks ahead for good - ended up being the big one.
For Dylan, the moment fit a path that has already been unusual. He arrived at Oregon with 22 starts from Nebraska already on his résumé, which is a lot of experience for a quarterback whose first job was to wait.
His younger brother, Dayton Raiola, is on the Ducks too, though his road looks very different. Dayton came in with a state championship, a national high school championship, and the challenge of changing positions. He took over for Dylan at quarterback at Buford, then moved to tight end in college.
The brothers’ story has already played out in Buford, where Dylan spent his senior season in 2023 before leaving for Nebraska and Dayton took over the next fall. Dayton then spent two seasons making the job his own.
That run ended with Buford back on top. The Wolves beat Carrollton 28-21 for the 2025 Class 6A championship, finishing 15-0 and claiming their first state title since 2021. Dylan was there for the celebration, standing alongside Dayton after the win.
It was a different finish than the one Dylan had at Buford, where his season ended with a quarterfinal loss to Grayson. Dayton got the title that his older brother never did with the Wolves.
By the time he reached college, Dayton had put together a strong case as a quarterback in his own right. He threw 26 touchdown passes and ran for six scores as a senior. Still, when Oregon offered him a tight end role, he embraced it - and the chance to keep playing beside Dylan mattered a lot.
They had been doing that for years already, through youth football, middle school, and high school. College gave them another shot at it.
As Dayton put it, “I’ve been catching passes from my brother in the backyard my whole life,” Dayton said.
Dylan talked about the reunion after spring practice in April, and he didn’t hide how much it meant.
“Yeah, having my brother here is a dream come true,” Dylan said to Oregon Ducks on SI’s Charlie Viehl. He also praised Dayton for being willing to make the switch without fully knowing what the move would demand.
That adjustment has been part of the backdrop for both brothers at Oregon. Dylan came in from Nebraska with starting experience and had to wait for his turn after Oregon brought Dante Moore back. When Moore returned, Dylan stayed, knowing he needed time to get comfortable while also learning from Moore and the other quarterbacks.
Dayton, meanwhile, was learning a new position after being the No. 1 quarterback at two different levels. The brothers arrived in Eugene with different assignments, but both had work to do.
On Saturday, Dylan’s number got called in a hurry. He answered, and Oregon left with the win.
The Ducks have a bye before hosting UCLA on Oct. 10, and Moore’s return date is still unclear. Dayton is not a starter, but the chemistry between the brothers has already shown up in practice.
For Buford fans, that means there’s something familiar about this Oregon team beyond the Ducks logo. They’ve watched each Raiola brother lead the Wolves.
They saw Dylan celebrate Dayton’s championship. Now they get to watch two former Buford quarterbacks try to make a new kind of connection in college.
And maybe, sooner than anyone expected, the brothers who once took turns running the Wolves’ offense could end up on opposite ends of the same pass.
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There was more Georgia flavor in the result, too, with Nakobe Dean leading the Raiders defense with a team-high 12 tackles and helping close the door with a game-sealing fumble recovery. At 3-0, Las Vegas is leaning on multiple former Bulldogs in all three phases, and for Georgia fans, that makes the Raiders an especially relevant watch even before the full story of this season takes shape. [Read more 🡒]