Dylan Raiola injury update: Matt Rhule shares latest on Nebraska QB after bye week

Following their week off, Matt Rhule opened his press conference today with news on the status of Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola.

Rhule said on Monday that Raiola, who has been dealing with a back injury from their last outing, will attempt to practice on Tuesday. The Cornhuskers will also be working with Heinrich Haarberg and Daniel Kaelin, as there is a chance that Raiola be unavailable at USC on Saturday.

“Alright, Dylan will try to practice tomorrow. We’ll see where he’s at,” Rhule began at the podium. “We’ll get both him and Heinrich ready.”

“I think it’s just a possibility, right? I mean, we’re getting him, Danny, and Heinrich all ready,” said Rhule. “You know, I’ll know more. We’re not practicing (today). We practiced last night, you know – not really much of a practice.”

Raiola did not practice over the bye week due to the injury that he had in the fourth quarter against UCLA. It’s also unclear if he would have been ready to go for this past weekend had Nebraska actually had a game.

“I don’t know that. I mean, we didn’t take the approach to try to get him ready, you know. So I can’t say that,” Rhule said.

Raiola has been the starter this season for Nebraska in what has been a decent year for the former five-star and true freshman in Lincoln. He is 176-272 (64.7%) in passing for 1,921 yards, 10 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. However, from October on has been a struggle for him. He has been 76-130 (58.5%) for 174.3 yards per game with only one passing touchdown and six of his picks. The ‘Huskers are 1-3 in those four games since, including the three losses coming consecutively as the team is still one win shy of bowl eligibility after a start at 5-1.

If he can’t go, Haarberg and Kaelin will be the options for Nebraska’s QB1. Haarberg has made six appearances as the backup this fall, including the end of the loss to the Bruins in place of Raiola, and put up a stat line of 10-17 (58.8%) for 101 yards and a pick. Kaelin has yet to play this season as a true freshman at QB3.

Raiola still has five days to be ready for kickoff in The Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Still, tomorrow’s practice will determine a lot in if he is able to play this weekend against the Trojans.

“I’ll know after Tuesday’s practice if he can play or not,” said Rhule.