Shedeur Sanders, Colorado a great measuring stick for Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola

During an interview session with local media earlier this week, Nebraska linebacker Mikai Gbayor answered a series of questions about the challenge his unit will face when the Cornhuskers welcome Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders to Memorial Stadium for a highly anticipated rivalry game on Saturday night. 

Gbayor, whose five tackles in a Week 1 win over UTEP were tied for the team high, handled the line of questioning fairly diplomatically. He said all the right things about Nebraska’s players remaining focused on themselves and their defensive keys regardless of who leads the opposing offense — in this case, one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country and a likely first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The only time Gbayor bristled was when a reporter asked if practicing against Nebraska’s own quarterback phenom, five-star freshman Dylan Raiola, has helped the defense prepare for someone of Shedeur Sanders’ ilk.

“You can’t compare Dylan and Shedeur Sanders,” Gbayor said. “Don’t do that. Dylan is a different man, the way he plays, the way he goes out there and attacks.”

“How are they different?” the reporter quickly replied. 

“Dylan is a dog,” Gbayor said. “Just know that. You’ll see on Saturday. I put all my trust in him and this team and the guys who [are] blocking for him.”

Despite Gbayor’s pleas, comparisons between Shedeur Sanders and Raiola are inevitable before, during and after what is arguably the most anticipated quarterback duel of the young season, a showdown between one of the unquestioned faces of the sport and a player who, depending on how the coming weeks and months unfold, could develop into that kind of luminary presence for years to come, especially if the Cornhuskers continue their upward trajectory under second-year head coach Matt Rhule. More than a half-dozen NFL scouts and personnel are expected to attend Saturday’s game in Lincoln, where a ravenous Nebraska fan base is brimming with anticipation regarding what this year’s team might accomplish, and so much of that optimism and potential falls squarely on the shoulders of Raiola — just as Shedeur Sanders and his father, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, helped the Buffaloes reimagine what is possible seemingly overnight.

“I’ve never met him before,” Raiola said earlier this week. “But I’ve watched him the past couple years. Tremendous amount of respect for that guy. What he has to deal with, with everything that comes with being a Sanders, I just have a lot of respect for how he’s handled that. And I think he’s an elite-level quarterback. He’s gonna give us everything that we want. We’ve just gotta prepare. First-round quarterback, you know, the whole nine [yards]. Respect him a lot, excited to compete.”

And compete is exactly what Raiola has done since enrolling at Nebraska in January as the No. 21 overall prospect and the No. 3 quarterback in the country for the 2024 recruiting cycle, trailing only Julian Sayin (Ohio State by way of Alabama) and DJ Lagway (Florida) at his position. Raiola, who was previously committed to both Ohio State and Georgia before ultimately signing with the Cornhuskers, a team for which his father, Dominic Raiola, was an All-American center, needed only one spring and a few weeks of fall camp to surpass last year’s starter, Heinrich Haarberg, on the depth chart. When Raiola led Nebraska onto the field against UTEP, he did so as just the second true freshman starting quarterback in school history after Adrian Martinez blazed that path in 2018. And with all due respect to Martinez, who eventually transferred to Kansas State, the expectations surrounding Raiola are far higher.

Raiola’s first step toward meeting those expectations was an impressive one: a 40-7 win over UTEP in which he completed 19 of 27 passes (70.4%) for 238 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and an NFL passer rating of 117.9, which ranked 34th nationally among players with at least 25 dropbacks. He succeeded in pushing the ball vertically by completing eight of 12 passes that traveled at least 10 yards downfield, gaining 171 yards in the process. His two touchdown passes measured 59 yards to Isaiah Neyor, a transfer from Texas, and 21 yards to Jahmal Banks, a transfer from Wake Forest. He finished with zero turnover-worthy plays, according to Pro Football Focus.

“The kid made some darn-good throws, some pretty good plays,” Deion Sanders said when asked about Raiola earlier this week. “They did some consistent things that we knew they would do within their offense. A phenomenal game. I mean, it started out back and forth a little bit, but they went ahead and they did what they needed to do. I love what he showed in his first college game. I love what he showed.”

Two nights earlier, Shedeur Sanders earned similar praise from his father after completing 26 of 34 passes for 445 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and an NFL passer rating of 144.9 in a narrow win over North Dakota State, one of the best FCS programs in the country. Even with a reconfigured offensive line led by five-star freshman left tackle Jordan Seaton, the Buffaloes proved nearly incapable of running the ball, evidenced by an anemic average of 2.6 yards per carry on 23 attempts. That left Colorado to move the ball almost exclusively through the air, not unlike the Buffaloes were forced to do last season when they ranked dead-last nationally in rushing at just 68.9 yards per game. Ohio State transfer Dallan Hayden finished as the team’s leading rusher with 20 yards on nine carries.

Instead, Shedeur Sanders leaned on the dynamic one-two punch of wideouts Jimmy Horn Jr. (seven catches, 198 yards, 1 TD) and Travis Hunter (seven catches, 132 yards, 3 TDs) to account for 74.2% of his passing yards. He was only pressured seven times — an improvement from when Colorado surrendered 12 quarterback pressures per game in 2023 — and seemed quite comfortable with the play calling of new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, the former New York Giants and Cleveland Browns head coach. The only Power 4 quarterback with higher passing grades than Sheduer Sanders (90.4) on Pro Football Focus were Miller Moss from USC (92.1) and Cam Ward (90.5) from Miami.

“He’s got a big-time arm,” Rhule said when asked about Sanders earlier this week. “He can use all 53 and one-third yards of the field, right? He can throw the ball from sideline to sideline. He’s got a great feel for the pocket. He moves in the pocket. He can hurt you with his feet, but he slides in the pocket to find guys that are open. He’s got excellent weapons around him. He’s courageous and tough. He’s an elite competitor.”

That makes Shedeur Sanders a pretty good measuring stick for Raiola come Saturday night.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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