Ducks' QB Dylan Raiola Sets a New Record, Not One that He Wanted

Oregon's Dylan Raiola was dreadful on Saturday afternoon in Eugene. He finished the day 6-for-19 for 43 yards and two interceptions. His day produced a quarterback rating of 2.4 on the day. 

He was benched in favor of third-string quarterback Brock Thomas, who nearly brought the Ducks all the way back, and by nearly, I mean that his throw on the final drive was a couple of fingertips away from giving the Ducks a chance to kick it for the win.

It's a game that was a complete and total nightmare for the Raiola and is something that he is unfortunately going to have to live with going forward. 

To his credit, I thought what he did after the game- speaking to the media and facing the music was a good move by him. It's a hard thing to do, and I completely agreed with his move.

If it felt like he played one of the worst games you have seen in the last several years, it is because that's exactly what happened. On a list of the lowest EPA rankings per game since 2024, Raiola's game against UCLA is now the new number one.

"EPA" stands for 'expected points added' and is basically a numeric value associated with every single play, indicating how many points it added or subtracted from your team's score. It has become one of, if not the, most used metrics when it comes to evaluating players at every level.

Raiola's EPA per dropback was -1.20, which means that every time he dropped back, it cost the Ducks 1.2 points. 

This overtakes some pretty awful performances from some pretty forgettable names over the years. 

Raiola's performance was extra disappointing because of how well he played against USC two weeks ago. He came in off the bench and just let the game come to him, and the result was a really smooth performance that led the Ducks to a win.

I called for him to play just like that. Don't let the moment get too big; stay within yourself and within the game plan, and execute. He obviously did not do that, and when the performance started to snowball, he couldn't stop it. 

It has yet to be determined what the situation is at quarterback for this week's game against Nebraska. Dante Moore was warming up last week, and he is definitely improving, but I would be shocked to see him try to rush back (or even come back at all). Thomas actually played a decent half of football and gave the Ducks some life against UCLA.

Raiola played badly enough to restart that conversation, and it adds to what has been a disaster of a season to this point.