On a beautiful November evening in the Rose Bowl, the Nebraska Cornhuskers scored on their first four possessions and held on to defeat the UCLA Bruins 28-21, moving the Huskers, at 7-3, to their best 10-game record since opening 8-2 in 2016. With Dylan Raiola recovering from surgery to repair a fractured fibula, true freshman TJ Lateef started at quarterback and starred in his debut role. Lateef had at least thirty friends and family in attendance to watch the youngster from Compton handle the pressure with poise and precision. Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen crafted a brilliant game plan that played to Lateef’s strengths, while running back Emmett Johnson had a career day. The Cornhuskers faced only three third downs the entire first half and converted all of them. TJ’s homecoming felt a bit like a home game as at least 25,000 Husker fans contributed to UCLA’s season-high 44,481 in attendance.
On the Bruin side, quarterback Nico Iamaleava tortured the Blackshirts all night as he totaled 191 yards passing and 86 rushing (104 discounting sacks). That’s accounting for 277 yards out of a total offense of 348, or 79.6% of the offense. Iamaleava had six runs of over 10 yards as he repeatedly escaped and kept the Bruins in the game. Of their eight converted third downs, Iamaleava scrambled for a first four times and threw for a first down twice. Thankfully, the defense sacked him three times and stopped him on a 4th and one. The key to beating UCLA is simple, stop Nico and you will prevail, otherwise you will have to outscore him.
Of the 64 snaps the UCLA offense had, 42 of them were on just three drives. A 17-play 75-yard drive to tie the score at 7-7, a 13 play 51-yard drive that resulted in a missed field goal, and a 12 play 96-yard drive that cut the score to 28-21. The only three and out all night was on the Bruins first offensive series as the Huskers have not allowed a first drive touchdown this season. Even though UCLA had 10 more offensive snaps than the Huskers, the time of possession was split at exactly 30:00 each.
TJ Lateef completed 13-of-15 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. Lateef completed his first 11 passes of the game, including three TD passes in his first eight attempts and did not have a miss until the fourth quarter. He also rushed five times for 31 yards. He was not sacked and had no interceptions or fumbles. When Nebraska got the ball with 4:47 to play, and the defense keying on Emmett Johnson, he completed a 7-yard pass to Dane Key and a 17-yarder to Nyziah Hunter to move the ball from the NU 34 to the UCLA 42 which helped the Huskers to run out the clock. Lateef is just the fifth true freshman quarterback to start for Nebraska since 1950, following Raiola’s freshman start last year.
Emmett Johnson rushed 28 times for 129 yards and had 103 receiving yards on three receptions including a pair of TD catches to account for 232 yards from scrimmage. This was the first time in school history a Nebraska running back has had 100 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game. His 103 receiving yards were a career high and marked the first 100-yard receiving game by a Husker running back since Rahmir Johnson had 105 yards against Michigan in 2021. Johnson had TD catches of 56 and 40 yards and his 56-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was a career-long bettering his 29-yard touchdown catch at USC last season. That play featured key blocks by Justin Evans and Rocco Spindler. With his 129 rushing yards, Johnson increased his season total to 1,131 rushing yards, the most by a Husker since Ameer Abdullah rushed for 1,611 yards in 2014. Johnson is also the first Husker to have three consecutive 100-yard rushing games in Big Ten play since Devine Ozigbo in 2017. With his three touchdowns (one rushing, two receiving) he now has 14 touchdowns this season, the most by a Husker since Ameer Abdullah scored 22 touchdowns in 2014.
Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Emmett Johnson runs the ball against the UCLA Bruins during the first half. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
EJ has to be the most valuable player so far this year for the Huskers and it would be criminal if he is not named the best running back in the Big Ten. He has also become a workhorse as he is the first Husker to have 25 or more carries in three consecutive games since Ahman Green in the final three games of the 1997 season. On Nebraska’s four scoring drives, Johnson touched the ball six of nine plays, three of four plays, five of nine plays, and four of six plays. That’s 18 out of 28 plays accounting for 178 yards out of 271 total yards (65.6%)
Jacory Barney Jr. opened the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. It was Barney’s fourth touchdown reception this year and his four receptions in the game moved his career total to 92, making him only the fourth Husker to have 90 or more receptions in his first two seasons at Nebraska, joining JD Spielman (121), Maurice Purify (91) and Wan’Dale Robinson (91). Dane Key had three catches for 46 yards and Nyziah Hunter had three grabs for 37 yards. The slant plays were open and TJ took advantage.
On defense, DeShon Singleton tallied a career-high 11 tackles (8 in the first half), bettering his previous high of 10 last season at Ohio State. It was his fifth game this season with at least six tackles. Singleton added a TFL stop on 4th down and 1 in the second quarter and added a PBU and a quarterback hurry. That 4th down stop was aided by Andrew Marshall who had crashed into the backfield disrupting the Bruin QB’s progress. Javin Wright added nine stops and Keona Davis finished with a career-high seven tackles. Davis also had an eight-yard sack, giving him 1.5 sacks this season. Redshirt freshman safety Rex Guthrie had six tackles to increase his season total to 53. He is only the fourth Husker freshman to record 50 tackles since freshman regained eligibility in 1972. Redshirt freshman defensive end Williams Nwaneri had a six-yard sack in the second quarter, giving him a team-leading 2.5 sacks in 2025. Ceyair Wright had four tackles in the game, with his fourth stop marking the 100th tackle of his career. I also wanted to give a shout out to Dylan Rogers who played outside linebacker in place of injured Dasan McCullough. The sophomore plays with a very active motor and managed four tackles in his first start.
Special teams had a solid game even though they surrendered a first down on a 4th and 1 fake punt from UCLA’s own 20-yard line. The 300-lb upback had a head of steam as he hit the line and still only gained 1½ yards. Archie Wilson only punted twice and averaged 33.5 yards placing the ball at the 10 and then 8-yard lines. John Hohl had two touchbacks on five kickoffs and made the tackle when one was returned for 31 yards. Caleb Benning made a nice open field tackle at the 18-yard line on another kickoff. Jacory Barney managed a punt return for 17 yards and a kickoff return for 24 yards. The Huskers were also fortunate that the UCLA placekicker missed a field goal attempt of 49 yards.
Overall, it was a very clean game with no turnovers and a 3-0 edge in sacks and just two penalties. The Huskers scored on their opening possession for the third game in a row. It is still blatantly apparent that Big Ten officials struggle to call holding on opponents even when it occurs in front of them. The defense had lapses where the tackling was horrendous, especially on the 45-yard pass and run for a score. The offensive line had a good push all night and the plan to rollout TJ took the pressure off the pass protection. We don’t have the guys upfront to protect a drop back passer even as good as Raiola is, but a dual threat quarterback changes the dynamic. We saw that Saturday on both sides of the ball.
With the win Saturday night, Matt Rhule has matched or increased his team’s win total from the previous season in every year of his college coaching career. The second bye week couldn’t have come at a better time as the Huskers are a bit beat up and depleted. Both Penn State and Iowa lost heartbreakers at home on Saturday. Iowa may drop out of the rankings this week but will have a chance to crawl back in if they can defeat USC next week and then Michigan State. It would be nice to have one more shot at defeating a ranked team this season. Penn State travels to East Lansing to face Michigan State next weekend before hosting Nebraska on Senior Day. We probably improved our bowl standing with the win over the Bruins and that can improve even more if we can sneak out another win (or two) to finish the regular season. Just keep getting better. Go Big Red!!!
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