Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola may want to start against Nebraska this Saturday, but his coaching staff has other plans.
Raiola filled in for Dante Moore on Sept. 26 when the star quarterback was knocked out of the game against USC. He completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards with two touchdowns in a thrilling 41-27 victory.
Unfortunately for Raiola, he was unable to sustain that momentum against UCLA. The former five-star recruit only completed 6 of 19 pass attempts for 43 yards with two interceptions. He was ultimately benched in favor of senior quarterback Brock Thomas.
“He wasn’t good enough today. I think he can acknowledge that. But we didn’t prepare him to be good enough today,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We didn’t put him in positions to have the success he needs to have. We need the best version of Dylan moving forward. Two weeks ago, he was phenomenal.”
Even though Raiola would love to start this Saturday against Nebraska, On3 is reporting that Thomas will get to run the first-team offense.
Thomas did give the Ducks a spark last weekend against the Bruins, completing 11 of 15 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown.
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Brutal turn of events for Raiola.
Just a few weeks ago, it seemed liked Raiola was destined to start in a “revenge game” against Nebraska. Now, he’s getting crushed by fans online.
“So it turns out cosplaying Mahomes doesn’t actually turn you into him,” one fan said.
“Raiola has to be one of the biggest recruiting flops in NCAA history,” a second fan declared.
“To think you left that school to be a back up to then only become the back up to the back up all while your old team is better without you,” another fan wrote on X.
Kickoff for the Nebraska-Oregon game is at 11 p.m. ET on FOX.
