Joel Klatt Sends Strong Four-Word Message to Matt Rhule, Dylan Raiola Following Loss to Illinois
Friday night featured a brilliant top-25 matchup between the No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini and the No. 22 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Fighting Illini pulled off the upset with an impressive 31-24 win in overtime. Nebraska played well throughout the game but failed to finish strong and secure the win. Star freshman quarterback, Dylan Raiola had a decent performance, as he finished with 297 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.
Despite playing well, the Cornhuskers couldn’t keep Illinois at bay. It’s an unfortunate loss considering Nebraska put together three strong performances to begin the season 3-0. After the contest, Joel Klatt of Fox Sports sent a strong message to the now 3-1 Cornhuskers. Klatt first congratulated Illinois and head coach Brett Bielema for their big win over Nebraska. But Klatt couldn’t help but pinpoint the mistakes Raiola and Nebraska made on Friday night. The popular sports analyst only needed four words to perfectly summarize what he saw from the Cornhuskers, stating, “Handling success takes maturity.”
Growing pains should be expected considering Raiola is a true freshman. Any program utilizing a young quarterback like that is going to run into adversity. He made some brilliant plays on Friday night but they’re now being overlooked by the mistakes.
After having a solid first three quarters outside of his interception, the end of the game was just an utter disaster. The 19-year-old quarterback couldn’t get the ball moving for Nebraska in the fourth quarter or overtime, as he compiled just 39 passing yards, two fumbles, and negative 51 rushing yards. After Friday night’s loss, head coach Matt Rhule moves to a 55-51 career record in college football. The good news is that Nebraska should technically improve while Raiola continues to develop his game. But there is always a chance the star quarterback enters the transfer portal at some point in his career. The Cornhuskers will move on with a 3-1 record and will face off against the Purdue Boilermakers in their next contest. That’s a game Nebraska should be able to win and it’s a nice matchup for them to get back on track.
That might be exactly what Rhule and the Cornhuskers need right now. They have a couple of nice matchups in the coming weeks to help them prepare for a huge game against the Ohio State Buckeyes on October 26. There is plenty of time remaining in the season and with the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, Nebraska can certainly stay in the mix for the postseason. That’s especially true if Rhule can iron out the big mistakes from Raiola and the rest of the team.
