'It's Time To Go Take Advantage' Of Schedule: ESPN's Max Olson On Nebraska

On this week's I-80 Football Show, ESPN.com's Max Olson joined Josh Peterson for a look at the sport of college football, including a dive into what Max has seen in the early part of the season from Nebraska. Does Nebraska have the type of team that could finish 2025 with a flourish of wins?

Below is a lightly edited transcript of a portion of their conversation.

"It's time to go take advantage"

Josh: I wonder now if this season has turned from “Matt Rhule, year three bump; it could happen” to, it kind of needs to happen? Because the schedule on paper, I don't know if they're ever going to have one that looks as advantageous as it does at least here in early September.

Max: Well, and let's be honest, we're not living in the world of winning the division, right? So when it lays out well for you, just winning the division and getting to Indy is not enough and you've got to go make a run. I don't mean get into the playoff necessarily, but you've got to go win enough games to leave no doubt there. And you can't have the games like UCLA late last year, where you're just like, “How did they lose that game?” Right? You just can't have those.

And I think that's going to be the big test as you get into October. It's just, can this team go win the games it's supposed to win? And I think for years it has always amused me watching from afar, Josh. Like every year, you get to the end of August and it's like, “this team's going to win eight or nine games."

Josh: Every time.

Max: Every projection. I'm sure Sean Callahan and everybody's tired of writing the exact same prediction at the end of August. And then you get to the middle of October and you're just like, “How do they get to six now?” You know what I mean?

And I think that this team will not have that same curse that so many other teams have had. And obviously, last year's team started hot and got to six. But it doesn't feel like Groundhog Day to me. It feels like it can be different this year. It's going to take staying healthy. It's going to take playing well against Michigan and not just having some of these games that just totally dent your confidence. I think you're right, though. The way the schedule sets up, the way the other teams are down, it's time to go take advantage.

Is Dylan Raiola underrated?

Josh: I want to ask you about Dylan Raiola and not just what you're seeing, but what you hear from those inside of the sport. The [Dana] Holgorsen hire was, of course, so interesting. Every time I talk to somebody who has covered him before, they are always like, “Hey, so what do you think of Holgorsen?” Usually, when the interview is done, “Hey, what do you think of Holgorsen? Let me tell you some Holgorsen stories.” So there was that backdrop, of course, in the move that they make. You just mentioned the UCLA game. They make the move after the UCLA game in 2024.

Dylan Raiola seems to be the catalyst to whatever's going to happen. Of course, it's going to usually come from a quarterback. What are you seeing and what are you hearing about Dylan Raiola from those inside of college football?

Max: You see, I covered the Big 12 in the era of Dana being in West Virginia. I'd visit them up in Morgantown, got to know them well. Big fan of Dana Holgorsen. I mean that. When he came in that week for USC, I was getting texts from so many people being like, “this is the craziest [stuff] I've ever heard”. Like, “what is he doing?” Like off the street. Here you go. Here's the plate. You know, come up with a play sheet. Give us a plan. Let's go. Let's go beat him.

Josh: It was so tiny, too! He had this little note card. He doesn't even know the guys' names right now. They put tape on their helmets.

Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen the 2025 Cincinnati game — Dana Holgorsen has had a big impact on Nebraska football in a short amount of time. How much better can the offense get this season? | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Max: And even in that time, too, it's just like, “What's he going to even come up with?” Because he has his system, right? But he was still marrying a lot of different ideas within that. So I think that's been very cool to watch. There’s a lot that comes with the responsibility of being a head coach. I imagine he is having a blast just calling plays, just watching quarterbacks, just trying to kind of get this thing the way he wants it to look.

You know, I think with Dylan Raiola, I think he's got a chance here. Is he a little bit underrated nationally now, Josh? People kind of only talk about the Mahomes stuff and don't really talk about where he's at as a sophomore. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't always clean at times against Cincinnati. I think if you watched him against Akron, it's an easy opponent, but you certainly see them finding some stuff that they like, and you see some throws that he made to [Dane] to [Luke] Lindenmeyer where you're like, “okay!” Don't forget, there's some pretty special arm talent there.

Everybody knows what kind of recruit he is. They know he's one of the highest-paid guys in the game, but he doesn't get talked about like, “hey, is he kind of getting closer to being a top even 20, 25 quarterback,” right? I think the growth is showing up. It's going to take those big stage games like Michigan for everybody to kind of see it. But it certainly seems like, for a kid who had a lot on his plate as a freshman, it seems like he continues to handle it pretty well. And it seems like this team does respond to him and like him.

Nebraska wide receiver Nyziah Hunter — Nyziah Hunter has already had an impact on the 2025 Huskers. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

I think the big thing in December was just like, you got to get him some weapons. And I think they did that. I think you clearly watch Key and [Nyziah] Hunter and feel like those were hits. Those made sense and are working out. And then you take the growth from [Jacory] Barney. I like where they're at offensively. And I think the offensive line is a little bit better. It feels like it's all coming together. The pieces are there, Josh. We just got to kind of see it actually happen against good competition.

Josh: Two weeks from now [after Michigan], think we're going to be able to have a much more informed conversation about where the team is going moving forward. And it'll be interesting to get there.

Josh and Max also discuss whether or not Oregon is underrated in 2025, coaching storylines to follow, and more. Watch the entire interview below!

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