So what’s the deal here? The simplest answer might be timing. Raiola was born in 2005, making him young enough to have grown up watching Mahomes—who has, of course, spent the last decade becoming the most exciting QB in football history. Plenty of youngsters imitate his scrambling no-looks. Finding a quarterback who imitates the rest of Mahomes’ whole deal was probably just a matter of time. “A lot of people think I try to be just like him,” Raiola said, while noting that he grew up playing baseball, just like Mahomes. “I’ve had this haircut since sixth, seventh grade maybe, and I didn’t really know about Mahomes then. I have my own little kick to it. It’s not completely like him. But I guess if that’s what people want to say, I mean, that guy’s one of the best. So, it’s cool.”
This whole thing is, obviously, very bizarre. But there are absolutely worse people for an ascending quarterback to be emulating. And it might be working. In his first two collegiate starts, Raiola has been impressive. In the season opener against UTEP, the true freshman passed for 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He followed that up with an efficient performance on Saturday to take down Coach Prime and the Buffaloes.
Nebraska has been through some lean years as of late: the Cornhuskers have not been to a bowl game since 2016, and they’ve suffered embarrassing losses to the likes of Georgia Southern and Troy in recent memory. But with mini Mahomes manning the controls now, they’re 2-0, and there’s a real shot that Nebraska is undefeated when they head to Ohio State in late-October. If that does indeed come to fruition, Mahomes may have to pull up and see his clone in person.
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