Remember when Patrick Mahomes’ doppelgänger Dylan Raiola happened to be a threat to Colorado Buffaloes Shedeur Sanders? Yes, that’s him now going through a rough patch. Matt Rhule’s signal caller seems to be suffering from some weakness in his athletic abilities. And how could the Nebraska HC sit back and watch him suffer? Rhule thus comes up with a bold decision to make the most use of Raiola’s power on the gridiron. And here comes the NFL veteran who thinks it’s going to serve great results for the QB. However, the last-minute change that the HC comes up with is nothing but a gamble. But poor Rhule, he has no other option!    

If you still think that Raiola continues to threaten the rivals, time for you to get a look at some heartbreaking stats!  Pro Football Focus drops some numbers that say the QB has been pressured 32.2% of his dropbacks. Wanna know about how many times he got sacked? 18 times! However, Rhule got to know about Raiola’s struggle after the Huskers got crushed by the Illinois Fighting Illini. This was enough for the HC to come up with a promise, “I think Dylan’s the guy that the guys on offense look to so we can continue to help him with the improved run game.” Looks like he has kept his word and demoted offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield to tight ends coach and declared Dana Holgorsen as the new OC. And here comes, the Nebraska Hall of Fame Adam Carriker to pinpoint how things are going to get better for Raiola. He placed himself in the QB’s shoes and stated, “If I’m Dylan Raiola, I’ve gotta be a little more excited about this.” But why?

Only and only because of the rich experience that Holgorsen carries with himself mentoring for different positions in the offense. That makes him a pro in the passing game that’s Raiola’s need of the hour, “Dana Holgorsen’s only been a quarterback coach and a wide receivers coach when he hasn’t been an offensive coordinator and or a head coach. This guy understands the passing game.” While the passing game will be taken care of, not every crack in Rhule’s program can be fixed with this coaching shake-up. 

How Matt Rhule’s bold move can be a game of chance

Having mentored Houston and West Virginia, Holgorsen can be trusted blindly. However, when he is taking over the OC role in a program like Rhule’s Huskers that is in the middle of a floundering season with only three games left, his power might get stunted. For instance, Nebraska’s rushing offense is already in a soup ranking 101st in college by averaging just 128 rushing yards through nine games this season. Will Holgorsen be able to fix that?

Well, don’t expect any dramatic improvement. During his coaching stint with Houston, he was able to push his offense near the top 50 in 2019. But that’s the only time he was able to do that. Other times, he struggled with his offense stooping to as low as 86. However, Rhule and the boys might benefit from the new OC when it comes to being better in the red zone.

Back in 2022, with Dana Holgorsen at the helm, the Cougars had an 88% red zone scoring efficiency rate. Well, that’s something that can make Matt Rhule happy since his program has been one of the worst teams in college in the red zone with only a 72% success rate. However, other things can wait, but his favorite Dylan Raiola needs to get better!