Dylan Raiola! The name might have lost strides due to a few of his un-Raiola-like mistakes against the recent weeks’ games, but coach Rhule has full faith that the highly touted recruits of the year will eventually deliver on his mini-Mahomes’ potential against Indiana, possibly the biggest pain in the neck of the Huskers’ of this season so far. Well, even if it will be an overstatement to say Raiola is shaping up to be as great as Patrick Mahomes’ at this point, there’s nothing out of the question in football. Raiola’s unfathomable bye-week dedication is giving us a glimmer of hope, if not at least an old intriguing parallel to munch on.

One of the hottest stories in the CFB has been Nebraska freshman Dylan Raiola’s on-point cosplaying of Kansas City Chiefs’ star Patrick Mahomes. A month back, a viral clip of Raiola stepping into his training camp in a regular Mahomes-esque. When asked about the stunt, the young prodigy indifferently noted it was all cool with him. Well, the aftermath of his gesture wasn’t as lackluster as Raiola’s perspective on it. The hype got so wide that the man himself (Patrick Mahomes) couldn’t help but chime in the confab. The three-time Super Bowl champ congratulated the Cornhuskers QB for his impressive first touchdown on the board. Now, the connection between the two seems even more evident with Raiola glazing Patrick Mahomes again during his bye week practice session.

There’s a reason why you find Raiola a little Mahomey lately. Mahomes’ private coach Jeff Christensen is now busy taking care of arguably the best freshman QB in the nation. The way he was seen assimilating the moves and techniques from the best, there’s no wrong in keeping our hopes high for a banger against undefeated Indiana Hoosiers this Saturday.

Will Dylan Raiola’s performance make or break the Huskers’ playoff aspirations? 

The Huskers came fresh off a 14-7 win over then-unbeaten Rutgers. While all the spotlight was on a compact defense that kept the Rutgers score machines in check with a mere 78 yards on the ground, the 19-year-old, ‘who has the constant urge to get better‘ had his part. It was, however, far from what he had done against Northern Iowa, going 17-of-23 for 247 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The chance to capitalize on his sky-high is still wide open, but the remaining schedule is on the tougher side, to say the least.

Let’s be real! It will be a tough nut to crack for Rhule to keep pace with the rejuvenated offensive line that Curt Cignettihas brought to the table of a well-balanced Indiana. Essentially, their wild, undefeated winning streak of six consecutive matches was no easy call. Rather, it was the outcome of the tremendous grit and pressure-handling caliber of three the Hoosier offensive line. But there is still a silver lining for the Huskers if Raiola gets back to his usual Mahomes’ energy just like some veteran analysts see him to be.

The battle of excellence will be a close affair where both the teams will be equally hungry for a win, but then the ball can only go to one’s court, which is why we call it a game.