Matt Rhule passed on commenting on Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola during Monday’s weekly news conference. “Best if I talk about our team,” he said.
Nebraska plays Oregon Saturday night — kickoff 10 p.m. Central on FOX — in Eugene. And Raiola is among the possible starters for the Ducks. Emphasis on possible.
And though Rhule declined to talk about Raiola, Husker fans haven’t.
If Dante Moore, among the top quarterbacks in the country, had been ready to go, he’d be the starter. But he’s been sidelined, recovering from a concussion from targeting during Oregon’s 41-27 victory against USC, and Wednesday’s Big Ten availability report listed him as out for Saturday’s game.
Raiola stepped in for him, completing 19-of-25 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, against USC. With Moore sidelined, Raiola got the start the next week against UCLA. He completed his first three passes, then went 3-of-16, with two interceptions. He also lost a fumble.
Third-string quarterback Brock Thomas finished, completing 11-of-15 for 156 yards and a touchdown.
With Lanning’s announcement regarding Moore, Thomas or Raiola will start Saturday night.
Among the Ducks Rhule did talk about were those in the defensive front: defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei, defensive tackles Bear Alexander and A’Mauri Washington and edge rusher Teitum Tuioti.
“They’ve got four elite defensive linemen,” Rhule said.
“The front four is as good as I’ve ever seen,” said offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen.
Uiagalelei has 19 tackles, including five sacks, an interception and a blocked kick. Tuioti — the son of former Nebraska and current Oregon defensive line coach Tony Tuioti who spent his first three years of high school at Lincoln (Neb.) Southeast — has 26 tackles, a sack and six quarterback hurries. Alexander has 23 tackles, Washington 16 tackles.
“They’re just really good,” Holgorsen said.
Defensive back Koi Perich is the Ducks’ leading tackler with 24. Second is inside linebacker Devon Jackson, with 30. Jackson is from Omaha (Neb.) Burke High School.
Offensively “6 and 0 are two of the toughest guys on the team,” said defensive coordinator Rob Aurich, referring to running backs Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. by their jersey numbers. Davison has carried 62 times for 301 yards and six touchdowns, Hill 52 times for 228 yards and three touchdowns.
UCLA limited Oregon to 73 yards rushing. Passing is their strength, with Moore.
The Ducks’ leading receivers are Evan Stewart, who has 27 catches for 352 yards and four touchdowns, and Dakorian Moore, 18 catches for 311 yards and four touchdowns. However, Stewart is listed as questionable on the availability report.
The injury report is far from clean on the Nebraska side as well. The Huskers will likely have to find a way to slow down the Oregon attack without two of their best defenders as starting safety Jamir Conn is out and defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel is doubtful after missing last week’s game.
Contrary to Aurich’s use of jersey numbers, Oregon is “one of those teams that instead of saying ‘number this, number that,’ you can say their names since you’ve seen their names since they were freshmen in high school on the On3 (recruiting) sites,” Rhule said.
“You know them by name; you know how talented they are.”
Dante Moore was a 5-star recruit out of Martin Luther King High in Detroit. His stats this season underscore why he would’ve been the choice to start. He’s completed 69-of-99 passes for 926 yards and nine touchdowns. He has yet to throw an interception.
In addition to Raiola’s two interceptions and lost fumble, Oregon turned it over four more times in the UCLA loss, which knocked the Ducks out of the Associated Press rankings. They began the season ranked second. They lost the second game of the season, to Oklahoma State 39-31.
They’re on playoff life-support, you might say, and their quarterback play is crucial.
As for the Raiola (his brother Dayton is a Duck freshman tight end) subplot, Lanning said he liked Raiola’s post-UCLA response.
And Rhule did talk about him two weeks ago. “I love Dylan,” he said. “He’s a great, great, great kid … there’s no doubt Dylan’s an elite quarterback.”
Rhule said he would “root for Dylan.”
But not Saturday night in Eugene.
He wears jersey No. 8, by the way.
