Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola is the earth, wind and fire of the Nebraska Cornhuskers this season and has caught the attention of Deion Sanders, whose Colorado Buffaloes head to Lincoln for a Saturday evening game.
“The kid made some darn good throws, some pretty good plays,” Sanders said about Raiola’s debut. “They went ahead and did what they needed to do. I loved what he showed in his first college game ever.”
In Raiola’s first career college start, Nebraska beat UTEP 40-7 last weekend. The signal-caller had 238 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 168.9 passer rating, while completing 70.4% of his passes.
Raiola was a five-star recruit who originally committed to Ohio State and then changed course for Georgia before flipping once again, this time to Nebraska. The quarterback’s father, Dominic Raiola, was an offensive lineman at Nebraska from 1997-2000 and was selected in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, with whom he played center for 14 seasons.
As for Colorado, the Buffaloes beat North Dakota State last week, 31-26.
Colorado beat Nebraska in Boulder last season 36-14. Historically, though, the Cornhuskers have gotten the better of the Buffaloes, boasting a 49-21-2 all-time record against their former longtime Big 12 rivals.
Both programs are entering their second season with their respective head coaches (Sanders at Colorado and Matt Rhule at Nebraska) and weren’t bowl-eligible last season.
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