With Dylan Raiola, Nebraska sees new offensive ceiling

The freshman quarterback would arrive at Nebraska football’s facility early in the morning, sometimes beating his head coach into work. After practice, team meetings, workouts, additional drills and recovery work, Raiola wouldn’t leave until late at night.

“August was crazy,” Raiola said. “Everybody was putting in hours and I think it was great just to get our whole offense installed and get the reps in.”

Raiola’s dedication says something about his internal drive as a person, but it was also a necessary requirement for a player whose growth will dictate the ceiling of the Nebraska offense.

Due to Raiola’s mere presence alongside other personnel changes, the Husker coaching staff expects its offense will be significantly improved from a year ago.

After all, Nebraska is coming off a season in which it scored just 18 points per game with a passing offense that ranked in the bottom five nationally. No Nebraska quarterback threw for 200 yards in a single game, and the team totaled just 10 passing touchdowns compared to 16 interceptions.

Enter the five-star freshman, who’s bound by none of that baggage and ready to start his own journey.

“It’s just like when I was a kid playing a game; I’m excited,” Raiola said.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, who’ll dial up the plays for Raiola on Saturday, said the freshman quarterback has elite arm talent.

Equally as impressive is Raiola’s command of the offense and his ability to process information, Satterfield said, typically a challenge for young quarterbacks. Having sat down with quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas in the offseason to update Nebraska’s offensive playbook, Satterfield feels Raiola is ready to execute the offense.

“Everybody can throw the ball hard, but he can place it where it needs to be and where he wants it to be,” Satterfield said of Raiola. “Some of the throws we’re asking him to make, that’s a big deal for us.”

Helping Raiola will be a talented crop of pass-catchers which is much different than the unit Nebraska ended the 2023 season with. Senior impact transfers Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor are physically dominant, big-bodied targets while the dependable hands of tight end Thomas Fidone II will be needed as well.

Alongside big-play threats such as Jaylen Lloyd, Malachi Coleman and Jacory Barney Jr., Raiola likes what he’s seen from the Husker offense thus far.

“We have hitters from every angle that you can think of,” he said.

Raiola has a strong arm and isn’t afraid to use it. 

Banks, who’s expected to be Raiola’s top target in the passing game, said that the quarterback “can get the ball around anywhere” while being knowledgeable enough to check down on certain looks when the deep shots aren’t there.

It’ll be up to Satterfield to find the right moments to let Raiola chuck it deep — and NU’s offensive coordinator is hopeful that establishing the run can make that task easier.

After quarterback Heinrich Haarberg led the team in rushing last season, Satterfield said on Tuesday that Nebraska’s run game is “going to be more traditional.” While the NU coaching staff has hinted that Haarberg could still feature as a runner on select offensive packages, they won’t be drawing up designed runs for Raiola.

Instead, the team’s four co-starters at running back — Gabe Ervin Jr., Rahmir Johnson, Emmett Johnson and Dante Dowdell — will need to move the ball and keep the Nebraska offense on schedule. By establishing the run and incorporating play-action looks, Satterfield is hopeful that the Huskers can create big-play opportunities.

“That’s got to be one of the big parts of our offense,” Satterfield said of creating explosive plays. “The way we ran the ball last year and the way that I think we can have a chance to run it this year, I think it’s going to open up some opportunities for people having to get extra guys in the box which allows you to push the ball down the field.”

Nebraska’s run game and Raiola’s comfort in the pocket will be helped by a veteran-led offensive line that returns starting center Ben Scott and tackles Turner Corcoran and Bryce Benhart from last year’s team.

Raiola can extend plays with his legs when needed, Banks said, something he may need to do if UTEP’s Maurice Westmoreland gets going. The Miners’ top returning pass rusher recorded 7½ sacks a year ago and is the standout player on a defense that is deepest in the secondary.

Head coach Matt Rhule feels it’ll be a challenge for Raiola to identify UTEP’s different defensive coverages, but he knows what he wants to see out of the Husker offense on Saturday.

“I just want them to play well,” Rhule said. “I want the tape to look how it’s supposed to look; I want to play hard and play physical, I want to have clean football, I want to protect the football, I want to be aggressive and I want to block their pressures.”

When Raiola steps onto the Memorial Stadium turf for the first time in a regular season contest, there may be nerves that come with the territory. He’s trusting his training, which included many pressure situations on Nebraska’s practice field this spring and fall, to keep him grounded in the moment.

“When we go out to practice it doesn’t feel like a game for us; we’re just out there having fun, doing our assignments (to) the best of our ability,” Raiola said. “Just cutting it loose like we have been the whole time we’ve been here since January.”

It’ll be a new-look Nebraska offense that takes the field on Saturday with the same goals as always: taking care of the football, executing their assignments and finding a way into the end zone.

“We’re not going to go out there and reinvent the wheel; we’re not tricking anybody,” Rhule said. “We know what we’re doing, we’re going to go out there and do it and see what happens.”