Dylan Raiola walked into Wednesday’s media session with the kind of calm that only comes after surviving the chaos of a late comeback. The Oregon quarterback had just helped the Ducks erase a deficit and beat Nebraska 17-14 on Saturday at Autzen Stadium, a result that kept Oregon’s College Football Playoff hopes moving and gave the quarterback room a little more clarity heading into Saturday’s trip to Illinois.
Raiola entered the game in the fourth quarter with Oregon trailing 14-6 after starter Brock Thomas was replaced. He finished 11-of-18 for 59 yards and delivered the game-winning touchdown to Jamari Johnson with 28 seconds left, a throw that flipped the night and put the Ducks back on top.
That performance mattered not just on the scoreboard, but in the larger picture around Oregon’s quarterbacks. Dante Moore’s status remains uncertain after a concussion, and Raiola’s showing seemed to steady the room as the Ducks prepare for the Fighting Illini.
At Hatfield-Dowling Complex, Raiola talked through the situation, the people around him and the lessons he’s carrying from the last stretch. He said Moore is still around the operation even if he can’t do everything physically.
“He’s at practice doing as much as he can, but most of his help comes in the meeting rooms. He’s played a lot of ball. He’s got a lot of reps in this offense, and the plays that we’ve ran.”
He also said Moore’s value goes beyond just being in the huddle.
“He’s just given us game experiences that he’s seen for himself and gives us kind of perspective on what we can think, like, what’s going to happen on this play or that play.”
For Raiola, the Nebraska game wasn’t just about one throw at the end. He pointed to the prep work and the adjustments he made after reviewing that week.
“Obviously, that’s in the past. But I did go back and look through that week of preparation that I had, and I kind of tweaked some things in my routine, and I think that made a big adjustment in how I was able to play free, play clean.”
He said those changes are part of how he wants to move forward from here.
“So making those tweaks give me a lot of confidence going forward. I’m not going to dwell from that experience.
I’m going to learn from it. My team has my back, and I got theirs.”
Raiola also drew a line between his current situation and what he experienced at Buford, Ga., where he had to prove himself rather than walk into anything easy.
“I don’t think… I mean, obviously … I don’t even know how to put this. That’s a really good question.
No. But (laughs) also, I went to Buford (Ga.), and they’re a pretty college-like program, and when I got there, it wasn’t handed to me.”
“I had to earn it. I had to go out there and show the coaches I could operate the system, take care of the football and ultimately make plays. But nothing like this, which is great.”
Beyond football, Raiola leaned into the support system around him. He credited his faith, his mother and the people closest to him for keeping him steady during a stretch he described as emotional.
“I mentioned it a lot, but my faith keeps me grounded. I think a lot of people say it, but to have the actions behind it, stay on my word.
My mom is a prayer angel. She’s always praying for myself, my family and also my entire team.”
“I just have a lot of support. My teammates are great.
They never wavered their confidence in me, Brock, KJ and any of the QBs. You learn a lot.
You learn a lot about yourself. You learn a lot about people around you through hard times.”
He also highlighted the role his brother has played through the last month.
“My brother’s been my best friend for a long time. I think it’s a blessing to have him here, especially through this last month.
It’s kind of been a rollercoaster of emotions up and down. My brother has been there for me this month, but he’s been there for me my whole life.
Very blessed to have him. It’s a special relationship we have to be able to share in this setting of our lives.”
Raiola said his confidence comes from the work he puts in long before game day.
“I always fall back to my training. The offseason, make it really hard on yourself to make things extremely challenging.
It gives me the ability to go out there and be free. We have great coaches that give us a great game plan that we can trust and that we can go out there and execute.”
That confidence, he said, shows up in the way Oregon attacks plays.
“When I’m out there, I’m not thinking about not messing up. I truly believe that our offense are all game-changing players, and we all believe that and trust each other."
"When we go out there, it’s not a hesitant activity out there. We’re trying to take your head off, and we’re trying to hunt every single time we go out there.”
He closed by talking about the quarterback room itself, where he said the group has kept working and growing together.
“It’s been great. They come to work every day.
They show up, and they learn, and they grow. Tuesday and Wednesday, we get after it on the practice field and that gives them a lot of confidence being able to go against our defense.
They give us really good looks.”
“We’re really confident. We won’t roll out there any guys who we are not confident in and that’s our entire room. We’re all confident that they’re going to make plays when we need them to.”
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Raiolas most recent turn came after he replaced Thomas and guided the Ducks past Nebraska, which only adds another layer to a decision Dan Lanning says will keep coming down to weekly evaluations of practice and game performance. For Oregon, the choice is no longer just about who is healthy enough to play, but who gives the offense the best chance to keep rolling while Moore works his way through the protocol. [Read more 🡒]