What is Nebraska's ceiling with Dylan Raiola out?

Nebraska football clinched bowl eligibility for the second straight year with a 28-21 victory over Northwestern in front of a jubilant Memorial Stadium on October 25. Still, the price to pay would be greatly increased.

The next Saturday, the emotion inside Lincoln was as dark as the sea of black that encompassed Memorial Stadium’s seats as the Husker faithful saw their prize quarterback, Dylan Raiola, struggle to move on the sideline with a lower leg injury, which he suffered in the third quarter against USC.

The five-star prospect was later diagnosed with a season-ending broken fibula on Sunday, giving the reins to four-star recruit TJ Lateef, who couldn’t do enough to keep the Cornhuskers afloat as the Trojans outscored them 15-3 in the final 17 minutes to come back and take down Nebraska 21-17, dropping the Huskers to 6-3 and 3-3 in the Big Ten.

Now with that disaster for fans of Big Red out of the way, it’s time for the program to look ahead to what Lateef can bring to the table.

Lateef came out of Orange Lutheran High School in Orange County, California, throwing for more than 6,500 passing yards and accounting for 66 total touchdowns in three seasons.

Orange Lutheran made the CIF Southern Section playoffs in Lateef’s last two seasons as the starter, including a semifinal appearance and a No. 13 national ranking in his senior year, so the potential is there.

Lateef, a pocket passer by nature, can make throws to all levels of the field and can be used as a dual-threat. He has also already completed 16 of 19 passes for 261 yards in a touchdown while rushing for 50 yards in two scores on 11 carries in three games when Raiola was either resting or injured.

As for what Lateef has for an arsenal of weapons, Jacory Barney Jr. and Nyziah Hunter are a pair of sophomore receivers who have combined for 41.2% of the team’s receiving yardage. Kentucky transfer Dane Key has also contributed with 314 receiving yards and five scores.

Luke Lindenmeyer is one of the best receiving tight ends in the Big Ten, having set career highs with his 26/286/2 receiving line. Lateef’s wide range of pass-catching weapons is the least of his problems.

The biggest problem is the offensive line that’ll be blocking for Lateef. Not only did Raiola go down against the Trojans, but left tackle Elijah Pritchett joined him with an ankle injury on the following series.

There’s hope Pritchett will return for Nebraska’s game against UCLA on Saturday, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be 100%. At the other tackle spot, Gunnar Gottula joined Teddy Prochazka on the season-ending injury list as both deal with knee ailments.

Elsewhere on the line, Turner Corcoran, who made his first start of the season against USC at right tackle, and Tyler Knaak, who finished that game at right tackle after Pritchett went down, are also banged up, per head coach Matt Rhule.

The banged-up tackles spell danger for Lateef, as there’s an outside chance Nebraska could be down to its sixth and seventh tackles. At least there’s a reprieve that none of Nebraska’s last three opponents, UCLA, Penn State and Iowa, are high-end pass-rushing teams.

However, the interior of the offensive line is not to be concerned about, as guards Henry Lutovsky and Rocco Spindler and center Justin Evans have started all nine games in 2025.

Of course, Lateef won’t need to be the centerpiece of the offense. He can easily rely on star running back Emmett Johnson, who’s only one of two FBS players and the only Power Four back with 1,000 rushing yards on the season. He’s also a valuable weapon out of the backfield, being tied for second on the Huskers with 33 receptions.

Johnson touched the ball a total of 60 times in the Huskers’ last two games, and that workload will be similar to what Rhule and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen will have to feed him if they want to succeed.

Overall, Lateef has been thrust into an undesirable situation that likely caps Nebraska’s ceiling at one win the rest of the way, but if he can navigate it and get his team a win or three down the stretch, the Husker fanbase will feel relieved that it’ll have a reliable option behind Raiola for 2026.

Owen Klein is a fourth-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ojk5092@psu.edu