There’s a version of this story where Dylan Raiola is Ohio State’s starting quarterback right now.
On May 9, 2022, the five-star quarterback committed to the Buckeyes. By December of that same year, he had decommitted. He then pledged to Georgia in May 2023 before flipping to Nebraska just before signing day, where his father, Dominic, had played and his uncle was on the coaching staff.
After two seasons in Lincoln, he transferred to Oregon in January.
Now, with Ohio State’s own starting quarterback
out for the season and Oregon’s starter, Dante Moore, done after a concussion, Raiola walks into Ohio Stadium on Saturday as the Ducks’ quarterback.
The Buckeyes’ defense, coming off their worst performance in two years, needs to make sure his next trip to Columbus goes about as well as the last one.
We’ve seen this before
Raiola has played at the Shoe once already. On Oct. 26, 2024, as a true freshman at Nebraska, he gave the eventual national champions a real scare.
But he also struggled. Raiola went 21-of-32 for just 152 yards with no touchdowns and an interception, and Nebraska couldn’t trust him with much more than screens by the fourth quarter. The game ended when he threw an interception on third-and-19 with 1:18 left, sealing a 21-17 Ohio State win.
Afterward, he called Buckeye fans “disrespectful” for throwing bottles onto the field. Safe to say he won’t get a warm welcome this weekend either.
That game also showed the version of Raiola Ohio State wants to see. A quarterback who got uncomfortable, couldn’t push the ball down the field and made a critical mistake at the end.
The good Raiola and the bad Raiola
Raiola’s 2026 season has looked a lot like his career, some excellent games and some really rough ones.
When he’s comfortable, he can be dangerous. He came off the bench at USC after Moore went down and went 19-of-25 for 289 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-27 win.
Last Saturday, he had his best game of the season against Northwestern, going 22-of-31 for 336 yards and three touchdowns. Ryan Day noted this week that Raiola has “played a lot of football” and has “a strong arm.”
But when things go wrong, they can go very wrong. In his first official start against UCLA, Raiola went 6-of-19 for 43 yards with two interceptions and a fumble before getting benched in a 17-15 loss.
Oregon started third-stringer Brock Thomas against Nebraska the following week, and Raiola threw for just 59 yards in that game. At Illinois, he threw for 246 yards on 41 attempts but didn’t throw a touchdown in a 21-10 loss.
The common thread in those struggles is that defenses made Raiola into a pocket passer, not a scrambler. He has negative rushing yards this season, and he was sacked 27 times in each of his two seasons at Nebraska.
When defenses get pressure and take away his first read, he tends to hold the ball or force throws. When he gets time and clean looks, he can pick a defense apart.
What Ohio State’s defense has to do
The blueprint is pretty clear, and it starts with fixing what went wrong against USC.
First, Ohio State has to get pressure. That has been the defense’s biggest weakness all season, and Jayden Maiava had all the time in the world last week, throwing for 222 yards on 22 attempts. Raiola is even more vulnerable to pressure, so this is the week the pass rush has to show up.
Kenyatta Jackson Jr. has 20 pressures this season, and getting Khary Wilder back should help. Ohio State doesn’t need eight sacks. But they need to make Raiola uncomfortable early and often, and force him off his spot.
Second, stop the run and make Oregon one dimensional.
The Ducks will be without their top running back, Jordon Davison. If Ohio State’s front plays like it did against Iowa, Maryland and Indiana, Oregon will have to put the game on Raiola’s shoulders, and that’s exactly where Ohio State wants it.
Third, eliminate the explosive plays.
USC beat Ohio State with a 69-yard screen on the second snap and a 70-yard catch and run in the second half. Oregon has the receivers to do the same thing, with Dakorien Moore coming off seven catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns against Northwestern and Evan Stewart giving Raiola another dangerous target.
Ohio State has to tackle, take good angles and make Oregon earn every yard. Getting Jay Timmons back in the secondary should make a big difference there.
Finally, Ohio State has to be ready to capitalize when Raiola makes mistakes.
Against UCLA, he turned it over three times. In Columbus in 2024, he threw a game sealing interception. If the Buckeyes can get him rattled, those chances will come.
Raiola could have been Ohio State’s quarterback. On Saturday, Ohio State’s defense gets the chance to make sure he leaves Columbus disappointed again.
