The last time Husker fans saw their true freshman quarterback play at home, he was sacked three times in four games and lost one game in overtime.

Dylan Raiola faced real adversity for the first time in his college career in the loss to Illinois. He handled himself well the entire game and didn’t look like a rookie except for a couple of fumbles that the Huskers recovered. However, as the game went into overtime, his inexperience began to show.

The Huskers had one of the most disastrous offensive possessions in overtime you’ve ever seen. Admittedly, it wasn’t entirely his fault that Raiola was sacked three times in four games. The offensive line couldn’t counter the pressure that was put on him. However, a more experienced quarterback likely would have recognized some of these attacks and developed a more ideal protection package.

These mistakes led to the Huskers’ first loss of the season. For a while it seemed as if the end of this game was spilling over into the next. The fact that the offense scored zero points in the first half against Purdue was a bad sign. Although the missed three field goals had nothing to do with Raiola, he still failed to get them into the end zone.

But in the second half against the Boilermakers, Railoa showed maturity and poise. He led his team in three consecutive touchdown drives, putting the game completely out of reach. After halftime, he pulled his team out of the offensive crisis and showed enough control of the offense to rally his teammates.

A lot has happened since Husker fans were last able to watch their team play at home and see their freshman quarterback running for his life. But Raiola has given fans plenty of reasons to remain optimistic about the future of the program while he takes center stage.

There will likely be more adversity against Rutgers this week. The Scarlet Knights are a defensive-minded team that will look to take advantage of the fact that their opponent’s quarterback has only started five games in his career. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has been impressed with Raiola so far, which also means he’s prepared for what he can do. Don’t be surprised if Schiano applies pressure like Illinois did.

“The command he has over their offense is good at any level, but for a freshman it’s unmatched,” Schiano said. “He’s a very gifted athlete, you know, he’s big, he’s mobile. He can throw on the move, he can throw from the pocket. There’s not much this guy can’t do, but that’s exactly why he was such a highly recruited quarterback, right? He has all the tools.”

That sounds like a coach who has a lot of respect for his opponent, and Schiano’s defense has plenty of experience giving talented quarterbacks problems. Don’t be surprised if more adversity hits Raiola on Saturday. But the young quarterback has shown he can handle it.

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