Dylan Raiola thanks Taylor Swift, Patrick Mahomes & Travis Kelce in 1-word after Nebraska sealed big win over Cincinnati

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola acknowledged the presence of Taylor Swift, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in the Cornhuskers’ 20-17 win over Cincinnati on Thursday. The newly engaged couple was in the stands with the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback.

Raiola shared a post by CFB on FOX on his Instagram story and added a one-word caption.

“GBR!!” Raiola wrote on Friday.

Kelce likely did not attend to cheer for Raiola and Wisconsin, as he played college football for the Bearcats from 2008 to 2012.

The Nebraska game was his first public appearance with Swift since they announced their engagement on Tuesday. Their joint Instagram post featured a carousel of pictures from the proposal.

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” Swift wrote.

Kelce and Swift started dating in 2023 and have since been described as a "super couple."

Raiola has drawn comparisons to Mahomes multiple times in his career, and he reacted to the supposed similarities on Tuesday.

“Everybody be like, ‘Oh, he wants to be like him,’ and all this stuff," Raiola said, via CBS Sports' "Confidential Conversations." "It just so happens he played baseball, I played baseball. He plays quarterback, I play quarterback. I can’t get mad at God for making me look like him.

"Every time a little kid around here is like, ‘Yo, mini-Mahomes!’ I’m like, ‘What’d you say? What’s my name?’ I’m trying to be my own guy. It ain’t cap. It’s real love. Mahomes is cool, bro. He knows what it is.”

Dylan Raiola’s performance against Cincinnati

Dylan Raiola made a big difference for Nebraska in its season opener versus Cincinnati on Thursday. The quarterback completed 33 of 42 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns. He conceded three sacks, but finished with 353 total yards.

The former five-star prospect led the Cornhuskers to a 7-6 (3-6 Big Ten) record as a freshman in 2024. Nebraska flipped Raiola’s commitment from Georgia and handed him the starting job.

He recorded a 67.1% pass completion rate, with 275 of 410 passes for 2,819 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. Cornhuskers fans likely expect a more prolific output from him this season. Raiola will lead the team again next week when its hosts Akron.

About the author

Kayode is a College and High School Sports writer at Sportskeeda since June 2023. Hailing from Nigeria, he has an undergraduate degree in Linguistics and African Languages, and has previously had stints as an entertainment and politics writer for around 7 months. Adept at creating content around historical perspectives, he strives to report stories based only on verified information. His mantra is - truth is always more important than sensationalism.

A fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Kayode admires how Nick Saban developed talent at the team and delivered consistent results, and hopes that the post-Saban era is just as fruitful. He is thoroughly impressed by Johnny Manziel’s talent, and feels that Shedeur Sanders is massively underrated. Nick Saban is his all-time favorite college coach.

While Kayode believes there is little to separate college and mainstream sports, pro leagues absorbing the best athletes leads to their quality being higher. Witnessing the Colorado Buffaloes’ hot streak at start the 2023 football season was one of his all-time favorite college sports moments.

When not writing, Kayode enjoys reading and watching sports documentaries. His most recent watch was "Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In."

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez