Though a serious injury and his team’s late-season slide threw him out of the spotlight in the final weeks of the 2025 season, few college football players command quite as much attention as Dylan Raiola.
The Nebraska quarterback was a heralded prospect coming out of high school, a five-star recruit who had the potential to lead the proud program back to national championship contention. He’s got a level of name recognition, as well, as the son of former All-American and NFL offensive lineman Dominic Raiola.
Perhaps most notably, Raiola has raised eyebrows for his perceived and occasionally contrived similarities to Patrick Mahomes, from his jersey number to his hairstyle to his pregame warmup routine.
On Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Cornhuskers will be wrapping up their 2025 season with a matchup against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.
They’ll be entering that game, however, without one of their best players (and undeniably their most famous one).
Here’s what you need to know about Raiola’s status for the game:
Is Dylan Raiola playing in the bowl game?
Raiola will not be playing for Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl against Utah.
The sophomore quarterback has missed each of his team’s final three regular-season games after leaving the Cornhuskers’ Nov. 1 loss to USC with what was later diagnosed as a broken fibula. Raiola underwent surgery on the season-ending injury four days later.
As it turned out, that USC loss was likely the last time Raiola will take the field for Nebraska. Earlier this month, Raiola announced that he intends to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2.
He’ll finish his Nebraska career with 4,819 yards, 31 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while completing 69.1% of his passes.
Is Dylan Raiola hurt?
Yes, Raiola is recovering from surgery that tended to a broken fibula in his right leg that ended his 2025 season after nine games.
Raiola suffered the injury in the third quarter of a 21-17 loss to USC on Nov. 1, when he was sacked and lost a fumble.
“Successful surgery!” Raiola wrote in a Nov. 5 post on Instagram, along with a picture of him in a hospital bed. “Thank y’all for the constant love and support!! The road back starts now! God’s got it written!!”
Who is Nebraska’s backup quarterback?
With Raiola unavailable and soon to be out of the program, Nebraska will start TJ Lateef at quarterback against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.
It will be the fourth start of the season for Lateef, a freshman who was a four-star recruit in the 2025 class. In his previous three starts filling in for Raiola, he completed 56.6% of his passes for 461 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, along with 48 rushing yards and a touchdown. Nebraska went 1-2 in those games.
Husker game time today
Nebraska’s Las Vegas Bowl matchup against Utah will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT) on Wednesday, Dec. 31 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
What channel is the Nebraska game on?
Nebraska and Utah’s Las Vegas Bowl matchup will air on ESPN.