Opportunity Knocks for TJ Lateef in the Las Vegas Bowl

The Las Vegas Bowl offers a spotlight for Nebraska players looking to further cement themselves within the current coaching staff or showcase their abilities for future ones, potentially in the transfer portal.

That makes the New Year’s Eve bowl game an important one for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the Huskers have a chance to end the season on a strong note after back-to-back ugly losses to Penn State and Iowa to close the regular season.

An obvious Las Vegas Bowl spotlight is on Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef, who gets the chance to show that he’s the signal-caller Matt Rhule and company need to invest in moving forward, rather than worrying about grabbing one of the already dozens of quarterbacks in the transfer portal.

2025 stats

59-for-95 for 722 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions
27 carries for 98 yards and three touchdowns.

TJ Lateef Las Vegas Bowl — Could we see more of TJ Lateef as a runner with designed plays and more creativity given the extra time Dana Holgorsen has had to prepare for the Las Vegas Bowl? | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

What to know

Lateef entered the season as a true freshman and won the backup job with a strong spring. He debuted to immediate enthusiasm with good performances against Akron and Houston Christian in non-conference play, before being pressed into action following an injury to Dylan Raiola in the USC game.

The Huskers and Lateef enjoyed his first career start at UCLA, where Nebraska won 28-21 on the strength of Emmett Johnson’s play on the ground and through the air. Lateef finished with a pair of clunkers against Penn State and Iowa, however. Despite strong play from Johnson, the passing game simply wasn’t there. Lateef finished those two games a combined 30-for-61 for 256 yards and no touchdowns. He ran for a score on 12 carries for 17 yards. The offense as a whole put up just 26 total points.

What’s at stake

Lateef is already quite popular among segments of the fan base because he’s new and has shown flashes with both his arm and his legs. But most of those flashes came against the weakest teams on the schedule. That doesn’t mean they aren’t important, but a strong bounce-back game against Utah, and a game plan designed specifically for him by Dana Holgorsen, could go a long way toward showing whether Lateef is the guy for Matt Rhule and company to build around.

Lateef has shown poise and athleticism. He’s displayed touch on certain throws and the ability to hit the deep ball when it’s there. Can he show those traits against a Big 12 team? Can he guide Nebraska to a strong offensive day? Does he look like a value add to the offense and not simply someone managing it?

Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef leads the Huskers out of the tunnel ahead of the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

There’s also no All-American at running back this time. What does that mean for how things look next Wednesday?

There are more questions than answers with Lateef, but the Las Vegas Bowl could go a long way toward beginning to answer some of them.

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