Dylan Raiola was the hero for Oregon football in Week 4 when Dante Moore went down against Southern California, with the Nebraska transfer leading the Ducks to a Big Ten road win.
Two weeks later, Raiola was benched in his first start for the Ducks.
Dan Lanning benched Raiola in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game vs. UCLA at Autzen Stadium amid the Ducks' offensive struggles. Raiola was 6-of-19 passing for 43 yards with two interceptions. He also lost a fumble.
Raiola was replaced by Oregon backup quarterback Brock Thomas as the Ducks' offense came out onto the field at the 13:31 mark of the fourth quarter. Thomas would also fumble the ball at the end
of that series on a quarterback keeper on fourth-and-1, resulting in the Ducks' sixth turnover of the afternoon.
Brock Thomas comes in at QB for Oregon. pic.twitter.com/EMcssQsBQ5
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 10, 2026
Raiola earned the start on Saturday vs. the Bruins when Moore was ruled out on Oregon's initial Big Ten player availability report on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Moore, of course, sustained a concussion against the Trojans after taking a hit from USC linebacker Desman Stephens II.
In relief of Moore against UCS, Raiola threw for 289 passing yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, to move Oregon to 3-1 on the season. Oregon is currently trailing UCLA at home in the fourth quarter at the time of this publication.
This story will be updated.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why was Dylan Raiola benched vs UCLA? Oregon QB struggling with turnovers
