Dylan Raiola Is Taking a Step Forward as Nebraska's QB; There's No Reason to Think It Won't Continue

Josh: Next [reason why Nebraska would take a step forward] was “Dylan Raiola is about to take a massive step forward.” You wanna talk about one, Matt, to look back on in the preseason as a believer in why Nebraska would be better?

Matt: Great take.

Josh: Dylan Raiola. 11 touchdowns, one INT. That would correlate to 33 [touchdowns] and three [interceptions]. Now, do I think he's going to do that in the regular season? No, I do not.  But I'm going to bring up the point that I brought up with you on Big Red Overreaction.

There was a moment early in the game against Michigan where he walked to the sidelines and Emmett Johnson was basically giving him a pep talk like, “dude, it's gonna be fine.” And that I thought was quite the moment because he could have reverted to last year. And instead, I thought he played his best football against Michigan after the interception than he did before. That is the exact opposite of front-runner behavior, which I absolutely love to see from him.

Look, if they are going 8-4, if they are going certainly 9-3, the biggest reason why – you can point to a lot of them – but for me, it always comes back to the quarterback. I wish he was protected a little bit more. I wish he wasn't getting sacked seven times in a football game. And I certainly worry that he could get knocked out of a game, but Dylan Raiola taking a massive step forward. I think that we have seen that from him. He's made some big-time throws and I think he got off the mat very well vs. Michigan.

Matt: Has he exceeded your expectations?

Josh: Yes, because I predicted before the year that he would have 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. So absolutely.

Matt: By the way, some people might have called you a hater for that.

Josh: They did!

Matt: I think that would have been maybe a little bit less than I anticipated, but I still think it would have been pretty good progress in mind.

Josh: I said to John [Bishop], basically, I saw two paths for Dylan. One, he takes a huge step forward, and the other, he was pretty much the same. I didn't really see a middle ground of like “23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.” I thought he would be really, really good or the same quarterback. I just picked the wrong path, think. I [said], "he'll be the same quarterback."

Matt: Well, I don't think 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions is being the same quarterback. I mean, I think it's him taking a step forward. But at the same time, I think I said it in the preseason; I don't think there was any way I thought that he was going to stay the same. I just thought [with] what they invested in the O-Line, and what they invested in at the wide receivers, and the fact that you have Dana freaking Holgorsen as your offensive coordinator, there’s just no way he doesn't get better.

I just didn't think he would have 11 touchdowns in one interception through the first four games against two Power [Four] opponents. And, I think the whole Dylan conversation is like, use your eyes. I mean, if you use your eyes against Cincinnati, I know some people got [frustrated] about the whole dink and dunk thing.

But if you look at his feet, his footwork is so much better this year than it was last year. And his decision making is quicker and go back and watch that Michigan game. And I said it to you when we were watching it together. There was one play where he literally went through two reads and threw it to the third guy. Holy [crap]. Like, “all right, man!” I know that's not so simple, but you'd be surprised how many quarterbacks at the Power [Four] level just aren't really able to do that.

Josh: One of my favorite Cowboys guys [Bob Sturm] does film breakdowns of the offense on Tuesdays and then the defense on Wednesdays; the defense breakdowns this year are gonna be terrible. But the offense one was really interesting. There was a throw that Dak [and] he was like, “watch the stripe on his helmet” and sure enough, it's this way, and then it's this way, and then it's this way, and then he notices the open receiver and he throws it to him.

And Nebraska has stripes on their helmets. So take a look at his stripes and just see how it moves and see what he's looking at in the secondary.

Matt: That is one thing that I didn't think he would get this quickly. I still thought he was gonna be a young quarterback who pulled his eyes down too quickly. He's not, so now here's a problem, though; it's four games. I don't want to jinx, but he's noticeably better this year from last year.

Josh: Last year at this time, four games in, we were coming off the Illinois overtime loss, and this is where I'll go back again to the “get off the mat” kind of stuff. That game, I thought he started really well and then slowly it got worse and worse and worse. That was the only time last year, Matt, that I got to watch them in person. And if you remember that game has some layered throws. He has the touchdown to Neyor; he was making plays. And it got worse and worse and worse.

Matt: And he missed the throw to [Luke] Lindenmeyer.

Josh: He missed the throw to Lindenmeyer! That's the beginning of the real tough month and a half stretch for Dylan. This time, he throws the pick and then he gets better. Again, I can't wait to see October because a year ago we were like, “they got to they got a dude quarterback!” And then the next month was terrible. Again, we are saying they got a dude at quarterback. I think this next month is going to go better.

Matt: I wasn't on the air [at the time], so I can't act as if I'm retroactively right, because I did think he was a dude after those four games. But I think he could have made an argument for paper tiger. I don't think you can make a paper tiger argument. I don't think there was any paper tiger argument to be made. I think he's just good. Is he great? No, but he’s good. He's good.

Watch the entire podcast below, as Josh and Matt went through all eight of Josh's reasons to buy or sell Nebraska football in 2025!

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