Raiola Comes Off Bench to Lead Oregon Past Nebraska 17-14
Benched a week ago after a three-interception loss to UCLA, Dylan Raiola entered in the fourth quarter and threw the game-winning touchdown to Jamari Johnson with 28 seconds left, lifting Oregon to a 17-14 win over his former team Nebraska.
The night at Autzen
Dylan Raiola spent the first three quarters on the Oregon bench. He finished the night as the reason the Ducks won.
Raiola came off the bench in the fourth quarter and led Oregon to a 17-14 comeback win over Nebraska on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jamari Johnson with 28 seconds left to beat his former team.
Oregon trailed 14-6 entering the fourth quarter. Raiola, who did not start after being pulled from last week’s loss to UCLA, engineered two scoring drives: a 17-play march that ended in a field goal, then a 20-play drive capped by the touchdown to Johnson. Hudson Lewis converted the 2-point attempt to give the Ducks the three-point edge.
Raiola finished 11 of 18 for 59 yards and the touchdown. He was candid about the week that put him on the bench in the first place.
“(My game vs.) UCLA was very uncharacteristic,” Raiola said. “I felt horrible. I let these guys down. These guys put so much time in, these guys got futures in the league and they decided to come back and you have a performance like that.”
How the Ducks got here
Oregon turned to backup Brock Thomas to start against Nebraska after Raiola threw his third interception against UCLA in Week 6. Starter Dante Moore remains sidelined with a concussion. Thomas managed just 91 yards of offense through three quarters and threw an interception in the second half, prompting coach Dan Lanning to make the switch.
“A lot of people don’t necessarily get second chances,” Lanning said of Raiola. “Dylan got a second chance to go out there tonight and execute for us when he was ready and proud that he was able to do that.”
The win moved Oregon to 4-2 (2-1 Big Ten) and kept the Ducks’ slim College Football Playoff hopes alive. It also spared Oregon its first back-to-back regular-season losses since the 2020 season, and prevented the Ducks’ first game without a touchdown since the 2022 opener against Georgia.
Raiola started for Nebraska for two seasons before entering the transfer portal last spring. He downplayed the reunion angle afterward.
“This game was never about them,” Raiola said. “It was always about Oregon, it was always about us and us getting back on track.”
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today, the Register-Guard, and Sports Illustrated.
