Nebraska Football’s Las Vegas Bowl Disaster: Ugly, Expected, and Maybe Necessary

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The Las Vegas Bowl was supposed to be a measuring stick. Instead, it was a funeral for a season that limped to the finish line. Nebraska football fell to Utah 44-22 in a game that looked exactly as bad as the most pessimistic fans predicted. But here’s the thing—maybe that’s okay.

Let’s not pretend anyone walked into this game with real expectations. Social media spent weeks telling us the Huskers would get steamrolled. Utah was a 10-2 team masquerading as a 7-5 squad thanks to late-season stumbles, while Nebraska was a 7-5 team that probably overachieved just to get back to bowl eligibility for a second straight year under Matt Rhule.

The game started promisingly enough. Nebraska’s offensive line—yes, the same unit that’s been a punchline for years—actually dominated the line of scrimmage early. The announcers said it out loud. Nebraska was pushing people around. For about two series, it felt like something had changed.

Then reality set in. Utah adjusted to a one-dimensional offense that couldn’t threaten through the air, stacked the box, and dared TJ Lateef to beat them. He couldn’t. The running game disappeared, and the Las Vegas Bowl became a slow-motion car crash.

But the defense? That’s where the real story lives.

Nebraska gave up 535 total yards, including 310 through the air. Receivers ran open like it was a 7-on-7 camp. Players looked confused, unsure of their assignments, scrambling to remember a base defense they hadn’t run in weeks. This wasn’t a talent problem—it was a coaching problem. John Butler was already fired. The new defensive coordinator was watching from the sidelines, taking notes. The players on the field were playing for ghosts.

When your defensive coordinator is a dead man walking and you’re installing new schemes in bowl prep, confusion is inevitable. Nebraska went from exotic three-man fronts to vanilla four-man looks just so players could remember their assignments. Utah’s offense tore that apart like wet paper.

So what now? The Matt Rhule era enters year four with more questions than answers. Dylan Raiola is gone—a departure that brings more relief than sadness for fans who never believed he had the processing speed for elite quarterback play. TJ Lateef returns as potentially the only scholarship quarterback on the roster, meaning the transfer portal better deliver two or three viable arms.

The offensive line needs bodies. The defensive line needs giants. But most importantly, Nebraska football needs patience—something Husker Nation has been fresh out of for two decades.

Here’s the counterargument to burning it all down: Kirk Ferentz went 1-10, 3-9, and 3-9 in his first three years at Iowa. Dabo Sweeney was on the hot seat after year two at Clemson. Jim Harbaugh had Michigan fans calling for his head before he won a national championship.

The Las Vegas Bowl was brutal. But it was also meaningless. The real test comes in August when Matt Rhule’s roster reconstruction faces Big Ten competition with no more excuses.

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