Three Massive Questions Facing Nebraska Football

Their father, Dominic, was an All-American center at Nebraska. Their uncle, Donovan, is Nebraska’s assistant coach-offensive line.

Dylan’s recruitment — and decommitment from Georgia, after he decommitted from Ohio State — and his signing with Nebraska was a feel-good story. Dad’s school was going to be his son’s school.

They make movies about this stuff.

But now? In three starts, Lateef has shown he can be a Power 4 starting quarterback. He’s not there yet, not polished yet, clearly, but the potential is there. Is Lateef going to be content playing backup if Dylan returns?

“TJ [Lateef] has come out and he’s done a great job,” Huskers defensive back Ceyair Wright said in a news conference after the Iowa loss. “So I don’t think these losses or anything fall on his shoulders or fall on stuff like that.”

If Lateef didn’t get to start three games this year, would he have accepted simply returning to Nebraska, to play understudy to Dylan?

Dylan and Lateef, at some point — if they haven’t already — will get together and discuss their future and how it affects the present.

Perhaps from that conversation, Nebraska will have a sense who will be playing the sport’s most important position next year.

If we’re guessing: It will be TJ Lateef.

2. What in the heck happened to Nebraska’s defense?

As Nebraska got into its Big Ten schedule, the book on the defense was obvious: elite pass defense, exploitable run defense.

Opponents went after the weakness by pounding the ball on the ground when it was optimal. Opponents stayed away from the pass defense as best they could.

The Huskers ran into a buzzsaw under the lights at Penn State in a 37-10 loss on Nov. 22. They ran into a woodchipper on Black Friday in a 40-16 loss to visiting Iowa in the regular-season finale.

Nebraska allowed 77 points in the last two games, 38.5 points per game. In the first 10 games, Nebraska allowed 199 points, a 19.9 average. Some of the difference was the competition level. Penn State was a preseason top-3 team. Iowa always is good, but maybe not as good as the Hawkeyes looked in Lincoln the other day.

“Going into bowl season we have to get that mentality back,” Huskers defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel said in a news conference after the Iowa game.

“It’s not so much the X’s and O’s, but you have to have 11 hungry dogs who are going to go out there and eat.”

The Huskers allowed 31 points to Maryland, which finished the season 4-8.

The Huskers allowed 27 points to Michigan State, a 4-8 team.

“To me today was about big plays,” Rhule said about Iowa in a news conference after the game.

“They [Hawkeyes] had control and they ended up running. The play action off the run game and just having to do too much to sell out even when we’re playing a run defense on the long play there at the end Ceyair [Wright] comes off and tries to make a tackle on the quarterback and then they have an explosive play.

“I have to take some time to really delve into it because, as I said, I thought we played really well last week and I thought we played really well today.”

Huskers trying to catch up

Nebraska’s Blackshirts were better in name and reputation than the results on the field in 2025. Defense always a Nebraska calling card. Its rock-solid hitting and superior scheme and tackling were fueled by hard-nosed athletes all over the field. Want to run on Nebraska? Good luck.

Rhule and his staff have a long offseason to contemplate what happened, and what lies ahead.

“At one point they had 10 points and they had nine plays or something like that,” Rhule said about Iowa.

“I said [to his players] calm down just keep playing. Anything I say right now feels like an excuse. I look out there and see a bunch of young players and I just keep saying get off and make a play, you need a sack-fumble.

“Defense is about big hits, picking balls off, sack-fumbles, scoop and scores, and all those things, and we’re just not getting those versus the higher-quality opponents.”

3. Who replaces Emmett Johnson?

This presumes that Johnson will not return to Lincoln. He was the Huskers’ most valuable player in 2025, when he had a magnificent season. He did everything he could to lead the Huskers.

Rhule said he has talked to Johnson about the NFL and supports whatever decision the running back makes.

If Johnson is going to declare for the NFL draft, don’t expect him to play in the bowl game. So, we’ll see what Rhule and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen have in mind for the running back position.

During the season, Rhule mentioned the quality of Johnson’s backups and their bright futures. No one, right now, is an Emmett Johnson and no one might ever be.

Johnson gained 1,451 yards on 251 carries (5.8 yards per carry) this season. He has 12 rushing touchdowns. He also is the team’s leading receiver with 46 receptions for 370 yards (8.0 per catch) and three touchdowns.

Nebraska has one other back that gained 100 yards — in the entire season, not in a game. Sophomore Kwinten Ives gained 119 yards on 16 carries. He had two touchdowns. The Huskers’ third-leading rusher was Lateef with 98 yards.

If he leaves, Johnson did it in style. Against Iowa, in what might be his final game at Memorial Stadium, Johnson gained 217 yards on 29 carries (7.5 yards per carry) with two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 22 yards.

“I was just trying to leave it all out there on the field,” Johnson, a junior from Minneapolis, said at a news conference after the Iowa game.

“We talk a lot about helping the seniors go out with a win. So I just wanted to leave it all out there for them and just trust my training and trust what God put me on this earth to do and just keep running hard and trying to make winning plays for this team to win.”

Coming Monday: One more pressing question facing the Huskers.

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