Dylan Raiola has been one of the biggest standout quarterbacks of the season through the first two weeks, despite the fact he was not as talked about as some of the other headlining prospects across the nation.

The true freshman has received plenty of praise for his efforts to this point, including from Matt Rhule.

“I told the offense a lot of them have to pick their intensity up to (Raiola’s) level, not the other way around. He’s tried to throw the ball to guys that are supposed to be in certain places and they’re not there,” said Rhule. “He’s at a whole other level, and those other guys better pick it up. That’s said respectfully and with love.”

Raiola recently responded to the comments at his weekly press conference. He simply put hitting the standard is important but that alone should not be celebrated.

“Yeah, I think it’s just a matter of keep leveling up,” Raiola said. “And as a quarterback, we understand in our room that that’s the standard and I think that the standard should be acknowledged but I don’t I think it should be celebrated. Just because that’s what you want out of a quarterback room, is to elevate your team and you know, I can do a better job of getting our guys on the same page as I am.”

Raiola understands his role but doesn’t take full credit for what he can do to elevate the team’s level of success.

“So, I’ll take some of that responsibility on me,” he said. “And I know our guys will accept the challenge and they’ll be playing a lot faster this week.”

The quarterback has been solid through his first two starts, completing 73.7% of his passing attempts (42-of-57) for 423 yards with 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions.