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Nebraska Secures Commitment of Starting Safety from San Diego State

Dwayne McDougle has played under new Husker defensive coordinator Rob Aurich at multiple stops.
Trevor Tarr|
Dwayne McDougle recorded 51 tackles, 4 interceptions, and a forced fumble in 2025 at San Diego State.
Dwayne McDougle recorded 51 tackles, 4 interceptions, and a forced fumble in 2025 at San Diego State. | James Snook-Imagn Images

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Nebraska CornhuskersSan Diego State Aztecs

When it rains, it pours, and for Nebraska football, that means two portal commitments in nearly the same number of minutes.

Shortly after the Huskers secured the commitment of quarterback Anthony Colandrea from UNLV, Rob Aurich saw a familiar face follow him to Lincoln. Former San Diego State starting safety Dwayne McDougle took to social media early Tuesday evening to confirm his commitment to Nebraska.

The news gives the new-look Blackshirts a proven defender to help bookend the Huskers' secondary next fall, and it gives McDougle a new place to call home.

McDougle, who began his career at Northern Arizona in 2022, will now follow his defensive coordinator for the second time in his career. As a true freshman, the safety saw the field in one game for the Lumberjacks, where he recorded the first tackle of his career.

After making the move to Idaho in 2023, McDougle began to seperate himself from the pack. As a redshirt freshman for the Vandals, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound safety totaled 29 tackles, five passes defended, a pair of interceptions, and forced a fumble. Though Aurich made his way to San Diego State after the '23 season, McDougle would stay with the program for one more year.

In 2024, McDougle took another sizeable leap. Appearing in 14 games that fall as a redshirt sophomore, he posted 58 total tackles and six passes defended before following Aurich to the Golden State for the 2025 season.

The reunion made a positive impact on both player and coach. As a junior, the safety added 51 more tackles, 4 interceptions, and a forced fumble to his growing résumé. To date, McDougle has recorded 139 career tackles and six interceptions.

While he brings to Nebraska several years' worth of proven production, what may be the most important factor is his familiarity with Aurich's 4-2-5 system. The two have worked together across multiple stops, and Nebraska is in position to become the third program where the duo has found success.

McDougle isn't the only former Aztec Nebraska has signed. On Monday, sophomore linebacker Owen Chambliss committed to the Big Red. Under Aurich's guidance, Chambliss totaled 110 tackles, 4 sacks, 5 pass breakups, and an interception during San Diego State's 2025 season.

The two former Aztecs are not only accustomed to how Auirch's system works; they also offer immediate reinforcements to two key defensive position groups that lost proven production after the Las Vegas Bowl.

In the defensive backs room, Nebraska lost multiple starting-caliber defenders, including Ceyair Wright, DeShon Singleton, Malcolm Hartzog and Marques Buford. All four had extensive starting experience in their careers in Lincoln, and McDougle quickly helps slow the bleeding from that group.

At linebacker, the Huskers lost three seniors who started various numbers of games for the Blackshirts this season. Javin Wright, who led the team in tackles this fall, Dasan McCullough and Marques Watson-Trent all leave the program with immediate NFL hopes.

Chambliss, along with fellow linebacker commit Will Hawthorne, gives aid to a room set to return only one player with noteworthy experience in will-be junior linebacker Vincent Shavers.

With that in mind, Nebraska is now up to five transfer portal additions in as many days. The Huskers have extended offers to nearly two dozen scholarship recruits, and days like Tuesday begin to show that this staff's hard work is paying off.

Nebraska needs to rebound on the field in 2026 in a big way, and McDougle's addition should help this squad inch closer to that reality over the long road ahead. With players being able to help their new teammates learn Aurich's system, it will only benefit the rest of the roster as a whole.

And with hopes of the same sort of turnaround that Aurich engineered at San Diego State in 2025, bringing several of the top pieces that helped make that happen has the potential to put the Huskers on the right track to doing so in Lincoln next fall.

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Trevor Tarr
TREVOR TARR

Trevor Tarr is the founder of Skers Scoop, a Nebraska football media outlet delivering original coverage through writing, graphics, and video content. He began his career in collegiate athletics at the University of South Dakota, producing media for the football team and assisting with athletic fundraising. A USD graduate with a background in journalism and sports marketing, Trevor focuses on creative, fan-driven storytelling in college football.

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