Dylan Raiola’s college path has taken a sharp turn from the one Nebraska imagined when it landed him as a five-star freshman. The quarterback who was supposed to help lift the Cornhuskers back to prominence is now set for his first start at Oregon, with the Ducks turning to him Saturday against UCLA after Dante Moore suffered a concussion against USC.
That’s a long way from the moment Raiola chose Nebraska over Georgia. Back then, he was the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the 2024 signing class and one of the biggest prizes in the country, with offers from Alabama, Michigan, Miami, USC and Notre Dame also on the table.
Nebraska won a major recruiting battle. Two years later, Raiola is wearing a different uniform and stepping into a new opportunity in Eugene.
The split with Nebraska had been building for a while. Chris Hummer reported in May that the separation came down to a difference in vision between Raiola’s family and the program. Raiola had even considered transferring after his freshman season in 2024, which meant the relationship was already fragile heading into 2025.
The football side didn’t help. Raiola was limited to nine games last season by a broken fibula, and even before the injury, the offense never really settled in.
He completed 72.4 percent of his passes, averaged 222.2 yards per game and threw 18 touchdowns against six interceptions. Nebraska also struggled to protect him, allowing 2.54 sacks per game, which ranked 113th nationally.
There were family ties in the middle of it all, too. Dylan Raiola’s uncle, Donovan, was Nebraska’s offensive line coach until he was fired on Dec.
- Less than a month before that, Dylan’s brother Dayton, a three-star quarterback prospect, decommitted from Nebraska.
By season’s end, a breakup felt likely. Hummer reported that Nebraska wasn’t eager to get into another “back-and-forth with Raiola” over NIL money, while Raiola’s side wanted him in a situation with a stronger supporting cast and a better chance to chase championships. Nebraska, in turn, pursued Anthony Colandrea out of UNLV.
Oregon ended up as the landing spot. It was a familiar name from Raiola’s high school recruitment, and the Ducks offered him a chance to reset.
He also knew there was a real chance he would have to wait his turn if Moore stayed on course and did not enter the 2026 NFL Draft. That’s how it played out, with Raiola opening the year on the bench until Moore left the USC game with a concussion.
Now Raiola gets the start, and it comes with a cleaner slate than the one he left behind. At Nebraska, he carried huge expectations and even modeled parts of his game after Patrick Mahomes. At Oregon, he’s had the chance to step out of that spotlight for a bit and settle in with a roster capable of competing for a College Football Playoff berth.
On Saturday, with a new logo on his helmet and a new number on his jersey, Raiola gets to begin again.
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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 🡒]