Dylan Raiola enters matchup vs. Colorado with 'tremendous amount of respect' for Shedeur Sanders

After his star-turned debut on Saturday in a win for Nebraska, freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola will go toe-to-toe with one of the best quarterbacks in the sport when the Cornhuskers face Colorado in a rivalry matchup.

And Raiola has the utmost respect for not only what Shedeur Sanders can do throwing the ball and marshaling and offense, but how he carries himself as a focal point of college football. For all that they might be rivals on the field this weekend, Raiola evidently admires plenty of what Sanders has done and is doing.

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“Yeah I’ve never met him before, but I’ve watched him the past couple years and tremendous amount of respect for that guy,” Raiola said. What he has to deal with, with everything that comes with being a Sanders, I just have a lot of respect, how he’s handled that. And I think he’s an elite-level quarterback. And he’s going to give us everything that we want and yeah, we’ve just got to prepare.”

In Colorado’s season-opening win on Thursday, Sanders went 26-of-34 passing for 445 yards and four touchdowns, plus an interception. He was needed to again shoulder the bulk of the offensive load as Colorado’s run game floundered to 2.6 yards per carry on the evening. Yet another stat sheet-stuffing performance for a quarterback many expect to be taken in the first round if not the Top 10 of the 2025 NFL Draft.

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And Raiola looked sharp for Nebraska in his collegiate debut. He was a clean 19-of-27 for 238 yards and two touchdowns as the Cornhuskers rolled to a ho-hum season-opening win.

Which all sets the table for a top-shelf quarterback showdown on Saturday in Lincoln.

“First round quarterback, the whole nine. So, respect him a lot, excited to compete,” Raiola said. 

Raiola reflected on his first collegiate start

After some early jitters — which Raiola quickly overcame — he finished with a clean passing line of 19-of-27 for 238 yards and two touchdowns. And already playing the part leader at his young age, Raiola made sure to heap credit on his teammates and run game.

“I think about the third drive,” Raiola said postgame of when he settled in, “first and second was really a lot of adrenaline and our script. But other than that we settled in and my running game took over and did a great job with that.”

The realization that he would be the Nebraska starting quarterback didn’t quite set in with Raiola until shortly before arriving at Memorial Stadium. And as the son and nephew of Nebraska legends, the meaning of being the starting quarterback for the Cornhuskers hit squarely for Raiola.

“Just started on the bus drive over here,” Raiola said. “Got heavy on me. Just so thankful and grateful for everything my parents have sacrificed and everybody that’s been part of this journey so just very fortunate.”