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Dylan Raiola injury update: Nebraska star leaves game after multiple hits on sack

Chandler Vesselsby: Chandler Vessels12 hours agoChandlerVessels
dyaln raiola
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola has left Saturday’s contest against USC due to injury. Raiola went down after a couple of Trojans defenders took him down in the third quarter on a sack where his ankle appeared to get twisted up beneath them.

He left the game and was replaced by backup TJ Lateef, who completed his only pass attempt on the following drive. Raiola had 91 yards passing and a touchdown at the time of his exit.

Nebraska led 14-6 at the time of Raiola’s injury but allowed USC to score a touchdown to tie the game at 14 all. The offense next took the field with Lateef again under center and Raiola standing on the sidelines with his helmet still on.

Lateef would go on to lead Nebraska to a field goal on the next drive as it went up 17-14 early in the fourth quarter. As of now, it appears the Cornhuskers may have to finish this contest without their starting QB.

Later following that drive, Jessica Coody of Huskers Radio Network reported that Raiola would not return. Entering this game, Raiola had thrown for 1,909 yards and 17 touchdowns to six interceptions. Nebraska just achieved bowl eligiblity last week when it defeated Northwestern by a score of 28-21.

Nebraska would go on to fall 21-17 against USC with Dylan Raiola sidelined due to injury. That dropped their season record to 6-3 (3-3 Big Ten).

Dylan Raiola injury update: Matt Rhule explains decision to hold out QB, trainers advice

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule provided further update on the injury to quarterback Dylan Raiola after he left Saturday’s loss to USC with injury. Speaking postgame, Rhule revealed that Raiola could have played, but he opted to keep him out at the advice of trainers.

The QB suffered an ankled injury late in the third quarter as TJ Lateef stepped in to replace him. Rhule gave more insight into the conversations on the sidelines in his postgame press conference.

“From a medical perspective, they were like, ‘He can’t run,’” Rhule said. “I just didn’t see the respectable thing to do to put a guy out there who can’t run. …Really at the end of the day, I just don’t think you can put a guy out there who can’t defend himself or protect himself. The trainers didn’t want him to go out there, but they didn’t say, ‘No, he can’t.’ They just said he shouldn’t be out there. I told Dylan, ‘I love you too much to ask you to play when you’re hurt like this.”

We’ll have to see where Raiola’s helath is heading into next week, but this is an injury that will be worth monitoring for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska has a game coming up against UCLA next Saturday.