Greg McElroy breaks down early success from Dylan Raiola at Nebraska

Dylan Raiola is seventh in the Big Ten in passer rating entering Week 6. The six quarterbacks ahead of him are upperclassmen. Raiola’s a true freshman — not just any true freshman but the most high-profile true freshman quarterback in the country this season.

The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 3 quarterback in the 2024 cycle, Raiola is a former five-star prospect and Elite 11 finalist. Those high marks from his winding high school career have translated to Nebraska, where he’s established himself as the future of a historic Cornhuskers program that’s been starved of success for quite some time.

So it’s no surprise ESPN’s Greg McElroy highlighted Raiola while discussing the top freshmen of September Wednesday on his show.

“When he signed to Nebraska, there was a ton of fanfare and excitement, in large part due to his potential,” McElroy said. “Now, he is a big reason why Nebraska is off to a great start at 4-1 and looks like they’re poised to have their best season in nearly a decade. The last time the Huskers actually won more than five games was back in 2016. And here they are sitting at 4-1 the first month into the season.”

McElroy continued: “[Raiola’s] thrown for over 1,200 yards, nearly 250 a game. But what I love most is that, for a young player, the 9:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio is massive. He’s also been super efficient, completing north of 70% of his passes. So he’s really confident, he’s calm, and I think they’ve done a really good job on their staff of keeping things simple and manageable for him. They’re not putting too much on his plate, especially when you look at what they had at the position last year.

“Remember, this was a quarterback position last year that averaged just 136 yards passing a game and had a 52% completion rate. So the consistency that Raiola has given that position has taken Nebraska from a bottom dweller to a contender there in the Big Ten.”

Earlier this season, Raiola led the Huskers back to the AP Poll for the first time since 2019. He already has them sniffing bowl eligibility.

And, again, he’s just a true freshman.