After an offseason of investment around Dylan Raiola, Nebraska ready to show 'who we are' against Michigan

In between media responsibilities on Tuesday, Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola snuck in a lunch of steak and brussels sprouts. It's nice meal, sure. Most would be thrilled with that for a Friday evening out. But Raiola does crave a bit more.

"I don't eat a lot these days," Raiola said.

The 6-foot-3 Raiola, who is listed at 230 pounds, said he's lost about 15 pounds since last season. It's made a difference. He's had a run of at least seven yards in every game so far. Last year he did that only four times in 13 starts.

"He's very proud of it," Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said. "He had a spin move two weeks ago. He's worked very hard on his physical body."

Raiola had a solid freshman season. He threw for 2,819 yards and completed 67.1% of his passes. But he threw a lot of picks (13 TDs to 11 INTs) and didn't stretch the field often (6.9 YPA) as he adjusted to the college game.

This offseason Raiola immersed himself in new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen's system. Raiola, the son of long-time NFL center Dominic Raiola, had an early exposure and enjoyed the nerdier side of the sport; what his dad describes as grinding tape and schematic breakdowns. 

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Raiola, the No. 7 overall player in the 2024 class per 247Sports, entered Nebraska with an innate ability to read defenses and adjust on the fly. This offseason he earned the right to use those skills on down to down in Holdersen's system, so much so that Rhule said Raiola has more freedom as a sophomore to make checks and to set protection than almost any quarterback in the country.

It's working. Raiola has thrown for 829 yards and eight touchdowns so far against zero interceptions. His yards per attempt number is up to 8.8 and only 2.1% of his passes have been what PFF terms as "turnover-worthy" throws. He did so 3.8% of the time last year.

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"He's learned so much football it's coming easy to him," Rhule said. "He's not having to overprocess. The kid is very special in terms of his ability to recognize what he's seeing out there. To me to not give him that freedom would be like having a guy who can run and not running him."

Raiola is the leader of a 3-0 Nebraska team that will host No. 21 Michigan on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET on CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+ Premium) for a showdown to open Big Ten play. It's the type of game and opportunity that brought Raiola to Lincoln.

It's also why, despite a push from some other programs to get Raiola to consider the portal, he's back at Nebraska with a roster in part built around him.

The Huskers needed to make a jump

Rhule never knows if the numbers that are reported are 100% true. But if Ohio State did have a $20 million roster in 2024, Rhule estimates the Huskers' roster cost between one-third and a half as much as the Buckeyes.

That shifted this offseason. The Huskers hired Troy Dannen as athletic director in spring of 2024. He, along with Nebraska's collective, "doubled down" on football to compete.

"We needed to make a jump," Rhule said. "They made getting players and retaining players a real priority … and they got us what we needed to have a much more competitive roster."

Still, the end of the 2024 proved perilous. The Huskers lost five of their final six games to finish 6-6. They lost defensive coordinator Tony White to Florida State, and several key pieces of the team hopped in the portal immediately after the season.

A big priority for Rhule this offseason was to jumpstart the offense. The defense had been good for Rhule's first two seasons. The offense lagged considerably behind ranking 104th nationally in yards per play both years. Rhule, after hiring Holgersen, set out to fix that in the portal.

But first he needed to make sure his quarterback didn't go anywhere.

Teams from the SEC and beyond were reaching out to Raiola and his family, and sources across the country felt like his camp was listening ahead of the winter window. Dominic told CBS Sports leaving was never a real consideration for Raiola. After all, he's got a deep connection to the place as a legacy and with both his uncle (Donovan, Nebraska's O-line coach) and sister (Taylor) -- she moved to Mississippi State this summer -- on the staff.

But Rhule, who had been in a similar position with teams coming after him as a coach, did sit down with his freshman quarterback to make sure they were on the same page in the days leading up the portal's opening. He came away confident Raiola intended to finish what he started in Lincoln.

"I just had one authentic and long conversation with Dylan, and he made the decision," Rhule said. "Then I said, 'OK, let's go out and get the players you want and that I want (in order) to be the team we want to be moving forward.'"

Go to work they did.

Nebraska first pulled running back Emmitt Johnson away from the portal, emphasizing to the sophomore he could be a legitimate three-down back in Holgersen's system. That was true. He's run for 326 yards and four touchdowns in three games this year on 6.3 yards per carry.

The big areas the Huskers zeroed in on for improvement were receiver and offensive line.  

Nebraska targeted Kentucky wide receiver transfer Dane Key in the portal. The Huskers had hired his position coach, Daikiel Shorts, earlier in the offseason. But they still had to beat out the likes of Georgia and Ole Miss. It's paid off. Key leads Nebraska with 190 yards and three scores on 13 catches.

Rhule showed Raiola tape of Cal transfer Nyziah Hunter once he popped up in the portal. A freshman standout for the Golden Bears, Rhule just remembers Raiola saying, 'Dang' when he turned on Hunter's film. He became a must get. Hunter is third on the team with 11 catches for 163 yards and a score.

The offensive line also needed to take a step after ranking in the 60s nationally in both pressure rate and yards created per contact. So, the Huskers swung big -- and spent well into seven figures, per sources -- to sign a pair of four-star transfer offensive linemen: guard Rocco Spindler from Notre Dame and tackle Elijah Pritchett from Alabama.

Though Pritchett isn't starting -- the Huskers have played three different left tackles 59-plus snaps -- the O-line took a step, jumping to fifth nationally in pressure rate allowed and into the top 25 in yards created before contact in the run game.

"When you have a great quarterback, you want to put the pieces in front of him and pieces outside of him to make him really successful," Rhule said. 

Raiola and his family never went to Nebraska and demanded specific help. Raiola said it wouldn't have been the right thing to do. But he helped however he could in recruiting once the Huskers' personnel staff and Rhule identified priority portal players.

Rhule said his star QB never missed a transfer or recruiting dinner -- a wonder given the weight loss -- and played a huge role in helping the Huskers get the players they needed.

He was there to emphasize to targets that the high-powered offense the Huskers were selling could be real.

"There's so much fluff and stuff out there that doesn't go your way," Raiola said. "You just have to keep showing them you're authentic." 

Nebraska confident in return on investment

Dominic Raiola doesn't like to compare eras of Nebraska football.

Sure, he was a freshman on Tom Osborne's 1997 national title team and lost a total of seven games in four years with the Huskers. But this is a different team in a different time. He's proud his family is such a big part of Rhule's tenure with the Huskers.

But he hopes Nebraska can get to a point soon where a game against Michigan isn't considered momentous. It should just be one among many.

"Nebraska, if they're going the place they want to get to, then these games should become normal," Dominic said.

His son does, too.

He spent much of the offseason continually hearing comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, because of their similar looks and mannerisms. But at this point, after question after question about it, he'd much rather just talk about Nebraska's path back even thought he's on texting terms with the three-time Super Bowl champ. 

After all, it's what he came to Lincoln to do.

He passed on Georgia out of high school, stiff-arming an annual national title contender to build something. He did the same this offseason when several bluebloods came calling.

Saturday is when he hopes that his offseason of work -- and Nebraska's offseason of building around him -- shows up. Rhule does, too. It is one game among many. But it's also a chance for all the offseason investment to pay off.

"He put the investment and growth in all year long," Rhule said. "For us, this is a big moment. We're excited to show the team who we are and what we've done."