Matt Rhule gives an honest assessment of Dylan Raiola's game heading into the bye week

After six weeks of strenuous games on the gridiron, Nebraska has a bye this weekend. With a chance to finally catch your breath, Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule rated quarterback Dylan Raiola's performance so far this season.

“I think he was great,” Rhule said of Raiola on Monday. “He had some wow moments. He gets us in the right checks. I think he protects the football. We had the only interception this week on the RPO, this is a well-coached defense, they're physical. The wind was strong at the start of the game and I think there were some lessons.

“We knew going into the game that the best way to win the game was to stand up and make them play differently. Let them play in a way they didn't want to play. Dylan and the boys led us to two touchdown drives. On three drives in the second half, we started within five, it was difficult to find the rhythm. That’s not an excuse, we have to get into the rhythm.”

It was far from Raiola's best performance of the season on Saturday, but it's hard to complain about a win. In a 14:7 win over RutgersRaiola completed 13 of his 27 pass attempts for 134 yards. He failed to record a touchdown pass, but he did throw an interception against the Scarlet Knights.

Raiola's 134 yards was his lowest passing performance of the season, the second fewest being 185 yards against Colorado. Through six games, Raiola appeared to be perhaps the best true freshman quarterback in the country. He amassed 1,358 passing yards and nine touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions.

Rhule believes Raiola has shown not only his talent but also his leadership skills this season.

“I think Dylan is the guy that everyone else is looking for on offense,” Rhule said. “We can continue to help him improve his running game. I think he’s getting better every week.”

Nebraska will need the leadership of Dylan Raiola as it takes the field back against the undefeated in Week 8 Indiana Hoosiers. The Cornhuskers will face Indiana on October 19th at noon ET. Indiana will also say goodbye.