Matt Rhule on Dylan Raiola: 'If he weathers the storm, he'll have so much experience'

Matt Rhule said that when he recruited Dylan Raiola, as well as fellow quarterback and classmate Daniel Kaelin, he emphasized the potential opportunity to play right away at Nebraska.

Raiola, a former five-star prospect and Elite 11 finalist, surely would have had to wait his turn at Georgia and Ohio State, the two other schools he committed to signing with the Cornhuskers.

But, as Rhule noted this week, “when you play early, everything’s not going to be a sunny day.”

“You learn how to handle all the different things that you see, and you have tough moments, and you overcome them,” the second-year Huskers head coach said. “So I think this is unbelievable, invaluable experience for Dylan. When it’s good, it’s good. And there’s been some tough moments, right? It’s like, you throw the pick-six [against UCLA], but he doesn’t quit. He goes back out and brings us back into the game.”

Raiola, making his ninth career start, found himself in a 20-7 hole early in the second half against the Bruins last week after his costly interception. Soon enough, though, he led a touchdown drive and set the stage for another before leaving the game with a contusion to his back and spine.

Raiola has been pressured on 32.2% of his dropbacks this season and sacked 18 times, according to according to Pro Football Focus. He misfired on a potential game-winning touchdown pass against then-No. 24 Illinois in Week 4. He threw a game-ending interception on the road at then-No. 4 Ohio State with a chance to orchestrate a game-winning drive in Week 9.

Raiola has thrown one touchdown and six interceptions over the last four games. The Huskers have a 1-3 record in that span, and a once-promising season now hangs in the balance.

After an impressive August and September, during which Raiola posted a head-turning 9:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio, he’s hit a bit of a freshman wall.

“This is the Big Ten. This is a whole new world, a whole different league,” Rhule said. “And every week, you have to be at your best. We haven’t been consistent enough. But I think for a young freshman quarterback, this is on the job training. This is on the job learning.”

Rhule continued: “This is not an excuse, this is not an excuse, but we’ve had three straight teams coming off a bye, going into our fourth one. We’ve seen so many different things. The third down packages people cook up for us … so you’re on the side, and Dylan’s having to compute it and learn it, as are the O-Linemen. And then in the second half, I thought we were better.

“So if you can just weather the storm as a young player, you say to yourself, ‘What am I supposed to be learning?’ And then you learn all these things.”

Rhule called upon his experience coaching the Carolina Panthers against Tom Brady. The Panthers kept bringing a Cover 0 look against Brady and got to him a couple times. But, by the third time, Brady caught on, signaled it and burned the defense.

“He has such a rolodex in his brain,” Rhule said. “I think Dylan’s building a rolodex that, while it’s frustrating right now, if he weathers the storm, he’ll have so much experience.

“And as things get better, he’ll be a unique player.”