Dylan Raiola’s sophomore season has come to a close.
The starting quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers was injured early in the third quarter against the No. 23 USC Trojans on Saturday. He would not return to the game.
Husker coach Matt Rhule confirmed Sunday that sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola will miss the remainder of the 2025 season with a lower leg injury.
A report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel indicates Raiola suffered a broken fibula. Typical recovery time for such an injury is six to eight weeks.
“Dylan wanted to play,” Rhule said after the game on Saturday. “From a medical perspective, they said he can’t run. He said I can move around, but I can’t run, and I didn’t think it was the respectable thing to do to put a guy out there who can’t run.”
Raiola has started every game for Nebraska since setting foot on campus in 2024. As a true freshman, Raiola set class records for passing yards (2,819) and completion percentage (67.1). He helped the Huskers to a bowl game for the first time since 2016.
His 2025 campaign finishes with him throwing for 2,000 yards, completing 72.4% of his passes. He threw for 18 touchdowns and had six interceptions.
Nationally, Raiola is fourth for completion percentage, tied for 19th for passing touchdowns, and 36th for passing yards.
In his two seasons in Lincoln, Raiola has guided the Huskers to a 13-8 record. Raiola was the first Husker quarterback to start every game of a season since Tanner Lee did so in 2017.
With Raiola out, the Huskers now turn to true freshman TJ Lateef. While expectations may change with the California native under center, he stepped in and played admirably for the final two quarters against USC, completing 5-of-7 passes for seven yards while running six times for 18 yards.
” I think TJ has a bright, bright, bright future and he’s going to do a lot of good things,” Rhule said.
Lateef quarterbacked the Huskers for 24 snaps in the second half. Of those, he handed the ball off 11 times. As he steps into the starter role, expect a heavier dose of Emmett Johnson, Nebraska’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Devine Ozigbo in 2018, and the rest of the running back room.
In appearances against Akron and Houston Christian, Lateef displayed a strong arm and impressive rushing skills. He was 6-of-7 for 128 yards against the Zips and 5-of-5 for 126 yards and a touchdown against the Huskies. He rushed for 32 yards and a pair of scores across those games.
A four-star prospect from Orange Lutheran High School in California. Lateef threw for more than 6,500 yards in his final three seasons, accounting for 66 total touchdowns while helping the Lancers to back-to-back trips to the CIF Southern Section playoffs, including a semifinal appearance as a senior.
The biggest impact of losing Raiola is likely to come from how the offense operates. Coaches have raved about his ability to change plays and move protection pre-snap. This isn’t to say that Lateef or another Husker quarterback can’t, but that is clearly the part that makes Raiola special.
“He did all the things in practice, we had to go to the wrist band, you know some of the verbiage, all that stuff, he doesn’t get as many reps at it,” Rhule said. “On that one drive in the red zone, the play we fumbled the snap, I think we would’ve walked in on the screen. We had a great play for zero call.
“He did a good job. I had to call a time-out one other time, where we were just a bit discombobulated on how we were lined up. So you know your first time playing in that kind of situation, with that crowd and that atmosphere. I thought he did admirably.”
From a physical standpoint, Lateef is two inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than Raiola. The freshman is much more of a willing runner, though his work against USC showed a young player with a game moving quickly in front of him. Lateef fumbled on his first run of the game and had other issues with snaps and footwork.
“It just goes back to practice and all of the stuff I have to do during practice,” Lateef said. “At the end of the day, I have to play better.”
Lateef’s first opportunity to play better will be back in Los Angeles. Nebraska sits at 6-3 ahead of a Saturday night affair at UCLA. Just days after a two-year extension for Rhule and program momentum, the Huskers are hoping to stop a late-season slide through November.
Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.
Nebraska Football 2025 Schedule
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