Dylan Raiola will be tested in the most underrated QB matchup of Week 1

With Week 1 approaching, the eyes of college football fans have gravitated towards Columbus, where Arch Manning is set to make the third start of his career against former five-star quarterback Julian Sayin and the defending national champions. If not there, then they’ve set their sights on Death Valley, where Heisman Trophy favorites Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier will square off on Saturday night. 

However, they don’t have to wait until the weekend to see great QB play because one of the most underrated QB matchups of Week 1 and maybe the whole season is helping to kick the week off on Thursday night when Dylan Raiola and Nebraska meet Brendan Sorsby and Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the home of the sport’s greatest quarterback. 

The hype surrounding Raiola has begun to subside after an up-and-down freshman season. Still, the former five-star remains a familiar name and face in college football, especially with Nebraska entering the season as a College Football Playoff dark horse. Not to mention, Raiola began to round a corner after Dana Holgorsen took over as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator midway through last season. 

With Holgorsen in place for an entire offseason, Raiola should take a clear step forward and could find a way to insert himself into the Heisman race. Nebraska fans, hopeful to see the classic Year 3 jump from a Matt Rhule-coached team, know all this. What the Husker faithful may not know is how big a problem Sorsby could pose to the Nebraska defense and how quickly Raiola may have to begin answering questions about his ability to lead an elite offense in Year 2. 

H2: Brendan Sorsby will test Nebraska’s revamped defense under John Butler

Sorsby began his career with two seasons at Indiana, but was ushered out of the program to make room for Kurtis Rourke after Curt Cignetti took over last offseason. Then, as a redshirt sophomore, he quietly completed 64 percent of his throws for nearly 3,000 yards with 18 touchdowns to 7 interceptions and another 447 yards and nine scores on the ground. 

The Bearcats' passing offense finished top 30 in the country in success rate, and Sorsby managed to find himself instead the top 60 QBs in the country by EPA/dropback despite his unit generating a 1st percentile explosive pass rate. Sorby’s top receiver by yards after the catch per reception, Tony Johnson ranked 405th in the country, which makes his efficiency that much more impressive. 

Sorsby is stout, allowing Cincinnati to use him as a runner between the tackles on QB draws and QB power. The majority of his rushing production came on designed carries, but he’s capable as a scrambler and has a low sack rate because of it. He struggled to connect on the deep ball last year, something that was a strength early in his career, but he aggressively attacked the intermediate part of the field to great success. 

Entering his third year as a starter, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Denton, Texas native is a proven commodity, but in a conference that features Sam Leavitt at Arizona State, Sawyer Robertson at Baylor, and Josh Hoover at TCU, he’s flying too far under the radar. Nebraska can’t let Thursday night, with a national spotlight and newly-engaged former Bearcat Travis Kelce in attendance, be his breakout. 

After helping to lead Nebraska to a bowl game for the first time since 2016, defensive coordinator Tony White was hired away by Mike Norvell at Florida State, and he wasn’t the only key piece of last year’s Huskers’ defense to head out the door. 

Talented pass rusher Princewell Umanmielen followed his brother’s path to Ole Miss, James Williams followed White to Tallahassee, M.J. Sherman began a CFL career in Montreal, Ty Robinson survived cut day with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Nash Hutmacher didn’t with Tampa Bay. That was Nebraska’s six most productive pass rushers on last year’s defense, and with the talent still on the roster in Lincoln, their combined 159 quarterback pressures will be impossible to replace. 

If the Nebraska defense struggles to generate pressure this season, that could be particularly impactful against Sorsby. Last season, the Cincinnati QB was hyper-efficient when kept clean,  especially considering the lack of explosiveness at wide receiver. However, when pressured, Sorsby’s numbers nosedived. 

Last year’s Nebraska defense could have gotten after Sorsby and turned him into an inaccurate and turnover-prone player. If this year’s unit proves unable, it will fall to Raiola, Holgorsen, and the offense to win a shootout. 

Getting the best of Sorsby wouldn’t vault Raiola into the Heisman conversation in Week 1, but it would be a promising development for a young quarterback who will be asked to shoulder a significant burden in Lincoln this season.