Another one-score game, another one-score loss for the Nebraska football team. While most Husker fans are busy pretending the 30-27 loss to the Wolverines is proof that nothing has changed for the program, Dylan Raiola's performance showed that the Cornhuskers have one of the best quarterbacks in the sport.
While there were times when the offense struggled, those struggles were almost entirely because of an offensive line that had problems protecting Raiola. "We just have to find a way to get the ball out quicker," Raiola said after he threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns. "There’s no magic sauce. We just got to figure it out and move on."
Nebraska football quarterback building Heisman résumé in real time
On the other hand, the Nebraska signal-caller has continued to be deadly through the air, even if he did have his first interception of the season. Those 300 yards and three touchdowns were the first time an opposing QB has done that to Michigan since 2021.
Georgia's Stetson Bennett did that in the College Football Playoffs and the Bulldogs won, 34-11. Had the Huskers' defense played better, even better by a play or two, Raiola would have had the victory as well.
Raiola already has 11 touchdown passes through his first four games. He finished 2024 with 13. He's also got 1,137 yards and is averaging 8.4 yards per play, another improvement over his freshman season. Keep in mind he's doing this despite skipping about three quarters in the previous two weeks.
For whatever reason, the Nebraska football quarterback isn't getting credit for putting up what continues to be a Heisman-caliber season. When he was doing it against subpar opponents, there was cause to ignore it. The rest of the country had better take notice after what he did to a Top 25 team with a solid defense.