Dylan Raiola injury update: Report reveals status ahead of bye week, USC game

Nebraska freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola is expected to be good to go for next Saturday’s game against USC, according to ESPN insider Pete Thamel.

Raiola was injured this past weekend against UCLA and left the game in the fourth quarter. The Cornhuskers ended up falling 27-20.

Thamel shared the injury update on Dylan Raiola Monday afternoon on Twitter.

“Sources: Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola is expected to be healthy to return for Nebraska’s next game, which is at USC on Nov. 16,” Thamel posted. The scans on Raiola’s back issue came back clear after he left the UCLA game in the fourth quarter on Saturday.”

Dylan Raiola was 14 of 27 passing for 177 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception prior to leaving the game. He was replaced by Heinrich Haarberg, who completed 2 of 7 passes for 32 yards and an interception.

Nebraska has dropped three games after getting off to a 5-1 start.

Following the loss to UCLA, Matt Rhule provided an injury update on Dylan Raiola, who took a big-time hit during the fourth quarter and reached for his lower back afterwards.

Raiola initially returned to action after getting checked out on the sideline but then felt more pain and left the game for good.

“The doctors clear those guys, right?” Rhule said in his postgame press conference. “So, I think once the doctor said he was cleared – I just saw him running in. I wasn’t part of anything saying, ‘Hey, let’s get Dylan in here.’ I think once he went through whatever testing they had, he went to run out and then obviously, just felt the pain again and said, ‘Hey, I can’t do this.’”

Raiola has been impressive to start his college career after arriving as a highly rated recruit. Entering Saturday, he completed 66.1% of his passes for 1,744 yards and nine touchdowns after beating Haarberg out for the starting job during training camp.

Raiola arrived on campus this year as a five-star recruit out of Buford (Ga.) and the son of former Nebraska standout Dominic Raiola. He was the No. 21 overall player and No. 3-ranked quarterback from the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.