Oregon's QB Extravagance and the Podcast Guide to the National Championship
The College Football Newsletter wonders what's going on with Oregon landing Dylan Raiola as a backup. Plus, a collection of fresh SZD episodes.
Welcome to the College Football Newsletter, where we have one game left of the season.
It feels just like yesterday that the Penn State Nittany Lions were one of the favorites to head to Miami with the help of head coach James Franklin. This was finally going to be their year after years of being the also-ran of the Big Ten. Remember when Bill Belichick and North Carolina looked unstoppable after that one scripted drive? That unprecedented hype culminated in Chapel Hill with a suite featuring the likes of Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor, and Randy Moss. Then TCU stepped onto the field.
Of course, the storylines at the start of the season aren’t the same ones we’re looking at now and that’s what’s beautiful about this sport. The Mario Cristobal clock management jokes are at an all-time low with the Hurricanes now in the National Championship. Instead, we’re raving about the chunk plays from Malachi Toney and the one-two defensive punch of Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor.
Everyone was also wondering “Who is this season’s Indiana?” It turns out, it was Indiana. And still, I don’t think many would have predicted a perfect regular season, especially in the way they achieved that with casual 50, 60, and even 70-point wins. Curt Cignetti has perfectly balanced both the sports Cinderella story with one of a runaway train set for destruction. This has been Indiana’s season and we’re just living in it.
The Ducks were eliminated by the Hoosiers in the previous round and the end of their run naturally led to pondering about Dante Moore’s future. Then we got word that Dylan Raiola would transfer from Nebraska to Oregon, which should have told everyone at home that Moore is on his way to the NFL. But that did not happen. Moore instead opted to return for another college season and now Oregon has both him and Raiola on the roster. That’s presumably a lot of money to have on two quarterbacks in one season, so what happened? I asked Alex for his thoughts:
This is really the ultimate rich program luxury in 2026. Every power conference team can and will spend a few million bucks on a starting QB and six figures on the rest of the QB room. What did Dylan Raiola cost Oregon for this year? I don’t know, but I know that he’s either one of the most expensive backups in the country OR he’s so enamored with Oregon’s recent spate of QB development that he doesn’t mind passing up on millions of dollars just so that he can get one year as Oregon’s starter in 2027. (Given that the coordinator who’s overseen the Oregon development of Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and Dante Moore just left to be Kentucky’s head coach, I’d guess it’s the former or a mixture. But again, just a guess.) What’s certain is that there aren’t more than four or five programs in the sport that get to stockpile QB talent in this manner. This is CFB’s version of pretty privilege.
Here’s what the SZD crew dropped into your podcast feeds this week:
● Rodger Sherman joined Alex for a subscriber only episode on how to find the next Curt Cignetti. They analyzed the actual Curt Cignetti and his path to becoming Indiana’s head coach. Some of his path follows the usual college football coaching ladder, but the detours along the way seem to have shaped his recruiting immensely.
● The Tasting Menu dropped on a Thursday this week. Alex and Richard break down the game from both offenses and identify their one major weakness. For Miami, it’s probably a near guaranteed turnover from Carson Beck. For Indiana, it’s … uh, I got nothing. Also, lots of talk about the circumstances of this matchup.
● Scheme School! It’s been a minute since Richard sat down with a guest to talk Xs and Os. He had Michael Felder on to talk about how Miami’s edge rush can mess with Fernando Mendoza and Indiana.
Our hosts also write a lot, including about non-CFB subjects
● Over at Slate, Alex wrote about that the once up and coming LIV Golf is struggling. Will it stay alive with its little fanfare despite an endless amount of money?
● At CBS Sports, Richard listed the various three-star and fifth-year players at Indiana who have helped build this juggernaut.
Thanks for reading, take care of yourselves, and enjoy the National Championship on Monday. For next week’s newsletter, Alex and Richard are tagging in to talk about SZD plans for the offseason and beyond.