The Michigan Wolverines defense will have its work cut out for them on Saturday afternoon when they face Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola.
Raiola has had an impressive start to his sophomore campaign, throwing for 829 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions with a 76.6 completion percentage.
“He’s a really good player, isn’t he? He’s been one for a long time, too. I thought he had a great high school career. He was highly rated,” interim Michigan head coach Biff Poggi said on Monday.
“I thought he played really well his first year in Nebraska. I think he’s very polished and very dangerous.”
Poggi’s right, Raiola was highly rated as a high school recruit, ranking as the No. 7 overall recruit and No. 2 overall quarterback in the 2024 class. Raiola initially committed to Ohio State before flipping to Nebraska. Raiola is the son of former Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola and is the godson of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
This season has been a much stronger start for Raiola than how he fared during his freshman season. Raiola threw 13 touchdowns last year but also threw 11 interceptions and had a total QBR of 63.8. Raiola’s QBR is 82.4 this season.
“Raiola is an elite player. You can tell he’s from a football family. His football IQ is really high, and his football EQ, emotional quotient, is really high,“ Poggi said. It’s going to be great to see two great quarterbacks (Raiola and Michigan’s Bryce Underwood) competing against two great defenses. It’s gonna be a really exciting game.”
Raiola is known to emulate Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. From Mahomes haircut to his pregame routine, Raiola seems to try to channel the KC QB.
Raiola and Mahomes have come to know each other and even train together.
“I know Dylan, I train with him in the offseason. He’s a great kid, a great football player,” Mahomes said in September 2024. “I think he is going to make his own stamp on the game and I think you’ve seen that early in his career.”
We’ll see if Raiola can continue his interception free and efficient season against the best defense he’s seen yet this year or if he’ll revert to his freshman form and have mixed results. Michigan and Nebraska play at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Lincoln at Memorial Stadium.
