Will This Year’s O-line Be Matt Rhule’s Best At Nebraska?

Based on the portal and the maturing of his existing players, things are looking good

Geep Wade, Nebraska offensive line coach. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

This summer, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule was almost effusive about this fall’s Husker offensive line. Most fans want to believe him, mainly because they are looking for a sign - any sign - that the Husker football program is headed in the right direction. They know that if NU doesn’t make significant strides forward this fall, the Murderers Row schedule (Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, Washington and Iowa) could prove to be a blow to the future success of the Husker football program.

So what can Husker fans expect this fall? Some might say that being Rhule’s best O-line at Nebraska is akin to being the world’s tallest midget. The bar ain’t high.

Maybe so.

Let’s take a closer look at this fall’s Husker offensive line.

• Coach: Geep Wade (First year at NU. Was the O-line coach at Georgia Tech)
• Left Tackle: Elijah Pritchett (SR) 6-6, 325 Columbia, GA (2025 transfer from Alabama)
• Left Guard: Paul Mubenga (JR) 6-5, 315 Buford, GA (transfer from LSU)
• Center: Justin Evans (SR) 6-2, 315 East Orange, NJ
• Right Guard: Brendan Black (SR) 6-4, 320 Yulee, FL) (transfer from Iowa State)
• Right Tackle: Tree Babalade (JR) 6-5, 330 Hyattsville, MD (transfer from South Carolina)

Other players who are expected to vie for playing time this fall:

Gunnar Gottula, Tyler Knaak, Brock Knutson and Sam Sledge
Claude Mpouma (FR) 6-8, 335 Chicago, IL

2026 High School Recruits

• Hayden Ainsworth (FR) 6-5, 305 Biloxi, MS
• Claude Mpouma (FR) 6-8, 335 Chicago, IL
• Rex Waterman (FR) 6-5, 295 Chandler, AZ

Players not returning in 2026

• Rocco Spindler (Graduated)
• Turner Corcoran (Graduated)
• Henry Lutovsky (Graduated)
• Teddy Prochazka (Graduated)
• Houston Ka'aha'aina-Torres (Transferred)
• Jason Maciejczak (Transferred)
• JuJu Marks (Transferred)

My Take On The Offensive Line

Maybe part of the reason for Matt Rhule’s optimism for this fall’s O-line was his decision to replace last year’s O-line coach (Donovan Raiola) with Georgia Tech assistant Geep Wade.

BTW, Geep’s real name is Gideon Pillow Wade IV. The Geep nickname comes from his first two initials: GP. So now you know the rest of the story.

As any student of the game of football knows, a team’s offense is only as good as its offensive line. Capt. Obvious, I know.

Rhule knows that four-fifths of his O-line is made of transfers who have started games at the Power Four conference level. And of those four transfers, three of them were starters at SEC schools: Alabama, LSU and South Carolina.

More reason for his optimism stems from knowing he has a bench stocked with maturing talent such as Gottula, Knaak and Sledge. O-linemen tend to get banged up during the grind of a long season so depth will be important, especially late in the season.

So far this summer, things look good for Wade and his players.

So will this be Rhule’s best O-line at NU? I hope so. But lurking in the back of the minds of most Husker fans was what Rhule said about the Husker defensive line before the 2025 season.

“They’re hell on wheels!” he declared.

But after three blowout losses to end the ‘25 season, we know how that turned out.

So maybe we should throw caution to the wind. Let’s hope Rhule is right that the offensive line will be really good this fall. It’s just that Husker fans don’t want an O-line that is merely heck on wheels.

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