On November 1 last year, Dylan Raiola broke his leg against USC.
That was the end of his Nebraska career. He never took another snap for them.
Tonight he walked back onto a field against the USC Trojans and played the best game of his life.
Start with who he was.
Raiola was a five star. His father Dominic was an All American offensive lineman at Nebraska from 1997 to 2000 and then played a long NFL career. His uncle Donovan coached the Nebraska offensive line until he was let go in December.
Dylan started 22 games for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. 69.1 percent. 4,819 yards. 31 touchdowns. Last season he was at 72.4 percent with 18 touchdowns when the leg went.
In January he transferred to the Oregon Ducks.
Dante Moore already had the job there.
So for the first time in his entire life, Dylan Raiola was a backup.
"You got to humble yourself. I'd be lying if I said it didn't take a couple practices just to kind of get used to it."
He said the thing he missed most was the one thing a backup cannot get.
"You can't emulate game speed reps."
So he spent nine months learning how to sit down and wait for somebody to hand them back to him.
Then came tonight, and the way he got in is the part nobody wanted.
In the second quarter Dante Moore scrambled for a first down and started to slide. USC linebacker Desman Stephens II launched into his head. Moore was knocked out on impact.
They backboarded him, carted him off, and an ambulance took him to Los Angeles General Medical Center. Stephens was ejected for targeting. A fight broke out, Oregon players sprinting to get to their quarterback.
Word came back later that Moore had feeling in all his extremities.
And Dylan Raiola had to go play a football game.
19 of 25. 289 yards. 2 touchdowns. 0 interceptions.
Three yards to Evan Stewart in the second quarter to take the lead back.
Twenty nine yards to Dakorien Moore in the fourth to break a tie.
Oregon outgained USC 504 yards to 446. The 20th ranked team in the country walked into the 12th ranked team's stadium and took it.
Oregon 41, USC 27.
Here is the part worth sitting with.
After he threw the touchdown, Raiola did not point at himself or the crowd or the sideline.
He held up five fingers.
Five is Dante Moore's number.
Then his teammates started doing it too, five fingers in the air for a guy in a hospital across town who could not see any of it.
The stadium that took a season from him finally gave him a night back.
And the first thing he did with it was hand it to somebody else.
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DK 🎵
DONKEY KONG! 🎵
Help Donkey Kong rescue his friends, reclaim the Golden Banana, and save his homeland in Donkey Kong 64, coming to the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics app on Jun 4 for #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack members!
People only hate these because of how the game went and because that year we had a weird gimmick jersey every week.
If it was during a year where we only had 1 or 2 special jerseys and it was a win, these would easily top 5 alt jersey all time.
Did you take an L on the Virgil Abloh Archive x Air Jordan 1? 🤔
We’ve linked with The Better Generation to give a few of you the chance to win a pair at retail price! 👀🔥
TWO STEPS TO ENTER:
- Follow @TBGeneration
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I am flying to the USA next Friday to attempt to move into Billie Eilish’s beachside Malibu mansion.
No human being is illegal on stolen land.
Support my travel and filming costs here:
https://t.co/n53xBDFZlk
While the rest of Hollywood is giving speeches defending illegal aliens, Jelly Roll used his time on stage at the Grammys to praise Jesus Christ.
Listen to this.
CHILLS ✝️🙏🏻
Christmas came early! We’re giving away a pair of tickets to the CFP Semifinal at the #CFAPeachBowl!!
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1️⃣ Follow us & @allcfbIG
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More comments = more entries. Contest closes at 11:59 pm on 12/30. Good luck! 🎉