Huskers Stars and Supporting Cast Shined in L.A.

For the first time in 32 years, Nebraska has won a game at the Rose Bowl.

In the city of stars, Nebraska’s stars shined the brightest. TJ Lateef dazzled in his first start, completing 13 out of 15 pass attempts. Emmett Johnson, however, was the star, recording the first 100-yard rushing and 100-yard receiving game by a running back in school history. Johnson and his linemen even made a case for his award nominations, striking the Heisman pose after a touchdown.

If you appreciate offensive efficiency, this game was perfect for you. Nebraska and UCLA combined for seven drives of at least nine plays. The Bruins scored on a 17-play drive to get their first points on the board. Their final points came on a 12-play drive, while a 13-play Bruin drive resulted in a missed field goal. The Blackshirts couldn’t bring Nico Iamaleava down, allowing him to extend long drives for UCLA. Both teams had a top 20% effort in terms of EPA per play and a success rate in the top 10% of all games played this season.

Both offenses moved the ball with relative ease. | Game On Paper

While Nebraska struggled to slow down UCLA, the Bruins had even more trouble stopping Emmett Johnson. Whether catching passes out of the backfield or making plays on the ground, he exploded for 232 yards. He’s now fourth among all Nebraska players since 1995 in yards from scrimmage through 10 games, trailing only Ahman Green in 1997 and Ameer Abdullah in 2013 and 2014.

While the stars deserve much of the credit for the win against UCLA, Nebraska’s supporting cast was once again essential, even if they weren’t as prominent as in previous games. One of my favorite stats is the average starting field position. Nebraska won this metric by over 10 yards against UCLA.

The part that makes this stat special is the number of different people who contribute to helping Nebraska win. Nebraska’s shortest drive of the day came after the Blackshirts forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back on their own 40. This led to a nine-play, 60-yard touchdown drive by Nebraska, which took a 21-7 lead. Archie Wilson, late in the game, was able to send two punts inside the Bruins' 10-yard line. While UCLA managed to put together an impressive 96-yard touchdown drive in response to one of those, the nearly seven minutes of game time that drive consumed gave Nebraska the chance to run out the clock by picking up a few first downs.

UCLA was a small favorite against a true freshman making his first start, but Nebraska was able to control the game. | Game On Paper

The Huskers’ passing defense remains elite. Although UCLA became the first team to score multiple passing touchdowns against Nebraska this season, Nebraska surrendered just 191 passing yards to the Bruins. The 1,346 passing yards Nebraska has allowed rank as the fifth-fewest in the country. The four teams with fewer passing yards allowed have played only nine games in 2025.

The win against UCLA now gives Nebraska four one-score wins this season, the most since 2013 and only one behind the program’s all-time record. Only Missouri State, Ole Miss and Tulane have more in 2025. This was a great team effort with all units contributing to the victory. Nebraska faces a tough pair of opponents at the end, but if the Huskers continue to play like they did against UCLA, they can win both games.

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