Dylan Raiola injury update: Matt Rhule provides the latest on the Nebraska QB

In the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against UCLA, Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola went to the ground with an injury. He seemed to reach for his lower back and Matt Rhule had the latest on his QB after the game.

Raiola was scrambling to the 3-yard line on a broken play when he lowered his shoulder and took a hard hit. After limping off the field, he tried to get back in before collapsing again. As he did so, he grabbed his lower back and walked back to the sideline Heinrich Haarberg came to replace him.

In his post-match press conference, Rhule said that Raiola likely suffered a blow to the back that caused the injury. He had been cleared by doctors to go back on the field, but when he returned he felt pain again. That's why he ended up leaving and not coming back.

“The doctors cleared these guys, right?” Rhule said in his postgame press conference. “So I think when the doctor said he was cleared, I just saw him walk in. I wasn't going to say, 'Hey, let's get Dylan in here.' I think after he went through the tests, he ran out and then obviously felt the pain again and said, 'Hey, I can't do this.'”

At the time of his departure, Raiola was 14 of 27 through the air for 177 yards and a touchdown. However, he also threw a costly pick-six that gave UCLA a 20-7 lead early in the third quarter. The Bruins secured the 27-20 victory with a Haarberg interception in the final seconds at Memorial Stadium.

Raiola has started his college career impressively after arriving as a highly regarded recruit. Entering Saturday, he completed 66.1% of his passes for 1,744 yards and nine touchdowns after beating out Haarberg for the starting job in training camp.

Raiola arrived on campus this year as a five-star recruit Buford (Ga.) and the son of a former Nebraska standout Dominic Raiola. According to that, he was the No. 21 overall player and No. 3 quarterback as of the 2024 cycle On3 industry rankinga weighted average that takes into account all four major recruiting media companies.

Nebraska entered Saturday's game with a 5-3 record, but fell to 5-4 in the loss to UCLA after Haarberg's interception in the final seconds. Still, the Cornhuskers are just one win away from bowl eligibility, and Dylan Raiola knows it firsthand how much this success would mean.