Nebraska offense’s revamp on display in Dylan Raiola’s debut

Asked how he expected his two freshman quarterbacks — Dylan Raiola and Daniel Kaelin — to handle the spotlight and expectations of Saturday’s Spring Game, Rhule smiled and brought his hands up from the podium in a shrug.

“I don’t know,” Rhule said. “That’s what I’m excited about.”

He adjusted his hat and shifted into a detailed answer featuring the Madden NFL video game and the idea that good players don’t need to change their practice habits with a Saturday afternoon reinvention. Reinforce your habits. Do what you do.

“And that’s really true for the quarterbacks,” Rhule said. Who, other than junior Heinrich Haarberg, have never taken a snap in front of the at least 50,000 fans who’ll pile into Memorial Stadium for a viewing.

A five-star signee, Raiola has seen his name bounce all over social media — as a recruit. Now his play will be scrutinized, his achievements cut up and posted as video, his mistakes amplified in a way he’ll have to ignore. Kaelin, the Bellevue West grad and underdog in this race, faces similar challenges, plus an additional task: Keeping up with Raiola.

And the backdrop of Saturday’s game is that both — plus Haarberg — will be challenged beyond the narratives. Rhule plans a game of football, but he also has in mind a clear goal: Throw the ball a lot. Catch the ball a lot. Protect — and rush — the quarterback a lot.

Rhule even gave it a name: “The Red-White Shootout.” The record for total passes (95) and total passing yards (693) were set in 2017. It’s possible those figures are in play starting at 11 a.m. Saturday on Big Ten Network.

“I want to know we’ll be able to run the ball,” Rhule said. “I want to see if we can throw the ball, I want to see if we can catch the ball.”

After last season, Rhule’s first at Nebraska, the jury remains out.

In 2023, Nebraska threw for 136 yards per game — second-worst among power conference teams, ahead of only Iowa. Only the three service academies threw the ball less than NU, and perhaps only those three ran the triple option more than the Huskers did.

Worse, Nebraska had the nation’s second-worst interception rate of 6.1%. Husker quarterbacks threw interceptions on their final passes of four different games that NU lost by 3, 3, 7 and 3 points. In each case, Nebraska had a chance to win on its final possession.

“There’s going to come times when, to win a game, you have to throw the ball,” offensive play-caller Marcus Satterfield said this spring. He’s moved to coaching the tight ends while Glenn Thomas, recently with the NFL’s Steelers, now coaches quarterbacks.

After working together at Temple and Baylor, the duo are friends — “I’m the yin and he’s the yang,” Satterfield said — and they command a combined salary of $2.2 million to co-coordinate Nebraska’s offense.

Saturday’s “shootout” is a marker of the progress they’ve made in revamping the pass game, retooling Haarberg’s long, sidearm motion and raising up Raiola and Kaelin, who at this time last year weren’t even committed to Nebraska.

Each spoke early in camp. Raiola said he was still catching up to the “speed of the game.” Kaelin noted the size of the playbook. Haarberg called them “very mature.” Satterfield said they’re “ahead of schedule.”

That was before Kaelin dropped dimes at a Tuesday viewing period or Raiola wowed Satterfield with his “recess” play at a scrimmage. In the Spring Game, they’ll work with three different units against three different defenses. They’ll be asked to ensure that, “after every whistle,” Satterfield said, the ball remains with the offense. They’ll also be asked to make plays small and large as they compete for a coveted starting job.

The expectations broadly fall on Raiola’s shoulders. Nebraska hasn’t had a five-star quarterback in almost 30 years, and Rhule effectively scrapped plans to add a midseason transfer QB once Raiola flipped from Georgia to NU.

Rhule deflected a question about Raiola specifically, saying Nebraska fans show up early to Memorial Stadium to watch all the players.

“If I was a Husker fan, I’d just be coming and hoping the ball’s not on the ground,” Rhule said. “Let’s play real football.

“But — if you want to be the starting quarterback at Nebraska, better be ready to deal with the heat.”