Dylan Raiola walked into Memorial Stadium looking like a Patrick Mahomes regen, and the comparisons won’t be slowing down following a delightful first half.

The true freshman quarterback and Husker legacy completed 15 of his 22 pass attempts for 192 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Huskers went into the locker room with a 30-7 halftime lead over UTEP.

Raiola’s first touchdown pass came on a 59-yard bomb to Isaiah Neyor. Raiola stood in and took a shot from a UTEP rusher but still delivered a dime of a deep ball to Neyor, who bounced off defenders and walked into the endzone to give Nebraska a 10-7 lead.

A 3-and-out from UTEP gave the ball back to the Huskers, who marched 63 yards for another score. An interception from Malcolm Hartzog on the ensuing Miners possession gave the ball back to Nebraska with 2:05 on the clock and a chance to extend the lead even further before the break.

Raiola took a sack on the opening play of the possession before hitting passes to Neyor for 15 yards, Jahmal Banks for 8, Janiran Bonner for 14, and then Banks again for a 21-yard touchdown.

The touchdown toss to Banks — a back-shoulder throw to the right corner of the endzone — was a beauty.

With his start, Raiola became the first true freshman to start at quarterback for the Huskers since Adrian Martinez in 2018. After flipping from Georgia during the recruiting process, the anticipation for Raiola’s freshman season has been impossible to contain, and the excitement was palpable in Lincoln ahead of kickoff.

Safe to say Raiola didn’t disappoint with his first-half showing.

Even Mahomes was watching.

Here’s a bit more of the social reaction to Mahomes’ Raiola’s first half.