In the Wake of Bowl Defeat, These Huskers Confirm Their Return

Several Nebraska players said after the loss to Utah that they will return to the Big Red for 2026.

Nebraska defensive back Donovan Jones. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Despite a rough finish for Nebraska football to end its 2025 season, several key players confirmed their return to Lincoln to continue the program's rebuild with Matt Rhule in 2026.

Following Nebraska football's 44-22 Las Vegas Bowl loss to No. 15 Utah on New Year's Eve, several Husker players were made available to the media for postgame comments. Three defensive players - linebacker Vincent Shavers, defensive lineman Cameron Lenhardt, and defensive back Donovan Jones - confirmed their return to the program for the 2026 season. Jones returns to the program with three years of eligibility remaining, Shavers will have two, and Lenhardt will wrap up his college football career as a true senior next season.

Shavers may be the most notable returner of the trio following a standout true freshman season in 2024, while being limited by injury during the 2025 season, but playing in every contest for the Husker,s including 12 starts. The linebacker has played in all 26 possible games in his two years for the Huskers, amassing 86 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble.

Nebraska linebacker Vincent Shavers Jr. brings down Michigan's Justice Haynes for a 1-yard loss. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The Miami, Fla., native made a name for himself in the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl with six tackles, a sack, and two tackles for loss while forcing a fumble against Boston College. Shavers followed up his freshman season with 61 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss, despite having surgery on his thumb prior to the Minnesota contest in mid-October. After playing only seven snaps against the Golden Gophers, Shavers would play through the remainder of the Huskers' final six games.

Omaha native Donovan Jones also earned a spotlight heading into the 2025 season after a promising Pinstripe Bowl performance to end the 2024 campaign. Jones redshirted in 2024, playing in five games (including the bowl game, maintaining his redshirt) while recording three tackles and a tackle for loss against Boston College. The Omaha North grad played in every game this season for the Huskers, starting in 11 games and finishing with 59 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, and an interception.

The defensive back became the fifth Husker freshman to record 50 tackles since the NCAA restored freshmen eligibility in 1972, and aided the Huskers in finishing the 2025 regular season as a top 10 pass defense. He posted his first career interception against Northwestern in the Huskers' 28-21 home win, then followed up with a career-high two pass breakups against USC.

Donovan Jones celebrates his interception against Northwestern. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The most experienced of the confirmed returners is Lenhardt, who has been with Nebraska since 2023 after signing with the Huskers as one of the most coveted defensive line recruits out of IMG Academy in the 2023 cycle. The defensive lineman was named an honorable-mention freshman All-American in 2023 following a 16-tackle, five-tackle-for-loss, and three-sack season while earning four starts as a true freshman.

Lenhardt has played in 36 out of 38 possible games during his three-year Husker tenure, only missing two during his freshman season in Lincoln. The defensive lineman has started 13 games, including seven in 2025, totaling 55 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and a pass breakup in his three seasons with Nebraska. Lenhardt has not matched his sack total since his freshman campaign after amassing three in 2023, following with a half-sack in 2024 and two as a junior in 2025.

Adding to the defensive line returners could be Riley Van Poppel, who posted on his personal Instagram a photo of his Las Vegas Bowl uniform with the caption "Till next year." Van Poppel was not asked during his media availability about a confirmed return to Nebraska. The redshirt sophomore earned a single-digit jersey from his peers following a five-game season in 2024 that allowed the defensive lineman an additional season rather than play as a rotating piece behind 2024 standouts Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher.

Nebraska defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel forces a fumble from Houston Christian's Jake Weir. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“Riley (Van Poppel) will be a four-game guy. ‘Hey, you can play eight to 10 plays a game this year. Or you can be Ty Robinson of those guys when they leave,’" coach Matt Rhule said during the 2024 season of Van Poppel's redshirt. "So that’s a decision they make. It’s a credit to Riley. It's a credit to his family. Riley was joking with me yesterday. He said, ‘Hey, when they went out on the field for the first drive, I was waiting for you to say forget it, get in there.’ I just think it’s trust.

"Coaches are here to do what’s right for the players. So Riley could certainly help us," Rhule said. "I think Riley’s going to be a great player here, I think this year, because he stepped up last year (in 2023). This year of development because he’s on our scout team now and just how they get better."

Van Poppel was a standout in his first season in Lincoln, playing in 11 games with five tackles, a tackle for loss, and a half-sack. The redshirt sophomore played in all 13 games this season for Nebraska, starting three while garnering 16 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. The defensive lineman also blocked a field goal attempt in Nebraska's home win over Akron, and started the final three games of the season for the Huskers at Penn State, at home against Iowa, and in the Las Vegas Bowl against Utah.

Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef looks for a receiver during the second half of the Las Vegas Bowl. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Other players that were made available to the media, including quarterback TJ Lateef, running back Mekhi Nelson, and defensive back Caleb Benning, did not outright confirm their return to the Big Red but did allude to returning to the program to improve. Each player has three years of eligibility remaining.

"I played against four really good football teams so I learned a lot. I learned what I can do and what I can't do," Lateef said in his postgame comments.

"I know it is cliché, but bigger, faster, stronger. Improving my body. (I) got a little glimpse of it today, being able to play a full game," Benning said when asked about what he expects to improve upon heading into 2026. "It is a long season. I plan on playing a lot more snaps next year."

Matt Rhule | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The college football transfer portal will open on Jan. 2, as the NCAA has replaced the two-window model with a single window that will close on Jan. 16. Several Nebraska players have already announced their intent to leave, including quarterback Dylan Raiola, safety Caden VerMaas, running back Jamarion Parker, defensive back Malcolm Hartzog, and linebacker Maverick Noonan.

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