Nebraska's Dylan Raiola leads Huskers to end zone on first collegiate drive vs. UTEP

The Dylan Raiola era has officially arrived at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

The true freshman on his first collegiate drive led the Nebraska Cornhuskers on a 12-play, 72-yard scoring drive that ended with a Dante Dowdell five-yard touchdown run against UTEP.

Raiola showed off his passing skills as the Huskers made their way down the field, completing 5-of-7 passes for 54 yards. Two of the passes went for a first down.

One of Raiola's completions came on 3rd-and-11, as the pocket collapsed and the true freshman threw a sidearm bullet to Isaiah Neyor for a first down.

The throw was eerily similar to the kinds of different arm angle throws Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes makes on a regular basis. It comes as no surprise, as Raiola has previously stated Mahomes is one of the players he tries to emulate his game after and has trained with Mahomes' longtime personal quarterback coach, Jeff Christensen.

“My boy Patty. Pat Mahomes. It’s cool to watch him play and to be able to train with him and be around him is pretty cool. … I try to be my own guy, but I try to take what he does,” Raiola previously said as a guest on the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast .

“The Super Bowl run, what he was doing — I watch his feet. Everybody watches all his throws. We train with the same guy so I can kinda understand what he’s doing. But he’s feeling all that pressure and he’s kinda just buying time, and he’s so strong in the lower half, he just … boom, he makes throws.”

The resemblance is a bit uncanny as well, as he was seen walking into Memorial stadium before the game.

Nebraska had some penalties get in the way on their first drive but under Raiola's cool poise, they scored on the first drive of the season against the Miners.

The five-star recruit is the first true freshman to start for Nebraska at quarterback since Adrian Martinez did in 2018.

With the weapons at his disposal this season and a stout offensive line, the true freshman quarterback is bound to be set up well to succeed in 2024.