Two days after Nebraska agreed to a contract extension with head coach Matt Rhule, the Cornhuskers lost to USC at home, 21-17, their second loss in the last three games.
Not only did Nebraska lose, but it also lost its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury, as Dylan Raiola broke his fibula, which will force him to miss the rest of the season.
Sources: Nebraska's Dylan Raiola is out for the year with a broken fibula. He suffered the injury against USC on Saturday night.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 2, 2025
Before the season-ending injury, Raiola had completed 10 of 15 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown against the Trojans,
While the Cornhuskers were only 6-3 so far this season, Raiola was having a solid year. Through nine games, the sophomore – who originally committed to Ohio State as a recruit before flipping to Georgia and later to Nebraska – completed 181 of 250 passes (72.4%) for 2,000 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Rhule said after the game Saturday night that Raiola wanted to return to the game but was unable to run, for obvious reasons, and therefore the coaches did not allow him to do so.
True freshman TJ Lateef will likely replace Raiola behind center for Nebraska. The quarterback completed five of seven passes for seven yards and had six carries for 18 yards after replacing Raiola against USC. Lateef has completed 16 of 19 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown and has 50 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries so far this season.
Now just 3-3 in the Big Ten, the loss to USC was Nebraska's 29th straight loss to an AP Top 25 opponent. The last time the Cornhuskers beat a ranked team in the AP Poll was on Sept. 17, 2016, when Nebraska came away with a 35-32 victory over Oregon.
They’ll finish the regular season with road games against UCLA, Penn State and Iowa, and they’ll now have to play those games without their starting quarterback.
