Foster, whose Bruins face Nebraska this week, was an assistant at Texas Tech when Mahomes starred for the Red Raiders.
The comparisons between Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola and Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes are valid, according to UCLA football coach DeShaun Foster, who coached running backs at Texas Tech when the three-time Super Bowl champion starred for the Red Raiders. The Huskers and Bruins face off for the first time as Big Ten opponents Saturday.
“You can tell he’s getting more comfortable,” Foster said of Raiola. “He has a big arm, so he’s going to try to make plays, but I’m excited for our DBs, and our front, and our linebackers, and everybody. He’s playing good ball. I was with Pat Mahomes in ’16 at Texas Tech. So it’s crazy when you see him (Raiola) because he really does emulate Pat.”
Raiola took the internet by storm this offseason when he showed up to fall camp sporting a mohawk fade and ski glasses, a look popularized by Mahomes. The NFL superstar quarterback called the five-star freshman his “little cuzzo” shortly after the post went viral. Raiola wears No. 15 like Mahomes and worked with his quarterback trainer — Jeff Christensen — this offseason. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule compared his young quarterback to Mahomes before he played a down in a Huskers uniform.
“He wears the No. 15, and he patterns a lot of his game after Patrick Mahomes,” Rhule said upon signing Raiola last December. “Whilst there is only one Pat Mahomes, Dylan has certainly worked on making all of the off platform throws. Dylan has amazing arm talent, as good as anyone I’ve seen. He can make all the throws. There’s not a lot of transition for him.”
Raiola has completed 66.1% of his passes for 1,744 yards and nine touchdowns with seven interceptions through the first eight games of his collegiate career. He tossed all nine of his passing touchdowns in the first five weeks of the regular season and has struggled over his last three games, throwing for sub-200 yards twice and notching a 0-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
“If you go back over the last four games and calculate in all of the defensive pass interference yardage because we throw so many go-balls, that would add into what Dylan has done passing yard-wise,” Rhule said this week. “He sees the things he’s improving upon; there’s no better teacher than experience. He’s getting a ton of experience. Ohio State threw a lot of things at him this week. Rutgers threw a lot of things at him, but they threw a lot more things at him this week than what he’s seen in the past, and he adjusted and handled really well.”
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