Dylan Raiola believes criticism of Nebraska OC Marcus Satterfield is ‘unfair’

After suffering two losses in a row, there has been mounting criticism of the Nebraska Cornhuskers offense and specifically offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield. However, freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola believes that criticism is unfair.

While being asked about the offense’s lack of explosive plays, Raiola shared that he’s confident the Cornhuskers can find more big plays. He also took the time to point out that he feels Satterfield is giving them opportunities but the issue has been execution.

“I feel confident. I think it’s just a matter of execution, now,” Dylan Raiola said. “You know, Coach Satt gives us the plays to go do it and as players we have to go out there and execute it. I know Coach Satt’s getting a lot of heat right now on his plays that he’s calling and I think that’s unfair to him.”

The numbers on offense haven’t been great for Nebraska this season. It’s been three weeks since the Cornhuskers scored more than 17 points in a game and Nebraska only scored more than 30 points twice, both of which were non-conference games.

For the season, Nebraska is 93rd in the country in total offense, averaging 358.1 yards per game. Then, the Cornhuskers are 96th in scoring offense this season, averaging 24 points per game.

“He can’t go out there and make plays and do everything that he’s coaching us to do,” Raiola said. “So, as players and as the quarterback of this offense, I take the responsibility for that and for us to go out there and execute. That’s not his fault. Yeah, I think we can push the ball down the field and I think we will.”

That relationship between Dylan Raiola and Marcus Satterfield is, of course, vital to the Cornhuskers moving forward. Still a freshman, Raiola is growing as a quarterback and that growth is largely going to be thanks to the work that Satterfield does.

For the season, Raiola has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 1,744 yards and nine touchdowns to go with seven interceptions. That’s 218 passing yards per game. However, in Nebraska’s last three games, Raiola hasn’t thrown a touchdown and has four interceptions. Twice in those three games, he’s thrown for less than 200 yards in the game.

Nebraska is currently 5-3, looking to snap a two-game losing streak and get to bowl eligibility for the season. If they do, it would be the program’s first time getting to a bowl since 2016. Standing in Nebraska’s way is a UCLA team coming off its first Big Ten win.