Oregon got the kind of response it needed on Saturday, and Dylan Raiola was right in the middle of it.
After a third regular-season loss and a week full of headlines, the Ducks steadied themselves with a 34-26 win over formerly ranked No. 20 Northwestern at Autzen Stadium. Raiola’s performance gave Oregon something it had been chasing: a cleaner, more confident version of its quarterback.
Dan Lanning pointed to that confidence after the game, saying it plays a major role in how the Nebraska transfer shows up for the Ducks.
“He is a guy that feeds off of his confidence, right?” Lanning said.
“I think the piece coming away from this is going to be like, 'Dylan, hey, remember what it felt like a week ago or two weeks ago?' He’s going to be one of those guys that lives in reality as well.”
Raiola delivered his best statistical outing yet in an Oregon uniform, going 22-for-31 for 336 yards and three touchdowns. It came in an offense that, under Jay Johnson, leaned back into the basics and got the kind of production it had been missing.
Lanning said Raiola showed he can make high-level throws when the moment calls for it.
“But he made some big-time throws today. Put balls in spots where our guys could get it and nobody else could.
I thought he played really well with some of the moments, and still there’s going to be some stuff for improvement. We put the ball in jeopardy early there in the game, with getting on the ground,” Lanning said.
That ball-security issue was the one blemish Lanning kept coming back to. It has followed Raiola at different points this season and helped shape why Lanning chose senior Brock Thomas to start over him against Nebraska. It also showed up in Oregon’s losses to Illinois and UCLA.
The specific play came on Oregon’s second drive. Facing third-and-three, Raiola kept the ball on a quarterback run, took contact, and fumbled. He recovered it, but the mistake briefly tilted the first half in a direction Oregon didn’t want.
“We’ve got to have better ball security as a team that’s continuing to show up for us,” Lanning said. “Obviously, it hurt us at one point today, but we were also able to get back on it.
But there were some outstanding moments for him, and he is a guy that feeds off that confidence when he gets better and better. He continues to improve.”
There is still concern ahead, especially with Ohio State’s defense waiting next. The Buckeyes are ranked No. 11 by the NCAA in total defense despite their 30-18 road loss to USC, and Raiola’s tendency to put the ball in danger on keeper plays could be something they target.
Still, Lanning’s overall tone was more encouraging than cautionary. He kept circling back to Raiola’s growth, his bounce-back ability and the way confidence seems to fuel him as the game unfolds.
Lanning made the same point again in his pregame comments for Ohio State.
“I think the more comfortable he gets, the better he’s going to play,” Lanning said. “Like I said, kind of postgame, he builds confidence as the game goes.”
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