The Huskers will take the field against UCLA without its star sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola. TJ Lateef has been given the nod as the starter this week after Raiola’s lower leg injury. Many fear this could lead to a downturn in production, while I believe this tragedy may not be as bad as some believe. While Raiola is undoubtedly the better quarterback, Lateef’s skill set may be of more use with the play of out offensive line. While Raiola could avoid pressure, he did not have the skillset to make opposing defenses respect his ability to scramble on broken containment or in man coverage situations. While Raiola played very well when not under pressure, he played much worse under pressure, understandably so. Just in Big Ten play alone Raiola was sacked 23 times. That’s an appalling number, when a quarterback is hit that much he is bound to become skittish in the pocket and be more concerned with the rushers coming at him than the receivers open downfield.
This is where Lateef’s legs come in. When pressure is brought most of the time opposing defenses will have to play man to man coverage, turning their backs on Lateef and running with the receiver, giving plenty of running room for Lateef to utilize his speed. This also gives more validity to the read option game making defenses account for two runners instead of one. Taking some pressure off of Emmett Johnson as well. And we shouldn’t forget about Lateef’s arm, while not as polished as Raiola, he was still a 4 star QB coming out of high school and labeled as a pocket passer. Lateef will be able to make most throws with ease, especially the long throws when the safeties start to creep up to prevent the run. While Lateef isn’t proven, Holgorsen’s offense isn’t made of complex throws, its made of short passes with the ability for receivers to break a big run after making one man miss. This plays right into the true freshman’s skillset, combining short passes and read pass options with run plays and the occasional deep threat. The most effective defenses that stopped Raiola will not work with Lateef.
You will see in this game the same style football that the Huskers have played all year with two exceptions, and thats more deep balls since the defense will not respect Lateef’s arm and a larger QB run game which is a nightmare for defensive coordinators. I foresee the Huskers going into the Rose Bowl and coming out with a 34-28 win against a hot UCLA team. Lateef may not be the quarterback we thought could give us the best chance of winning, but when running for your life behind the offensive line becomes routine, why not have a QB that can do so.