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Matt Rhule Breaks Down Nebraska Quarterback Dylan Raiola's Season-Opening Performance

Originally posted on Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI
By Kaleb Henry | Last updated Sep 1, 2025 6:01 PM ET

LINCOLN—Usually, when you throw the ball more than 40 times, you're either trailing or have an air raid coach.

While Dana Holgorsen is the Nebraska offensive coordinator, neither of those were true Thursday in Kansas City. That's when Husker quarterback Dylan Raiola attempted a career-high 42 passes.

For the record, Nebraska only trailed for 4:51.

"I thought Dylan was excellent," head coach Matt Rhule said on Monday. "I think anytime you throw the ball 42 times, and we don't have a turnover, I'm going to say the quarterback played well."

Rhule noted that there were "maybe three plays he'd like back." One of them was the fourth and two that was unsuccessful, where Raiola made "an aggressive check" and got out of the called play.

"But I love that. I love the fact that he was aggressive," Rhule said. "The play he made to Luke Lindenmeyer, where he pulled the ball and ran, and then put the ball on Luke's outside shoulder, and Luke dragged the guy to the one. Too bad we didn't come away with a touchdown there, but those are big-time plays."

Raiola completed 33 of those 42 attempts for 243 yards and two touchdowns. As Rhule said, none of those attempts resulted in turnovers, even when the field got smaller near the goal line.

"I thought you saw Dylan advanced the ball in the the red zone," Rhule said.

Rhule noted that the defense Cincinnati used is a "great Big 12 defense" that works to keep everything in front. That limited big play opportunities for the Huskers, but allowed Raiola to continue to take what was being offered to him.

However, that also meant Nebraska was in third down 18 times on the night.

"You can't be in 18 third downs," Rhule said. "But part of that's the way that they play, right? They're just constantly making you metriculate the ball."

Rhule said they had set a goal of getting the ball in play 55 times, meaning the total for runs and pass completions. He noted that's the number to mean a likely win in college, which he saw in the NFL as 52.

On Thursday, Nebraska had 36 runs to go with Raiola's 33 completions, surpassing that goal by 14.

"We just never kind of broke them," Rhule said. "Then when we got down in the red zone, we didn't. We had to kick two field goals, right? But I don't put that on him."

Rhule said Raiola showed maturity to begin his second season as the starting quarterback, but still just a sophomore. He also liked that his QB was just playing the position and not "trying to make cowboy plays." With that maturity and trust, Raiola has earned the right to make checks as he sees them in games.

"We give him a ton of freedom," Rhule said. "He he has more freedom than most quarterbacks in the country probably have. And he's right most of the time. He's right more than I would be so I'll take it.

"I thought he played excellent."