HuskerMax Staff Predicts a Nebraska Double-Digit Loss to End the 2025 Season

Despite what was a rotten finish to the regular season with consecutive blowout losses to Penn State and Iowa, the Nebraska football team enters New Year's Eve with one last opportunity to change the narrative and go into the offseason on a positive note.

It's no secret that the Huskers will be shorthanded going into Wednesday's Las Vegas Bowl against No. 15 Utah, playing without starters Dylan Raiola (Injury/Transfer Portal), Emmett Johnson (NFL draft), DeShon Singleton (Injury/NFL draft), Rocco Spindler (Injury/NFL draft), and Dasan McCullough (Injury/NFL draft). Backup quarterback TJ Lateef will look to spark his 2026 starting campaign against a Utes defense that can't stop the pass, but can do plenty against the run, which will be the first challenge for the debut of new Huskers offensive line coach Geep Wade.

Utah isn't without its own losses, which are arguably bigger. Former head coach Kyle Whittingham wasn't content to retire after leading the Utes for 21 seasons. He's now at Michigan making the way for successor-in-waiting Morgan Scalley, who will make his head coaching debut against Nebraska. Soon-to-be NFL tackles Spancer Fano and Caleb Lomu opted out alongside defensive end Logan Fano, who was second on the team in both TFLs and sacks — only behind All-American John Henry Daley, who suffered a season-ending injury against Kansas State on Nov. 22. Prolific transfer Devon Dampier will play, however, ensuring a headache for interim defensive coordinator and long-time Rhule mentor Phil Snow.

Before the Huskers and Utes take the gridiron for their fifth-ever matchup, the HuskerMax and Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI crew make their official predictions. There's not a lot of hope in NU closing out 2025 with a win as the group anticipates a 34-19 Utes victory.

The panel was bewildered by how awful the Huskers played against Iowa, as the two closest scores had a 14-point difference compared to the 40-16 blowout. Eric Hess joined the winner's circle for the first time this season while Cole Stukenholtz equaled Geoff Exstrom for the season lead with this third win. Both predicted a 27-17 Iowa win.

2025 Closest Predictors by Week

Game 1 vs. Cincinnati: Bob Frady
Game 2 vs. Akron: Jay Stockwell
Game 3 vs. Houston Christian: Bob Frady & Jay Stockwell
Game 4 vs. Michigan: Cole Stukenholtz & Chris Fort
Game 5 vs. Michigan State: ThotDoc
Game 6 at Maryland: Cole Stukenholtz
Game 7 at Minnesota: Jeremy Pernell
Game 8 vs. Northwestern: Geoff Exstrom, Tad Stryker & David Max
Game 9 vs. USC: Geoff Exstrom
Game 10 vs. UCLA: Geoff Exstrom
Game 11 at Penn State: Jeremy Pernell
Game 12 vs. Iowa: Cole Stukenholtz, Eric Hess

*Indicates closest in previous week's prediction and how many "wins" over the season. Ties will result in wins for all parties.

Prediction	Predictor
Utah 31-10	Kaleb Henry
Utah 38-28	Geoff Exstrom***
Utah 35-17	Josh Peterson
Utah 33-17	Spencer Schubert
Utah 35-20	Jeremy Pernell**
Utah 34-21	ThotDoc*
Utah 27-14	Mike Cavallo
Utah 38-28	Eric Hess
Utah 27-20	Cole Stukenholtz***
Nebraska 31-30	Jan Mudder
Utah 35-21	Jay Stockwell**
Utah 45-21	Bob Frady**
Utah 31-17	David Max*
Utah 44-13	Chris Fort*
Utah 38-17	Jared Hall
Utah 28-10	Mike Delaware
Utah 34-21	Kyle Byers
Utah 31-21	Mike Schaefer
Utah 35-14	Husker Dan

Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef will have an early opportunity to spark his campaign to be NU's starter in 2026. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The Why

Josh Peterson: Thank God the season's over.

Spencer Schubert: The Utes will be playing to prove they should have been in the CFP and Nebraska is on the unfortunate other end of that mission.

ThotDoc: The Utah run game will capitalize on the Husker weakness, and it may not be pretty. This is a mismatch on paper and on the field. TJ Lateef may not be back to full strength, and the backups are a crapshoot. It will be a bonus if the Huskers beat the 16.5 pointspread.

Mike Cavallo: Utah holds the edge in this matchup thanks to its elite rushing attack and top‑15 offensive efficiency. Nebraska’s struggles against the run make it difficult to see them slowing the Utes down.

Eric Hess: The Utes' rushing attack is too much for the Huskers, but TJ Lateef and the Nebraska offense look good heading into 2026.

Cole Stukenholtz: All the talk has been about Utah rolling and NU having no chance. After a month of hearing it, Rhule will have his players motivated to prove the doubters wrong. Huskers stay in the fight to the end, but Utah holds on for the win.

Jan Mudder: Each week, I have previously "predicted" that Nebraska would win each game. I didn't actually believe that. I thought Nebraska would finish 9-2, but each week, when the odds were long, it was an exercise in thinking about what it would take for Nebraska to win. So it is with this prediction....I do not think that Nebraska can win with less than 30 points, so let's go with the all-time Nebraska score of 31-30.

Bob Frady: Not sure why the Huskers volunteered for a beating…but here we are.

David Max: If Nebraska cannot stop the run game, it will be a long day. Not optimistic about our chances. Hope I'm wrong and we win the turnover battle and pull off the upset.

Chris Fort: Where will Nebraska draw offensive firepower from, given their true freshman QB is hampered with a bad hamstring and their best player opted out?

Mike Schaefer: Just not sure Nebraska is in a position to seriously threaten a better team right now. Huskers hang around, but that's about as much as one could hope for here.

Husker Dan: Sad to say, but Utes roll.

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