First Bowl game in the last 8 years, and THEY WON!! Dylan Raiola‘s arc with the Huskers has been a “mixed bag”. The true freshman started strong. He was curving Buffs defenders like a kid talking a stroll through the park, but then everything tanked. Matt Rhule‘s hopes and dreams were crushed as the once great Patrick Mahomes‘ successor had turned into a Mahomes “wannabe”. Almost every Huskers fan thought the season was going to end on a tragic note for Dylan Raiola. However, they got their Pinstripe Bowl and Dylan Raiola got a chance to show everyone, once again, why he could still be on the run for Mahomes’ successor!!

“HISTORY MADE! Dylan Raiola just set the record for most passing yards in a season by a freshman QB at Nebraska,” Garuda Glide declared on X as the Huskers lifted the Bowl win against Boston College with 20 points on the board. Jets’ QB and former Huskers freshman Adrian Martinez had set a gold standard with 2617 passing yards and 17 passing touchdowns. Now, Raiola comes in and takes that crown away for himself.

2819 passing yards on the board, as a freshman, this is truly impressive. However, Martinez still has the edge when it comes to passing touchdowns, as Raiola ends his year with 13 total. Regardless, against Boston, Raiola was good enough with over 220 yards. His turnover problem is still there as he gave Boston a massive advantage with an interception but overall he had one of the best completions in his entire season run with 74.2% on the board.

And somewhere it feels like he was finally trying to be a CFB player instead of an NFL player which is a positive change for Rhule. Because Raiola’s overall year with the Huskers has been a big debate for fans and analysts. “He gonna feel proud and he out,” was all 937 The Ticket had to say when discussing the odds of the QB sticking around with Nebraska for another season. At the crux of it all, Raiola was managed very poorly.

Instead of focusing on the game, this guy is always trying too hard to make “NFL-level” plays. This, paired with the fact that he turned into a turnover nightmare for Rhule, adds to the “replace Raiola with a different QB” debate. If you wanna be the next Mahomes’ them, you gotta start at the grassroots level. Directly jumping for big plays is not the way. And this will end up becoming a massive factor going into the 2025 season. Will Matt Rhule be able to shape Raiola up (properly)?

The future for the Cornhuskers QB1

Assuming Raiola sticks around, Rhule has to get down and focus on the basics. This is not a bad player. If they could curve elite QBs like Shedeur Sanders and CBs like Travis Hunter, then you know you have a golden egg-laying goose in your hand.

But then again, you cannot just let it fly away,y right? Raiola has a massive problem when it comes down to the football release. He keeps holding on for way too long, and the TWENTY SIX sacks point to the same.

Having faith in your running and receiver corp is gonna get you a long, but Raiola fails to do that. Rhule has to focus on sorting this out. We know that this was just his year 1 with the Huskers but although he broke a record, he was a disaster for Nebraska midseason. 4 back-to-back losses where Raiola did nothing but get sacked and threw interceptions.

Get to the basics, Rhule!!