The Oregon Ducks coaching staff settled on Brock Thomas as the starting quarterback for their Week 7 matchup with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a must-win contest considering the Ducks' record sat at 3-2.
Anointing Thomas as the starter made sense, considering the original backup, Dylan Raiola, had the worst statistical game of any Power Four quarterback over the past two seasons against the UCLA Bruins. Thomas was inserted into the game in the fourth quarter and instantly ignited the offense, nearly sparking a come-from-behind win.
The reverse of that instance occurred against Nebraska. This time, Thomas was the one playing poor football, completing just 9-of-20 passes for 54 yards and an interception before Raiola took his place to begin the fourth quarter. Just like Thomas did a week ago, Raiola kickstarted the Oregon offense — this time resulting in a come-from-behind 17-14 victory instead of a close loss.
In just the final quarter of action, Raiola completed 11-of-18 passes for 59 yards while leading a pair of scoring drives, the first a field goal to make the score 14-9 in favor of the Cornhuskers and the second a game-winning touchdown to tight end Jamari Johnson from four yards out, capping off a 20-play, 82-yard drive that left Nebraska with just 28 seconds to work.
Dylan Raiola brings @oregonfootball back to beat his former team in the final minute!! pic.twitter.com/1yo0N39xCK
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) October 18, 2026
While it was certainly difficult for Raiola to hear that he wasn't starting against the team that he began his career with, starting for the better part of two seasons after arriving as a five-star recruit, he was the star by the end of the night in leading a season-saving drive to put the Ducks over the Cornhuskers.
While there were multiple defenders to have standout nights, notably edge rusher Teitum Tuioti (five tackles, two sacks), defensive tackle Bear Alexander (seven tackles) and cornerback Ify Obidegwu (three tackles, interception), without Raiola's entrance into the game, the Ducks more than likely would've fallen to 3-3 on the year.
Coming off the bench against his former team to lead a game-winning drive is as storybook as it gets, earning Raiola the Ducks Wire Player of the Game honor.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Ducks Wire Player of the Game goes to Dylan Raiola vs. Nebraska