Dylan Raiola’s roughest night yet may have changed the shape of Nebraska’s next big storyline.
For much of the buildup to Oregon’s Oct. 17 meeting with Nebraska, the expectation was simple enough: Raiola would be back on the opposite sideline, facing the program he left behind after two seasons as the Huskers’ starting quarterback. That picture got a lot murkier after what happened Saturday against UCLA.
Raiola opened the game cleanly, hitting his first three throws and helping Oregon grab a 6-3 lead. After that, things unraveled fast.
He missed his next seven passes and never found his footing in a game that was supposed to tilt toward offense but turned into a defensive grind. By the end, Raiola had been benched in Oregon’s 17-15 loss.
The numbers told the story in brutal fashion: 6 completions on 19 attempts for 43 yards, with 2 interceptions and a strip-sack fumble. Half of Oregon’s 6 turnovers came directly from him.
That opened the door for Brock Thomas, and he made the most of it. Thomas finished 11 of 15 for 156 yards and threw a touchdown that would have tied the game if Oregon had finished either of its two two-point tries.
On the first attempt, the Ducks tried to run Thomas in, but UCLA stopped him short. A facemask on UCLA gave Oregon another shot, only for Jordan Davison to get stuffed on the second try.
Even with the loss, Thomas may have done enough to move ahead of Raiola for next week if Dante Moore isn’t fully recovered from the concussion he suffered against USC. Moore’s status, and Raiola’s collapse, now leave Oregon with a real decision to make.
For Nebraska, that possibility cuts both ways. Raiola torching his old team would be the nightmare scenario in Lincoln. But Thomas is a senior who has spent four years in Oregon’s system, and that familiarity could matter if he’s the one under center.
Nebraska also knows Raiola well enough to understand where the cracks are. And if the Huskers need any extra fuel, they’ve got it: Raiola said this offseason that his new team was obviously better than his old one.
So what looked like a reunion is suddenly something messier. After Nebraska’s close, heartbreaking loss to the defending national champion, the next game already carried plenty of weight. Now it comes with another layer of drama.
In Other News...
Nebraska's New-Look Roster Already Faces A Big Ten Readiness Test
Nebraskas revamped mens basketball roster got its first real look in an exhibition against St. Louis, and the night offered a useful reminder of how much the Cornhuskers still have to figure out before Big Ten play arrives. With eight newcomers joining seven returnees, the mix was still taking shape, even as freshman Jacob Lanier led Nebraska with 15 points in a 79-74 loss that gave Fred Hoiberg an early baseline for where his team stands.
The stat sheet was close enough to suggest the Huskers can compete, with both teams grabbing 41 rebounds, but Hoiberg said afterward that Nebraska was out-toughed. That kind of edge is exactly what exhibition games are supposed to expose, and for a roster built almost from scratch, the challenge now is turning individual promise into the kind of physical, connected play that travels in conference games. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Let Another Big Opportunity Slip Away Under Matt Rhule
Nebraska had another chance to turn a promising moment into something bigger Saturday, and again the chance slipped away. The Cornhuskers fell to No. 7 Indiana, 20-17, in a game that fit too neatly into a familiar pattern for a program still trying to climb back into the national conversation. The loss extended Nebraskas losing streak against top-25 opponents to 31 games, a run that underscores how hard it has been for the Huskers to cash in when the opponent is at its best.
For Matt Rhule, the frustration is starting to take on a historical edge. Nebraska has not beaten a top-seven team since 2015, and Rhule is still searching for his first win over a ranked opponent since arriving in Lincoln. The broader story around this team remains the same: competitive enough to stay in the fight, but not yet able to land the kind of signature victory that changes how the season is viewed. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Let Another Winnable Game Slip Away Under Matt Rhule
Nebraska had a real chance to leave Indiana with a result that would have felt like a statement, but the Cornhuskers let a winnable game slip away in a tight contest decided by a handful of fourth-quarter plays. The loss also snapped Indianas 22-game winning streak, a reminder that this was not some throwaway opponent or empty Saturday, but the kind of game Nebraska has to be able to finish if it wants to keep building under Matt Rhule.
Instead, the late moments belonged to Indiana, and Nebraska again found itself on the wrong side of a one-score game. It is the sort of defeat that lingers because the opportunity was there, the margin was thin, and the details in the final period made all the difference, leaving the Cornhuskers with another frustrating lesson about how small the gap is between progress and disappointment. [Read more 🡒]