Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola throws the ball towards Colorado on Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Picture/Rebecca S. Gratz)
The very first thing Dominic Raiola did when he discovered his son, Dylan, after Nebraska’s 28-10 win over Colorado on Saturday was remind him that the Raiola household continues to be undefeated towards the rival Buffaloes. These familial ties are central to explaining why Dylan, the top quarterback recruit within the Class of 2024, selected to play for a program that hasn’t had a profitable report since 2016.
His dad is a Cornhusker legend, and his uncle, Donovan, is the staff’s offensive line coach. Even so, it was removed from sure that Dylan would observe in his father’s footsteps. He was initially dedicated to Ohio State after which flipped to Georgia.
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It wasn’t till this previous December that Dylan revealed to his parents he was nonetheless fascinated by Nebraska. Quickly after, he dedicated to the Cornhuskers and coach Matt Rhule.
“It didn’t really feel actual on the time, if I’m being sincere,” Dylan told 247 Sports. “To have the ability to sit there and inform [Rhule] I wish to be a part of this and I consider in what he’s doing — it acquired emotional with my mother, dad, brother, my uncle was in there as nicely. You may inform it’s the proper match. It occurred on the proper time, and God’s time is ideal.”
Two video games into his true freshman season, Raiola has the Cornhuskers off to a 2-0 begin for the primary time since 2016 and is drawing comparisons to Patrick Mahomes. Raiola completed 23 of his 30 passes for 185 yards and a landing towards Colorado, engineering three landing drives as Nebraska scored the sport’s first 28 factors.
What a THROW by Dylan Raiola 😳@HuskerFootball pic.twitter.com/kXK1nPuir0
— FOX Faculty Soccer (@CFBONFOX) September 8, 2024
“I feel our staff, we knew what we had,” he said after the game. “Simply a whole lot of different individuals didn’t know what we had. That’s the perfect half about us believing, [keeping] every thing in-house and conserving exterior noise exterior.”
Raiola’s religion in God has been a foundational a part of his journey. Listed first in his Instagram bio is “Colossians 3:23,” a Bible verse that reads, “No matter you do, work at it with all of your coronary heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” and “AO1,” which stands for viewers of One.
Dominic recently told ESPN that Dylan felt God calling him to Nebraska to assist rebuild this system as an alternative of going to a national-title favourite.
“I’ll let you know what modified in his coronary heart,” Dominic mentioned. “He knew he had a unique sort of expertise. He advised us: ‘God has greater plans for me than simply going to Georgia and being the following five-star and being in line to win the nationwide title. God has completely different plans for me.’ And people plans have been to go to Nebraska and do one thing onerous.”
Nebraska’s Week 2 victory earned the Cornhuskers the No. 23 spot in Monday’s Associated Press college football poll. It’s the first time in 5 years the staff has been ranked.
With the hype and pleasure constructing, Dylan’s religion helps hold him grounded. His focus is on bringing glory to the Lord, not stats or awards or wins.
“The rationale why I play this sport, to start with, is I play for God,” he said in 2022. “My faith is first in every thing I do. With out God, I wouldn’t have the ability to do something I do now. He’s gifted me with abilities and skills. I feel if I don’t use them within the right method, that’s not honoring God. That’s my initially ‘why.’”
These feedback got here a number of months after Raiola chose to get baptized in October 2021, saying that making Jesus his Lord and Savior was the “finest choice of my life.”
I DECIDED🙏🏽 Greatest choice of my life, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, I’m Forgiven! #AboutThatAction #Wayfinder #REALMen https://t.co/xIhQEFtnNe
— Dylan Raiola (@RaiolaDylan) October 30, 2021
Raiola and Nebraska host Northern Iowa of their closing non-conference sport Saturday earlier than starting Huge Ten play. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the sport might be broadcast on the Huge Ten Community.
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