As the Nebraska football team enters Big Ten play 3-0 on the season, there isn't much that hasn't gone right. However, even the most optimistic Husker fans know that at some point this season, something is going to go horribly wrong. When it does, there's always the possibility that the thing that goes horribly wrong will be an injury to Dylan Raiola.
Raiola has been healthy over the course of his Cornhusker career, but he's also taken a pounding. It's not hard to imagine that at some point, he'll get banged up enough that he'll have to sit out a series, a quarter, a game, or even games. The good news for NU is that, should Raiola need to sit, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen is confident backup quarterback TJ Lateef can handle things.
Holgorsen talked about how impressed he is with Lateef earlier this week at his press conference ahead of the Michigan game. Among the superlatives he said about the true freshman is that the budding Nebraska football star has looked better every time out.
Dana Holgorsen believes TJ Lateef is ready to lead Nebraska football if needed
"It gives me great comfort from a backup roller, there's no doubt. He is comfortable when he's in there," Holgorsen said.
"You know, obviously, it makes the room good, you know, and he's taken those reps and he just keeps getting better. I didn't know what it was going to look like on game day," the Husker OC said. "And geez, I mean, it looked better. It looked better Saturday than the previous Saturday. You know, and so he's calm."
"He's communicating well. His completion percentage is high. He can do some things with his feet, which, you know, in practice out there, he would do that. But I'm like, it ain't real. Just try to throw the ball somewhere because I don't know if that's real or not. We're not going to know until it's live."
The Nebraska football team hopes that Dylan Raiola can once again get through the season without needing to miss time. However, Dana Holgorsen believes if TJ Lateef has to step in and play meaningful minutes during the Big Ten conference schedule, he can carry the load.