“He had a real fire, you can see that in him this week.”

No more foul balls.

Or it was a similar expression Marcus Satterfield received in a message from Dylan Raiola recently.

“He texted me (Monday) night: 'Hey, can we do this play?' And I wrote back, 'Hell yeah.' He said, 'I promise there won't be any more foul balls,'” Nebraska's offensive coordinator recalled.

Satterfield knew Nebraska's true freshman quarterback was alluding to the dive he had to make Luke Lindenmeyer Late in the fourth quarter of NU's 31-24 overtime loss to Illinois.

After that game, Raiola said, “I'm going to take this game and improve, be better for our team and put us in a position to win.”

Most Husker fans would say he had already done the latter before that one missed throw, as tough as that play was.

The coach heard this comment from the QB after the game and particularly appreciated it because he believed it was also genuine from Raiola.

“I think it’s just in his DNA,” Satterfield said. “I think some people just do it for show, like, 'It's my fault.'” You see coaches all the time saying, “It's my fault.” But I think he really means it.

It also meant something to the senior wide receiver to hear that.

“I see him as a reflection of myself. I know exactly how he feels. I know exactly what kind of emotions he is feeling,” he said Jahmal Banks. “We all have the mindset of a perfectionist, but we know that we are completely imperfect. We just have to learn from it and keep going and we will be successful.”

Of course there are things that can be improved. Are always. Raiola had a few fumbles on a fourth-quarter drive deep in his own territory, which the Huskers fortunately recovered.

The QB also said he did Isaiah Neyor open to a play in overtime, although the pass pro couldn't hold him out for long on any of those OT plays.

Overall, however, the QB was as advertised. Raiola was 24 of 35 for 297 yards against the Illini and has a 72.2 completion percentage after four games this season.

“I thought he had a really good game,” Satterfield said. “A really, really nice game.”

This Tuesday, the focus internally was on the next game, although questions still arose about the details of Friday's defeat.

Purdue's defense was hurt by the run (269 yards per game) and neither Notre Dame still Oregon State The Boilermakers therefore had to test a lot in the air. There is a reason for it Purdue has only given up 123.3 yards per passing game so far, which actually ranks ninth nationally.

Statistics don't always tell the whole story, especially at the beginning of the year. And Nebraska has the focus primarily on himself.

“We just got back to who we are,” Raiola said Tuesday of the Huskers’ hiring this week. “We kind of strayed from what we really stand for in our program. It kind of nipped us in the bud…I know our team will respond very well.”

Husker head coach Matt Rhule said Raiola does a good job of learning something he can improve from every time off.

“Every week he comes in and identifies two or three things he wants to work on. He understands that the whole thing is about getting better every week. “He had a real fire this week that you can see in him to move the offense and take it another step,” Rhule said.

The coach believes that Raiola has played like a veteran so far, working through his progressions in the passing game, distributing the ball and also executing the correct run checks.

In addition, there is a fire in the newcomer that is ideally contagious.

“He is valued for his preparation, his playing ability, his willingness to hit. And he shows emotions,” said the head coach. “He shows joy when he plays and hopefully our team will benefit from that.”