The last thing you want after facing a humiliating 7-56 drubbing is to be against the top 5 in your next game. Ideally, Matt Rhule would have wanted an easy run against an unranked opponent for his offense to gain his confidence and defense to finally stop a team running through them. But college football is tricky, and it gets harder every week. Such is the case for the Cornhuskers and their starting QB Dylan Raiola, who are set to go against Ryan Day‘s Buckeyes today in their Week 9 matchup. Both teams are coming off losses, but for Matt Rhule, the game may end up causing more headaches other than a loss against a tough opponent.

On the recent episode of Menace 2, sports analysts Zach Smith and Sam Grooms talked about Dylan Raiola’s first appearance against Ryan Day’s boys after he departed from Ohio State. The Nebraska freshman changed his heart several times before he finally committed to the Cornhuskers. And who says that Raiola won’t change his heart again’?

“With Dylan, remember this was a kid who committed to Ohio State, went to Georgia, then went to Nebraska so there’s no telling that he’s going to stay in Nebraska for at least three years until he’s draft eligible, right? He could get money from Michigan and go to Michigan next year. He could go to Georgia to replace Carson Beck and say, Oh, I should have gone to Georgia. To begin with, my heart was always at Georgia. There’s no guarantee that Nebraska is going to keep him,” Smith said.

The freshman quarterback has led the Cornhuskers to a 5-2 record for the seven games they played this season. With today’s game, the Buckeyes finally have a chance to show Raiola he made a mistake by decommitting to the program. As the college football analysts are suggesting, can Raiola change his loyalty to Georgia? But wasn’t his commitment solely based on his family’s legacy with the Cornhuskers? His father, Dominic Raiola, was a red-shirt freshman on the Cornhuskers 1997 national championship team. With that, let’s look at the QB who’s going to play against Raiola today.

The quarterback battle between Dylan Raiola and Will Howard

The Buckeyes are entering this game with the veteran quarterback whom Ryan Day recruited through the transfer portal via Kansas State. Meanwhile, Raiola holds major credit for the Huskers’ success this season. To begin his collegiate career, Howard started with Kansas State, entered the transfer portal in 2023, and committed to Ohio in the 2024 off-season.

In the form of Will Howard, Raiola will get a true opponent. He has made 121 of 165 passes for 1574 yards and 14 touchdowns with three interceptions so far this season. At the same time, 33 rushers for 77 yards and five touchdowns. On the other hand, Raiola has completed 141 of 213 passes for 1592 yards, along with scoring nine touchdowns and six disappointing interceptions.

Dylan Raiola is often compared to NFL star Patrick Mahomes, given the similarities they hold. It’s a popular opinion that Raiola resembles Mahomes’ playing style. They also wear the same No. 15 jersey and his fans are even saying they carry the same style. Remember one of Raiola’s pictures that people believed was Mahomes?

Well, the young prodigy has much to prove when it comes to those comparisons, and one quality that he can borrow from Mahomes is the latter’s clutch game. Mahomes is the best in high-pressure situations; he could have been having a bad night, but come 4th quarter, you’ll see a clean game. He may not have the help in the form of WRs, but that doesn’t matter! Raiola has to learn that and lead the Cornhuskers’ offense despite adversities.