Dylan Raiola completed 28-of-38 passes for 293 yards and seemed to have some of his swagger back against the Badgers.
«It’s like any position. It’s such a process, right?» Donovan Raiola said of his nephew’s play. «It’s slowed down a little bit for him as the season has gone on. And people forget, he’s a 19-year-old freshman. He’s operating the offense, lining people up, fixing things for us. And then like last week it was probably highest level of execution he had all season. It’s just a fun process to watch.
«Everyone expects a lot, but for him, just staying in the moment. Just focus on improving and being great at the basics, especially at that position where you have a lot on your plate.»
>>> Donovan Raiola said he’s sometimes up all night thinking about how his group can improve in making Dylan, or any quarterback, more comfortable.
«Just making sure he’s clean and not getting touched. That’s important for their confidence and for him to be able to sit in there and go through progressions and get the ball out and complete passes.»
The Huskers gave up no tackles for loss against Wisconsin.
>>> Raiola said when it comes to the younger O-linemen behind the scenes, «the fruits of their labor are showing up» in getting better.
The bowl practices will be big for them. «I can’t explain how important they are,» Raiola said of those reps. «Just going back to my experience in college and being able to go to four bowl games and getting those 15 bowl practices, and bowl prep … they’ll get a lot of live reps. It’s invaluable.»
>>> Raiola mentioned the book «Outliers» by Malcolm Gladwell and a particular chapter that focuses on 10,000 hours to become a master of anything.
«I tell the guys it takes 10,000 reps,» Raiola said. «10,000 reps to master each block. It’s not like they only got to make one block. So you figure out what blocks you have to make and then work at it. Then being able to get those reps, that’s what we’re after. Then you see guys improve throughout those reps as well … and individual (work) on their own.
«The best part is they gain confidence when they know it works.»