Ryan Day discusses facing Nebraska QB, one-time Ohio State commit Dylan Raiola

Dylan Raiola attended four high schools. He committed to three college football programs, the first being Ohio State back in May 2022.

Raiola decommitted from the Buckeyes on Dec. 17 of that same year.

Then, on May 15, 2023, he pledged to Georgia. That commitment lasted about seven months before he flipped to Nebraska, where his father Dominic Raiola won a national championship as a redshirt and then the Rimington Trophy as a standout center while jumpstarting a career that saw him play 14 seasons for the NFL’s Detroit Lions.

Dylan Raiola is now making his mark with the Cornhuskers — as a true freshman starting quarterback who is one win away from giving the storied program its first bowl berth since the 2016 season.

That win will be hard to grab this week in Columbus, where Raiola and the Huskers — coming off a 56-7 road letdown against now-No. 13 Indiana — will face No. 4 Ohio State.

Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day was asked about both Raiola, his one-time commit, and, in general, quarterback movement at all levels of the sport.

“I think I heard a stat the other day that, of the starting quarterbacks in the Big Ten, maybe it was like 14 or something like that have been transfers,” said Day, who notably has Kansas State graduate transfer Will Howard leading his offense.

“So whether it’s decommitments or transferring, it’s part of the world that we live in right now. You just have to adapt to it. We try to make sure that we’re retaining as many of our guys as possible. That’s kind of the stability of our program and the culture of our program.”

While Raiola is less than a week removed from the worst game of his young Nebraska career — he threw three picks in the blowout loss to the Hoosiers — he’s impressed in Year 1.

Raiola, an Elite 11 finalist and the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 3 quarterback in the 2024 class, has completed 66.2% of his passes, throwing for 1,592 yards along the way. His touchdown-to-interception ratio, now 9:6, isn’t nearly as appealing as it was in September, but Raiola continues to flash his five-star potential.

His 5-2 Huskers will take on a hungry Ohio State team that’s also looking to bounce back. The Buckeyes were off in Week 8 after suffering a heartbreaking defeat to now-No. 1 Oregon the weekend prior.

Raiola will be in Ohio Stadium Saturday — starting for Nebraska, not waiting his turn at Ohio State.

“When it comes to Dylan, I think he’s got an opportunity to be a great player,” Day said Tuesday. “I think he’s already playing at a high level. He’s got a lot of talent, and he’s got a great family.”