Matt Rhule explains decision to start Dylan Raiola: ‘He’s a special talent’

On Wednesday, the Nebraska football program announced a move that many people expected naming Dylan Raiola the starter for the season opener against UTEP on August 31.

Nebraska football fans rejoiced. The former five-star quarterback was projected to start the day he flipped his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska football, but it was still good to see him earn the starting job.

Make no mistake, Matt Rhule made him work for it. Heinrich Haarberg isn’t all that accomplished, but he won five games last season as a starter and Rhule talked about how he improved his accuracy in an interview with the Husker Radio Network on Wednesday night.

However, Rhule said that Dylan Raiola was “special” and he explained more in-depth why Raiola will start for the Huskers against UTEP.

“I think Dylan is a special talent,” Rhule said. “He’s got a great arm. He’s worked really hard at his timing with his feet, he’s protected the ball, he’s aggressive in the right ways. So, we’re excited to see him play. He’s still a rookie; there’s a lot of things he needs to learn. But I think each day he’ll be a little bit better than the last day…

“To me, this is like the first step in a long, beautiful journey.”

What Dylan Raiola needs to do as Nebraska football starting QB

It stood out to me that Raiola has “protected the ball.” We all know that the Huskers need their quarterback to do that — first and foremost — after the disaster that was last season.

I believe Raiola can throw for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdown passes. He’ll probably complete well over 60 percent of his passes, but the stat I care about is turnovers. If that number (giveaways) is below 10, Nebraska football will win 8-9 games this year, minimum.

Also, don’t be surprised to see Heinrich Haarberg playing some wildcat quarterback and maybe at some point, he’ll even throw another option-belly pass.

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