Disaster. Catastrophe. Embarrassment.
Maybe those words aren’t quite strong enough to accurately describe what happened at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon. Nebraska, still in search of qualifying for their first bowl game since the Obama Administration, let a golden opportunity slip through their grasp. UCLA, with just two 3-point wins to their name this season, dominated most of the game en route to a 27-20 victory over the hapless Huskers.
After one of the most feel-good losses in recent memory, almost everyone (maybe actually everyone) expected NU to defeat a 2-5 UCLA squad and taste that sweet, sweet bowl bid. Alas, the long-held dream of Husker fans everywhere became a nightmare that continues to haunt this program.
In searching for reasons why, you could start with the defense. The Bruins were bottom of the college football barrel in rushing yards, total yards, and points per game. By halftime, they had almost reached their total game averages with 99 yards on the ground, 248 yards overall, and 13 points.
NU didn’t force UCLA to punt until the 4:21 mark of the second quarter. They converted six of their first seven 3rd down attempts. Pass catchers were running free in the secondary as the pass rush was stymied. Nobody could catch a lumbering Ethan Garbers – who is decidedly not a running quarterback – on a 57-yard scramble on their second field goal drive.
With experienced players like Ty Robinson, Isaac Gifford, and John Bullock at each level, this had mismatch-in-Nebraska’s-favor written all over it. Somehow, it all flipped in the opposite direction early on. They played closer to the Blackshirt standard for 2-plus quarters, but the damage was done.
Offensively, everything was difficult. Run plays were met with few holes to choose from. Pass plays had yards for the taking but they were mostly not successful, either.
That brings us to perhaps the most uncomfortable question I asked during the unfolding chaos:
Was Dylan Raiola the worst player on the field?
Look, this is not something I enjoy entertaining publicly. Raiola is super talented, and his calmness and poise belie his youth. Nobody ever expected him to play perfectly or throw zero interceptions, but there is a baseline performance that any power-conference school should expect from their signal caller.
Raiola actively prevented the offense from moving the ball for much of the game. It was unacceptable.
Most pass plays went like this: Raiola drops back, reads the defense, refuses to let the ball go, pass rush closes in, then he bails and either tries a late, inaccurate throw on the run or gets sacked. The worst part is that eventually one of those late scrambles led to a hard hit and a lower back injury, which could affect the team’s chances of winning in the last three games of the season.
Before I go further, let me state for the record that I am not a football player or coach who breaks down football tape for a living. That being said, I do have eyes, and they saw many instances of offensive players running open against UCLA’s defense, and those players were not given a chance to make a play because Raiola did not throw it to them.
Even on the two big pass plays, one to Barney in the first quarter and the other to Neyor on the final play of the third quarter, Raiola passed up easy options underneath that would have gained yards and likely first downs. Full credit to the kid for completing those, absolutely. But that instinct bit him on the first play of the second half when, instead of taking his first read in Thomas Fidone, he tried to fit one in for Jahmal Banks, and instead it went the other way for a backbreaking interception return touchdown and a 20-7 deficit.
Let’s give Raiola the benefit of the doubt for a minute. I know he’s a true freshman. NU is on their third string left tackle. The run game has been somewhere between below average to bad. His receivers have struggled to gain separation on their routes. I’d be shocked if Nebraska was the only school in that spot, though, and other quarterbacks still make it work. And, when you factor that all in, how come Raiola still refuses to take the available yards when they’re there for the taking? He just…wouldn’t…throw it!
After the pick-six, there was a concerted effort by Marcus Satterfield to either take the ball out of Raiola’s hands or give him as simple of throws as possible. First, it was six consecutive runs before the same song and dance on 3rd and 4th down with Raiola botching called pass plays, which handed it back to UCLA. Three snaps later it became 27-7, far too steep a hill to climb.
The pass designs on NU’s following possession included lateral throws to Barney and Fidone and an end zone fade to Isaiah Neyor for the touchdown. Those throws involved little to no reading or thinking, forcing Raiola to just rock and fire. Obviously, credit to him for making those throws, but it was also clear that the offense was dialed back significantly to account for his struggles.
By the way, that scoring pass to Neyor was Raiola’s first since September 28 at Purdue. In between were six interceptions without a touchdown pass across four games. A zero-to-six TD-to-INT ratio is unacceptable, and I’m confident that Raiola, Rhule, Satterfield and everyone in between would agree.
Lest we forget, all three Husker scoring drives were aided by a UCLA penalty: two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls and one defensive holding near the goal line. It makes you wonder if NU could have scored at all had those gifts not been given to them!
One other point to make involves Raiola’s image. It has been carefully crafted, and he is hyper aware of how the cameras find and follow him. He has been given every bit of preferential treatment, whether it’s leading the team out of the tunnel, being prominently featured in in-stadium hype videos, or having a designated helmet carrier for when he leaves the field at halftime and after games (yes, he really does). Now we know he even has the ability to take out the backup quarterback in the red zone when he’s clearly struggling *AND* injured! Thankfully, he did have enough sense to go down when he felt he couldn’t play effectively, but Rhule or someone else on the sideline has to be able to tell him to stay on the sideline in that spot.
Living in the NIL and transfer portal era, we all understand that things are different than they were five years ago, let alone a generation ago. Should Nebraska make certain strategic accommodations for a potential program-altering recruit at the most important position in sports? Yes, they should! There is a fine line to walk with that, however, and a college football program as proud as Nebraska should only bend so far before it breaks them.
This image of Raiola has taken a hit. It’s all well and good when you’re beating UTEP and Purdue, but he has directly contributed to some ugly losses, too. He steps up to the mic and faces the media, but I wonder if there will be on-field accountability – like being benched – if this poor play continues against USC in two weeks.
I don’t want to suggest that it would automatically lead to Raiola transferring if he isn’t given his way on every little thing. That’s probably a line Rhule wouldn’t cross. Plus, if that’s the story around your exit from Nebraska, his destination options may be limited. In order to navigate this situation, Rhule will need a deft touch. Nebraska must win at least one of these next three games and, while it would be great for all involved if Raiola played well and led the charge, Rhule may have a quarterback decision to make in November.
To be clear, there are non-Raiola things that Matt Rhule could do. Maybe he could pull the trigger on a coaching change during the off week that he was planning to make in the offseason anyway. The defense could certainly cut out their struggles and widen the margin of error for the offense. And this could be a moot point if the injury keeps Raiola off the field.
Did this turn into a referendum on Nebraska’s savior QB? Yeah, it kind of did. But that’s where we are.
When disaster strikes, it’s time to question everything you thought you knew.
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