Two weeks into Nebraska football's fall camp, the hype surrounding Anthony Colandrea has hit a fever pitch. In fact, according to one On3 analyst, the newest Husker quarterback is such an upgrade over Dylan Raiola that Jake Crain of Crain & Cone would take the former UNLV gunslinger, even if he only had one eye, over a 100% Dylan Raiola.
"I think Colandrea's a witch," Crain said on a recent podcast episode where the trio was hosting former Husker Will Compton. "I would take Colandrea with an eye-patch on over Raiola, full health." If that doesn't get NU fans' hearts pumping, then the fact that no one disagreed with him. In fact, they made it clear they believe that Raiola leaving and Colandrea coming in was the best thing to happen to the Cornhuskers in quite some time.
That's certainly high praise for a quarterback who has been just average outside of the Mountain West. Of course, some of this is also due to a segment of the college football population that doesn't believe Raiola will ever live up to the hype. While there's a chance that Nebraska held the former 5-star recruit back, it's also possible he's been too afraid to risk a bad throw; being too careful has handcuffed him.
There's something to be said for those who think Raiola is too careful. He also showed an inability to make some of the more basic throws, including a fade into the corner of the end zone. It's not that he didn't have the arm strength or touch. Instead, he was simply too worried about turning it over instead of trusting his talent.
“I would take Colandrea with an eye patch over Raiola at full health.”
— Jake “JBOY” Crain (@JakeCrain_) August 13, 2026
-@crainandcone + @_willcompton love the new Husker QB pic.twitter.com/XWluzL77Ii
Jake Crain says Anthony Colandrea is major Nebraska football upgrade over Dylan Raiola
Colandea has no issues trusting his talent. A season where he wins the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year is bound to build up confidence. However, he'll also turn the ball over at a decent clip. The talk with the new Nebraska quarterback has been that fans will have to take the bad with the good, but when he's good, the gunslinger is very, very good.
He's good enough; in fact, there are clearly some On3 analysts who believe he's better than Dylan Raiola will ever be, even entering his third season and two years as a starter under his belt.
That still seems like a wild prediction for someone who was mediocre at best when he was with Virginia. Of course, Nebraska fans certainly hope the hosts are right, and Anthony Colandrea is the best thing to happen to the Huskers in quite some time.
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