Dylan Raiola looks solid at Georgia, but the Huskers are hanging on

Reading the tea papers about recruiting is always hit or miss, but for Nebraska football recruiting target Dylan Raiola, things appear to be clearer.

The good news is that Nebraska football recruiting has impressed Dylan Raiola enough that the Huskers are still technically in the running and contending. The bad news is that it feels like Matt Rhule and company have more than a hitter’s prospect at this point.

The 5-star quarterback recently sat out 247 SportsSteve Wiltfong shared where his recruiting stood and who was leading, and to many followers of Nebraska football recruiting, the words he uttered probably sounded like a pretty big disappointment. While he clearly has a lot of respect for what Rhule is trying to do in Lincoln, it certainly sounds like he’s sold on what Kirby Smart has already done.

– When I got back there, I saw all the coaches and everyone in the building, it was so refreshing to be there. I felt love from everyone. Being able to see their practice up close through the lens and being able to hold the script in my hand and sort of follow it was huge. Just understand the crime and see myself fit.”

When you compare those comments, especially about settling into the offense, to what he said about Rhule, it feels more like “good luck in your future endeavors” to Nebraska’s football recruiting efforts.

“Being able to sit down with coach (Matt) Rhule and understand his vision for this program and where he’s going with that program, and he’s shown that at Temple and Baylor and he’s going to win at Nebraska.”

Hard not to see that “he’ll win at Nebraska, just not with me,” right?

Nebraska football recruiting continues

If anyone wanted to see a silver lining in those comments, he’s still talking about the Cornhuskers. That’s quite an accomplishment when you’re talking about the literal top recruit in the 2024 class.

However, Nebraska football fans were hoping they would be the bellwether for the ball in this rivalry and not the runner-up. It’s still a possibility, but it doesn’t really seem like much. It’s a drastic change for a program that looked like a front-runner for a while.

One has to wonder how much of that was real and how much was false excitement surrounding Nebraska football recruiting.