LINCOLN — Dana Holgorsen has patted the helmets of many college quarterbacks in his career — including current NFL starter Geno Smith — but the Nebraska offensive coordinator found, in Dylan Raiola, a unique trait. “I’ve never been with a quarterback who is comfortable in the gun and can sit in pocket and be a drop-back passer,” Holgorsen said, “but also be able to get under center and make run-game checks and handle the run game from under center. He’s exceptional at it.
” At one point Thursday, Holgorsen pointed at his temple. Raiola’s got intellect, Holgorsen said. Perhaps a little bit of his dad and his uncle’s thoughts inside of his brain, too.
Dominic and Donovan Raiola are both former offensive linemen, and Donovan now coaches the pipeline. Into Dylan, Holgorsen said, they’ve instilled “the importance of being physical and tough and being able to run the football.” Dylan Raiola’s metronome ticks fast, too.
He could handle a super-fast tempo if Holgorsen, who comes from the Air Raid system, wanted to turn the dial up to 11 to overwhelm foes. Holgorsen paused for a half-second Thursday when I asked about NU’s between-play tempo. It remains a key question heading into Holgorsen and Raiola’s second year.
When teams have smart, strong-armed, comfortable quarterbacks, they tend to — at least until this most recent season — crank up the speed. Miami (Fla.) ran 71 plays per game with Cam Ward, for example.
Oregon ran 68.5 plays per game wit.