TJ Lateef Ignites the Husker Offense in Pasadena

The Nebraska football team bounced back in a major way on Saturday night, taking the fight to the UCLA Bruins from the outset. The Huskers scored on their first drive of the game and, other than a 2 minute, 13 second period of time when it was tied 7-7, led for the rest of the game. True freshman TJ Lateef shined in his first start as a Cornhusker, playing confident and fearless and showing off his athleticism in leading the Big Red to victory. The win is a major shot of momentum for Matt Rhule’s program, and a major bounce back after the heartbreaking loss to USC. We cover it all in the Topline Takeaways.

CHEERS TO THAT

TEEEEEEEEJ! TJ Lateef had his coming out party at the Rose Bowl, not far from where he starred as a high school athlete. I was in the house for this particular game, and when Lateef took off and ran for a 1st down on the first play from scrimmage, you could feel a jolt of energy run through the Nebraska fans in attendance. Husker fans do love our running quarterbacks, don’t we?

Lateef completed 13 passes on 15 attempts for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran five times for 31 yards. Much more importantly though, he ran the offense with cool, calm and confidence. His running ability seemed to open things up for Dana Holgorsen’s offense, which eclipsed 300 total yards for just the first time in the last four games. The stage wasn’t too big for Lateef; on a night when Matt Rhule and the Huskers really needed a win, the freshman was the man for the job.

Certainly, the young QB will face tougher defenses against Penn State and Iowa, and possibly during the bowl game as well. But I could not be more excited to watch him face those challenges; something tells me he’ll be up for the job.

Emmett, the Man Who Can Do it All. 129 yards rushing. 103 yards receiving. Three touchdowns. There are not enough words in the English dictionary to describe how valuable Emmett Johnson has been to this Nebraska football team. He seems to be getting better, stronger, and faster as the season goes on. The offense is at its best when it runs through EJ, and it’s fun to watch him embrace the role as a leader and a difference maker.

The junior running back will almost certainly be drafted if he decides to leave early. Is there a world in which he might want to run it back for one more season in Lincoln? You have to think he would be a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy going into the 2026 season. Could that, plus the fact that he would make a pretty penny for his final college season, be enough to keep him in scarlet and cream for one more year?

I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s enjoy the Emmett Johnson show for the rest of 2025, and hope he can lead us to several more victories.

Husker Fans at the Rose Bowl. One estimate I saw suggested there may have been 25,000 Husker fans in the beautiful old stadium, and that wouldn’t surprise me at all. The section we were in was almost entirely red. Fellow Common Fans took over roughly half of the stadium, and even the other half had plenty of red sprinkled among the UCLA fans.

The Rose Bowl is truly a special, iconic venue for college football. That UCLA is unable to fill that stadium on a regular basis will never not be shocking to me. Thankfully, on this night, Husker fans were more than happy to pick up the slack.

DIDN’T LIKE THAT

A Running QB Strikes Again. Nico Iamaleava is a heck of a quarterback. Recall, he led the Tennessee Volunteers to the playoff last season, and it was considered a major win for the Bruins when he decided to transfer to UCLA in the offseason. Iamaleava was solid through the air–17 of 25 yards for 191 yards and two touchdowns–but he really killed the Nebraska defense with his legs. He had 15 carries for 86 yards, and there were multiple times he seemed dead to rights and somehow not only escaped, but ran for big chunks of yardage.

Nebraska’s running defense as a whole has struggled all season long, but seriously, when was the last time we were good against running quarterbacks? The Solich era? Osborne? It’s frustrating to see, but John Butler’s defense did at least put a lot of pressure on Iamaleava, and they hit him hard all night long. Butler will have some work to do in the offseason, figuring out how to shore up Nebraska’s rushing defense. The good news is, he has a lot of young talent to work with.

BOTTOM LINE

Honestly, there’s not much else to nitpick about. When the Huskers went up 28-7 early in the 3rd quarter, it felt like they might just cruise to victory. Of course it couldn’t be that easy, but I will say, even when the Bruins scored to pull within seven at 28-21, I wasn’t panicked. The night just felt different, and I was supremely confident that the Big Red would come out on top. The Blackshirts made a couple key stops in the 2nd half, and the offense holding the ball for the final 4:47–with Lateef completing two clutch passes on the way to getting three key 1st downs–was a beautiful sight to behold.

The Huskers have a baller in Lateef. We’ll save the quarterback controversy conversation for another day. For now, Lateef gives the team a chance to win every game left on the schedule.

As always, GBR for LIFE.

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