Dane Key, Riley Van Poppel Earn Single-Digit Jersey Designations for Nebraska Football

Nebraska football fans will have to re-learn two new jerseys for the upcoming 2025 season.

Husker receiver Dane Key and defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel were awarded single-digit uniforms on Monday night, as announced on social media by Nebraska football. Key was assigned the No. 6 while Van Poppel was awarded No. 5, replacing Tommi Hill and John Bullock's uniform assignments following their graduation. Key had previously worn No. 18 in practices while Van Poppel had donned No. 44 and No. 94 in his two seasons with the Big Red.

The single-digit uniform tradition dates back to coach Matt Rhule's first season in Lincoln, as the jersey assignments were voted upon by the team to define the "toughest" players on the roster leading into the 2023 year.

Nebraska football's 2024 single digit jersey honorees have been announced. | @HuskerFootball on X

"I got really tired of having a guy in my program who had spent three years at like No. 47, was getting ready to play and wanted to wear No. 1 or No. 3, and he'd earned it, and we would give it to a recruit," Rhule said in the fall of 2023. "So what we decided was that 1-9, or now 0-9, would go to the nine, or now ten, toughest guys on the team."

Rhule went on to state that the "toughest" is defined by accountability, competition, and by "what it means to be a Cornhusker."

Nebraska football aimed to replace seven of the single-digit assignments that had been awarded at the beginning of the 2024 campaign, entering the 2025 season. Of the 10 players awarded single-digit uniforms to begin last season, only DeShon Singleton (No. 8), Malcolm Hartzog (No. 7), and Marques Buford (No. 3). Defensive lineman Jimari Butler, who originally wore No. 1 to start the 2024 season, reverted back to No. 10 allowing Vincent Shavers Jr. to don the single-digit for the second half of the season.

Nebraska linebacker Vincent Shavers Jr celebrates after a stop on third down against Rutgers. | Amarillo Mullen

The remaining available single-digit uniforms include: No. 0, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 9. Those uniforms were last filled by defensive lineman Nash Hutmacher, defensive back Isaac Gifford, recevier Jahmal Banks, and defensive lineman Ty Robinson. Banks was the lone offensive player to receive a single-digit designation in 2024. Key joins Banks with that distinction with his early inclusion to the tradition.

Hutmacher, Gifford, Bullock, and Robinson each earned back-to-back seasons with the single-digit uniform. Singleton has earned his third-straight year with the No. 8 jersey, becoming the first player during the Rhule tenure to do so. Shavers, Buford, and Hartzog would each become two-time single-digit honorees if they maintain their status heading into the season opener.

Key arrived in Lincoln via the transfer portal after three years with the Kentucky Wildcats. Key played in 38 games, nabbing 126 catches for 1,870 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. He finished fifth on Kentucky's all-time receptions list and 13th in career receiving yards.

5⃣ & 6⃣ pic.twitter.com/KXVXz7pzmF
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) August 11, 2025

Van Poppel arrived at Nebraska in 2023 after a dominant high school career at Argyle High School in Texas, recording 19 sacks and 37 tackles for loss in his prep career. The defensive lineman played in 11 games as a true freshman in 2023, recording five total tackles, including a tackle for loss and a half-sack. The defensive lineman elected to redshirt his second season on campus, playing in five games (including Nebraska's Pinstripe Bowl victory) while posting three tackles and a tackle for loss.

Nebraska has yet to announce the coveted "Blackshirts" tradition, but under Rhule, the defensive honor is given out following the assignment of all the single-digit honorees. The Huskers open the 2025 season in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium against Cincinnati on Aug. 28 at 8 p.m.

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