The Big Ten Conference just got a whole lot bigger. There will be new conference rivals due to the entry of new squads from across the nation. Despite this, the Nebraska football program is going to stick with what they have and knows well. After a horrid 2023 season, Matt Rhule is looking to get into a bowl game and the center in all of the Cornhuskers' success is none other than Dylan Raiola.

It is no secret that the Nebraska football program has loved the way Dylan Raiola composed himself throughout training camp. However, there has only ever been one other quarterback in Cornhuskers history who started in a season opener despite being a true freshman. This bit of information held true until recently when the young quarterback requested to break curfew. Now, he will be the main signal-caller when they face the UTEP Miners.

How does Coach Matt Rhule feel about this? Well, he is nothing short of excited and will even form his whole offensive system around making the freshman the next star that scouts could look forward to drafting, via Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Herald.

“We're not going to ease into it. We're going to play. Dylan's going to play. He's going to play the plays. When we call dropback, he's going to go back there, take his drop, and work his progression. How we want him to play as a junior, we're going to start Day 1 that way,” he declared.

Matt Rhule's big expectations for the Nebraska football squad

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There are a lot of issues that the Cornhuskers suffered from during the past season. One of them was having so much resistance from the squad when Rhule was installing their new system. The consequence was that they were not able to experience much success. This time around, the head honcho pleaded that his players should just buy into whatever the staff is cooking. If they do, his goal is for them to win the big one.

“I want us to be in the conference title race, I want us to go to the college football playoff and win it. So, where we are there, I certainly expect us to be a bowl-eligible team. Can we be a team that challenges in the college football playoff? I don't know, I think if we weren't minus 17. If all of a sudden we're a plus seven, we might make some noise. That's really my challenge to the guys,” he declared.

Will the Cornhuskers win the Big Ten Conference and the College Football Playoff?