Dylan Raiola came into this season wanting to take strides forward compared to his first season in 2024. So far, he has done that, with just under 1,000 passing yards less than he had altogether last season, but he has five games left. He already has more passing touchdowns than he did last season, with 16, which so far is three more than in 2024, and only five interceptions, compared to the 11 he had last season.
Raiola's success to this point in the season has earned him the honor of being on the Manning Award watchlist. This is a big award to win as it is given to college football's top quarterback from that season. This is showing Raiola's improvement this season, but it could all go to waste if Nebraska loses to Northwestern this week.
Nebraska football quarterback Dylan Raiola has something to prove vs Northwestern
Dylan Raiola has been added to the @ManningAward watch list 📄 pic.twitter.com/yj61hEbFY5
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) October 23, 2025
The performance of Nebraska's offense as a whole was not the greatest for the Cornhuskers vs. Minnesota. For Raiola, it wasn't great as he never was able to find the end zone, but he did at least protect the ball and not have any turnovers.
With how bad the offense looked against Minnesota, all of the blame fell squarely on Raiola's shoulders, and he took it like a good leader does. However, if Nebraska loses to Northwestern this weekend, the blame again will most likely go on Raiola, and it won't be good for his campaign for the Manning Award.
Raiola needs to put the offense back on track in this game, as two straight losses wouldn't look good for Nebraska or Raiola.