I think the analogy used between the electron and photon travel was just that, an analogy with no real world implications. And that other statement (at the end of the article) about new physics was made too quick.

From the looks of it, they've just found that the mechanism that produces the drift velocity of electrons in normal wires has no relationship to the way electrons travel in these nanoribbons of graphene...

Their models probably used or were related (or based on) bounce and repel type algorithms that do not apply fully to this very special edge-case scenario.

In fiber optic cables photons travel close to the speed of light (50% of it or more) by reflection and the waveguide effect.

In normal metal wires electrons travel something like a few mm or cm per second, minute, or even hour (averaged out) - because they are all bouncing against one another.

In these nano-wires / ribbons there is little electron bounce, and some wave-guide like travel channels present... It has properties of both metal wires and fiberoptics... But the electrons are still typical electrons.

At the end of the day, there is still a fundamental difference between packets of energy (that some say are nothing more than vibrations traveling through whatever dimension) and elementary particles.

Sad, but probably true.