David Pollack reveals what Dylan Raiola needs to improve on in 2025

As a freshman in 2024, Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola flashed what made him a five-star recruit. There was plenty of room for growth there, too, and if he can take a step forward as a sophomore in 2025 the Cornhuskers have a shot to become competitive in the Big Ten.

Ahead of the season, analyst David Pollack broke down what Raiola’s biggest issue was on See Ball Get Ball. He needs to find a way to prevent negative plays. If he can do that in a new offense, then there’s a good chance that Nebraska is a major threat.

“To me, watching him a year ago, the negative plays,” David Pollack said. “Got to get those out of the equation. I think about OT versus Illinois, and just continuing to go backwards and trying to make plays, and just year two. Dana Holgorsen, by the way, I think helps.”

Dana Holgorsen comes from the Air Raid tree and has been a longtime head coach, first for West Virginia and more recently for Houston. He’d take over as the offensive coordinator in November of 2024 and now he’s going to hold that role moving forward. He brings that Air Raid offense with him, which should make things simpler for a young quarterback who is trying to process information quickly and make plays.

“Another year with him now because he came in last year through the system. Dana has always been very simplistic. He’s always loved Red Bulls and he drinks like 30 a day,” Pollack said. “And his call sheet is like this [making a small gesture with hands] big. I can relate to that big. That’s how big it is. It’s not very big. He’s not going to go trick you. He’s going to master a few things and do them really, really well.”

As a freshman, Dylan Raiola completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 2,819 yards and 13 touchdowns. However, he did have 11 interceptions. That, along with other mistakes like taking bad sacks against Illinois, which David Pollack pointed out, proved costly.

Matt Rhule sees a ‘dynamic duo’ between Dylan Raiola, Dana Holgorsen

This offseason, Matt Rhule has acknowledged where Dylan Raiola struggled. In particular, he emphasized that those lows and mistakes could snowball, but that his young quarterback is growing.

“He’s always been a tremendous worker, I think when you’re a young player, you can be emotional. When things are great, you’re great. When things get bad, sometimes you kind of get quiet. You get introverted. You start to get frustrated,” Rhule said.

“Actually, he and I were together in the cafeteria today, we actually had this exact conversation. We had the UCLA game on TV. And he was like, ‘Man, it was 13-7 at the half.’ Then we came out (of halftime) and he threw a pick-six. We talked about how far he’s come. To me, it’s not about his highs being any higher. It’s about his lows not being so low. It’s the same for our whole team. What I’ve loved about Dylan is the consistency he’s shown and bought into. He’s the same guy every day. He’s holding people accountable, starting with himself.”

Now, with Dana Holgorsen in place, Matt Rhule is excited about the offense. With the combination of Holgorsen and Raiola, he thinks that Nebraska could end up having a special offense.

“His body looks great,” Rhule said. “And he and Dana [Holgorsen], I think are going to make a dynamic duo. I think we have a chance to be really special on offense.”