In case you have been living under a college football rock, Oregon will be without their starting quarterback Dante Moore on Saturday when Nebraska travels to Eugene, OR. Before the season Moore was picked by many to be the top quarterback to be selected in next year’s draft but he was injured against USC.
This week Dan Lanning has said that it is an open competition to determine who will start against Nebraska.
Option 1: Dylan Raiola, played extremely well against USC after the Moore injury. Then
last week happened against UCLA. It is widely considered to be Raiola’s worst game of his career as he threw for 43 yards on 6/19 passing with two interceptions.
Oregon fans were licking their chops watching Raiola go against Portland State and thought they had the next big thing. What Nebraska fans kept on saying is that he looked and continues to look a lot like he did when he played at Nebraska and that goes for the UCLA game as well.
Now could Oregon choose to start Raiola and then he goes out and beats Nebraska? Absolutely. That is right up Nebraska’s alley.
Option 2: Brock Thomas relieved Raiola after his disastrous start and actually played pretty well. He threw for 156 yards and a touchdown against UCLA. He didn’t turn the ball over and that probably will work in his favor.
Option 3: Akili Smith Jr. Dan Lanning had the following to say about Smith Jr.:
“Absolutely, and Akili’s done a really good job and he’s probably the one that’s the most different from a from a package standpoint and things that you can carry and do different with Akili….But he has a really strong arm, been able to connect vertically on shots. Obviously, his feet become a weapon…And are a real tool for us as well. But yeah, he’s done a really good job.”
Now, Akili Smith has thrown only four passes all season and that was against Portland State.
The Verdict (or Prediction): It is my prediction that Oregon will start Brock Thomas and use Akili Smith in certain packages throughout the game. Nebraska will not be able to prepare itself for what it has not seen on game film. Maybe he will be used in the redzone. I will be surprised if we see Dylan Raiola. I wonder if Dan Lanning wonders how well Dylan will be ready mentally after having such a disastrous game against UCLA and then going up against his former team. It would be an emotionally charged matchup for sure.
SPORTS! SPORTS! JORTS! SPORTS! SPORTS!
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