Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen believes his sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola has grown leaps and bounds throughout Nebraska football’s fall camp.
“It’s different when he’s out there, just from the communication, the confidence, just making routine plays and getting the other ones to come along with him,” Holgorsen said. “So his leadership is outstanding, the play is fantastic. He’s making throws that I’ve never seen before, to be honest with you. So he’s in a good spot, and he’s ready for game day.”
Receiving this compliment from Holgorsen means a lot to Raiola, but he’s sure to always credit his teammates for everything that they do to help him.
“I think it means everything,” Raiola said. “(He’s) a coach that trusts his quarterback to throw the ball, and it makes it easy when you have guys like Dane Key and Jacory (Barney Jr.) and Nyziah (Hunter) to throw the football to, just to put it up in the area and they’ll come down with the catch. So yeah, it’s a throw, but at the end of day, it’s the o-line blocking, it’s the running backs stepping up in pass pro, and then the receivers going up and snatching the football. So it’s a full 11-man effort to make one throw happen.”
During his freshman season, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound quarterback broke numerous Nebraska records including most passing yards by a freshman with 2,819 and the best completion percentage by a freshman at 67.1%. He started every game, tossing 13 touchdowns and leading Nebraska to its first bowl game since 2016 and first bowl win since the year prior.
During the offseason and throughout camp, Raiola has been working hard to improve physically so that he can help the team as much as possible. He has made it a point to get into better shape and is happy with where he’s at.
“I feel tremendously great,” Raiola said. “My body’s in the best shape it’s been in, not tired at all, sleeping great, recovering three times a day — morning, after practice and at night, before I head home. So just taking that next step of taking care of my body is the biggest thing for me, just so that I can give my teammates my 100% best, and I think they deserve that and I know they deserve that, so that’s the least I can do for them.”
Last season, Raiola did not run very often, but Holgorsen wants that to change in 2025, especially with his scrambling.
“We do a lot of scrambling with him, whether it’s boots or nakeds or just him getting out of the pocket extending plays,” Holgorsen said. “I see that really advanced right now, just compared to what it was last year, and it was a focus for us. We’re making him do it. I’m like, ‘Don’t throw this one, you need to scramble this one.’ So he’ll scramble, and we’re really getting the receivers to understand and buy into the, ‘play ain’t over, you need to get to where you need to be to make plays.’ So his ability to extend plays, I think, has improved.”
Heading into his second year at the helm of the offense, Raiola wants to take charge of the team and has grown as a leader on and off of the field. He said that he believes that this will help the team excel this season.
“Just overall command of the offense,” Raiola said. “It’s not just, ‘Yeah I’m going to throw the ball;’ I’m going to get us into the right checks. It’s more understanding why we’re running the football play, what we’re running it against and what are things that can beat us on this play, or what are things that we can beat the defense in this football play? So I think just overall command of the offense, and yeah I feel comfortable right now.”
Head coach Matt Rhule has also seen a lot of growth and development from Raiola.
“He now embraces when he’s frustrated, he embraces when things aren’t going well, and he’s the one going back to the ownership I talked about, instead of saying like, ‘This guy’s got to do better, this guy’s got to do better,’ he puts it on himself,” Rhule said. “He says, ‘I’ll fix this.’”
To build the team’s culture and rapport, the players are spending a lot of time together outside of football. Raiola believes that this closeness will transfer to the field.
“We’ve done a lot of things together as a football team, whether it’s different position groups going to breakfast, or going to each other’s houses, game nights, things like that, to really bring us together,” Raiola said. “Because sometime this season down the stretch, we’re going to need each and every one of each other to make a play, make a stop, or we’re down two scores and we’ve got to come back and win with five minutes in the game. So it all comes down to everybody in that building over there, and what we believe.”
With the season opener being less than two weeks away, Raiola is ready to get on the field and start his sophomore campaign.
“I believe that we can do something special this year, but we’re 13 days away, so we’ll find out pretty soon,” Raiola said.
The Huskers open their season at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Aug. 28 against Cincinnati with the game set to kick off at 8 p.m. CT.
