Dylan Raiola spent Saturday night flipping the script on Nebraska and rescuing Oregon at the same time.
For most of the game, it looked like the Ducks were headed for a long, frustrating evening with Brock Thomas under center. Thomas, a former walk-on, was the guy who got the start after Dante Moore was knocked out of the USC game with a concussion and Raiola stepped in to save the day.
Then UCLA happened, and Raiola got shut down so thoroughly that he was benched for Thomas. That made Thomas’ start against Nebraska look like the final turn in a story that had Nebraska fans ready to claim the last laugh.
Instead, Raiola wound up having the last say.
With Oregon’s offense stuck in neutral for three quarters, the crowd could be heard chanting, “We want Dylan” while Thomas struggled to move the Ducks. When Dan Lanning finally went to Raiola, the whole feel of the game changed. Oregon suddenly had life, and the energy around the team followed him onto the field.
Raiola’s first drive was a grind: 17 plays, 69 yards and a field goal that pulled Oregon within five. The defense then backed him up with a 3-and-out, and Raiola was right back at work. Oregon needed 20 plays to cover 82 yards on the next march, and the Ducks had to survive several fourth-down situations, but neither Raiola nor the offense blinked.
The drive that finished it was the kind Nebraska fans had pictured when Raiola once looked like their answer. He slipped away from the rush, climbed the pocket and fired a strike to Jamari Johnson in the back of the end zone.
Jamari Johnson FTW pic.twitter.com/YMkGarwurg
- Logan Brown (@LoganABrown) October 18, 2026
The offseason criticism around Raiola had focused heavily on his comment that he had better teammates at Oregon, and Saturday did nothing to quiet that debate. Oregon’s defense was strong all night, and on the final drive the Ducks’ talent showed up in the biggest moments. The support around Raiola made the finish possible.
Nebraska fans can point to money or say Raiola didn’t want to compete for the job. But once he got his chance, he beat the quarterback who replaced him. Anthony Colandrea had the whole night to finish the job Raiola once couldn’t at Nebraska, and when the former Husker finally took over, he showed exactly why people believed he could win big with the right pieces around him.
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Oregons Comeback Was Fueled By Unsung Ducks Fans Cant Ignore
Nebraska had the early edge, but Oregon steadied itself and turned the game with a quarterback change that put Dylan Raiola in position to spark the comeback. Even before the offense found its rhythm, the Ducks defense kept the margin within reach, and that mattered just as much as the late surge. It was the kind of win that looked messy for stretches and still ended with Oregon in control, thanks to a roster that kept making plays when the pressure built.
Hudson Lewis, Jalen Lott, Brandon Smith and kicker Gage Hurych all had a hand in finishing the job, and defensive coordinator Chris Hampton drew credit for the way Oregon handled things on that side of the ball. For a team that had to work through an uneven start, the breadth of the contribution stood out as much as the comeback itself. The Ducks didnt just survive the slow beginning, they leaned on unsung pieces to pull away when the game demanded it. [Read more 🡒]
Oregons Late Quarterback Switch Changed Everything Against Nebraska
A late quarterback change ended up reshaping Oregons win over Nebraska, with Dylan Raiola coming off the bench in the fourth quarter and helping the Ducks rally from behind. He finished the comeback with a touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson and then helped Oregon punch in the two-point conversion with less than 30 seconds left, turning what had been a tight, tense finish into a 17-14 victory.
For Oregon, the sequence only added to the sense that this team can survive pressure in different ways, even when the script changes late. Dan Lanning praised Raiolas courage and the Ducks overall performance, while Nebraska coach Matt Rhule pointed to the effort his team gave despite the loss, a reminder of how little margin there was throughout the night. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Fans Have One Big AP Poll Debate After Costly Loss
The AP Top 25 is set for a shakeup after a wild Saturday that saw five teams in the top seven go down, and that kind of chaos always has ripple effects far beyond the teams that actually lost. For Oregon, the timing matters because the Ducks are part of the group whose position could be affected by all the movement above them, with the poll likely to look very different once the latest ballots are counted.
Indianas loss grabbed plenty of attention, but the broader debate now is how voters sort through the wreckage when so many contenders stumbled at once. BYU and Oregon are among the teams watching closely as the rankings sort themselves out, and the next poll should offer a much clearer picture of who benefited most from the days upheaval. [Read more 🡒]