Nebraska football star quarterback Dylan Raiola will have a ton of pressure placed on him in his sophomore season, but one member of the Husker beat thinks that won’t be an issue, considering the pressure that was on him as a true freshman.
Brian Christopherson recently talked to Hurrdat Sports about the upcoming season and the way Raiola handles pressure. The analyst believes that there are in fact, few players in the country that are better suited for a great second season because of the way Raiola handled what is really an unprecedented level of pressure in his first season in college.
“He handles it incredibly well about just being Dylan Raiola in the state of Nebraska,” Christopherson said about the Nebraska football star. “I mean, not many people could do that as well as he does.”
"Dylan Raiola is in rare company." @Husker247BC shares with @damonbenning and @ralulla that he believes that dealing with critics in a national spotlight will benefit Raiola in year two.
— Hurrdat Sports (@HurrdatSports) February 5, 2025
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Nebraska football’s Dylan Raiola handles pressure better than most, says Husker beat writer
The beat writer also made it clear that one of the reasons he’s impressed by Dylan Raiola is because he takes heat that other college quarterbacks don’t have to deal with.
“There's a lot of guys who have been rated highly as recruits who do not play or take on the role that he did or are under the microscope like he is, I think, even nationally. And I think some of that's because of the Mahomes comparisons and stuff like that. So people like to rib him when things don't go his way. But he seems to take that in stride, and I think that's good for him too.”
Some of that pressure even turns into rumors that aren’t grounded in reality. This offseason, Raiola had to publicly come out and say that he was staying with the Cornhuskers after rumors ran rampant that he was leaving the school for a bigger NIL bag.
The number of players that have had to deny those kinds of rumors this year can be counted on one hand. Even less of them were true freshmen also viewed as leaders of the team.
Christopherson is right in that Dylan Raiola handles more pressure than most in the sport, even at the quarterback position that always has an outsized spotlight. Here’s hoping the beat writer is correct that his experience and poise in those situations means big success for Nebraska football in 2025.