Nebraska Turns to Freshman Dylan Raiola as Starting QB

© Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are going to give freshman Dylan Raiola the reins as starting quarterback for the 2024 season. Head coach Matt Ruhle made the announcement on Aug 21. Raiola takes the place of last season's starter Jeff Sims, who chose to enter the Transfer Portal.

Raiola was in competition with Heinrich Haarberg for the starting role. Nebraska has four other quarterbacks on its roster, yet it mainly came down to Raiola and Haarberg. Raiola was listed as a five-star recruit by On3. He originally committed to Georgia, but flipped his commitment and will now roam the field for the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska Special to Raiola

Nebraska finished 5-7 in Ruhle's first season in Lincoln, Neb. He'll not only look for steady production from Raiola but running back Emmitt Johnson, too. Raiola, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound redshirt freshman from Buford, Ga., led his high school team to the state playoff quarterfinals.

Why did he choose Nebraska? Raiola talked about it a few months ago in an interview.

“I wanted to do something different,” he said on the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast. “I think it’s normal for the five-star guys to go to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson—which they can do all that. But I think having the legacy my dad left here. Name’s in the stadium, so much history in this place."

Dominic Raiola, Dylan’s father, was a Nebraska center who was a redshirt freshman on the 1997 national championship team. He won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center in 2000.

Nebraska opens its season on Aug. 31 by hosting UTEP.

Other Schools Name QBs

As the college football season is just a couple of days away from starting, many teams, like Nebraska, are declaring who will be their starting quarterbacks as well. The Duke Blue Devils. Arizona State Sun Devils and South Carolina Gamecocks have followed suit.

Texas transfer Maalik Murphy gets the nod at Duke. Murphy filled in for Longhorns starting quarterback Quinn Ewers in two games last season, winning both of them. But Murphy knew that he wasn’t going to get more playing time in Austin. Behind Ewers is standout QB Arch Manning, giving Texas a powerful one-two punch.

Murphy will now lead first-year Duke head coach Manny Diaz’s offense. College football fans know that Diaz also spent time as a coordinator with Texas in his career, but Diaz took over at Duke after coaching at Penn State.

For his new role, Murphy beat out sophomore Grayson Loftis. Loftis started five games last season, taking the spot for injured starter Riley Leonard. Leonard didn’t return to the Blue Devils, choosing to take the Transfer Portal to Notre Dame.

Arizona State has made redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt their starting QB as the Sun Devils will face Wyoming in their opener. Leavitt beat out Jeff Sims, who transferred in after playing at Georgia Tech and Nebraska.

Leavitt played in four games at Michigan State last season, where he completed 15-of-23 passes for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns.  

According to ESPN college football reporter Pete Thamel, head coach Kenny Dillingham wanted to have consistency and versatility at quarterback. He must have seen that in Leavitt’s play during fall practices.

LaNorris Sellers beat out former Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford for the starting job at South Carolina. Head coach Shane Beamer made the announcement on Aug. 20.

Sellers, a redshirt freshman from Florence, S.C., will lead the Gamecocks' offense in their opener against Old Dominion. Ashford will serve as the backup.

Last season, Sellers backed up Spencer Rattler, but Rattler has moved on to the NFL, giving space for Sellers to show off his running and passing skills. On3 reported Sellers, a 6-foot-3, 242-pounder, appeared in three games while keeping his redshirt status.