Matt Rhule envisions returning Nebraska football to the glory days wants realizes that last season’s 5-7 record won’t cut it.
In his second season with the Cornhuskers, Rhule has made the decision to turn things over to a player with zero college experience.
This morning, Rhule announced that freshman 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola will be Nebraska’s starting quarterback when they open the season on August 31st against UTEP.
Raiola ended up beating out Heinrich Haarberg for the starting spot. Haarberg, who’s a junior, played in 10 games last season and threw for 967 yards, 7 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, while also rushing for 477 yards and 5 touchdowns.
The 6-foot-3 Raiola, who was originally committed to Georgia, is one of Nebraska’s biggest recruiting gets in decades. He was the No. 2 rated quarterback and the No. 7 overall player in the Class of 2024.
As a senior at Buford High School in Georgia, Raiola completed 63% of his passes for 2,666 yards and 34 touchdowns with just 1 interception. In Nebraska’s spring game, Raiola was 16-of-22 for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Raiola has Nebraska fans excited as he’s their most talented quarterback prospect since the days of Tommie Frazier. The question now is how long will it take him to get comfortable and adjust to college football, especially Big 10 football.
It’s been a very long time since Nebraska football has been relevant nationally as evidenced by the fact that they haven’t made it to a bowl game since 2016.
Rhule is hoping that Raiola can help end that drought with things getting next Saturday at home against UTEP.
