Five Reasons Nebraska Will Win: Bowl Game Edition- Utah

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Well this is fun! I’ve had a little bit of a break to wash the bad vibes away and I am ready for the Huskers to dominate in the Las Vegas Bowl. In my six years of writing Five to Win, this is only my second chance to write for a bowl game and I am pumped.

It’s bowl season, which means you need to throw what you know about a team out the window. There are players gone, coaches gone, and fun antics all around.

#1 NEBRASKA HAS NEVER LOST TO UTAH

Nebraska and Utah have played four previous times, all of those meetings at Memorial Stadium. The Huskers have not lost a single one of those meetings.

Five in a row has a nice ring to it!

#2 SPECIAL TEAMS

Nebraska had a significant improvement in special teams in 2025 and they aren’t done yet. What better time than a New Year’s Eve bowl game is there to run one (or two, please two) back?

A blocked kick would be great too.

#3 QUARTERBACK COMFORT

TJ Lateef was thrown into the season and had some up and down performances. At times though, it seemed like the play calling was playing it safe instead of really letting us see what Lateef can do. Now with a a few starts and a month of extra practice under his belt, I’m ready for Lateef to put on a show. With transfer quarterbacks coming, he will be using this game to show what he is capable of.

#4 THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE

I’m interested to see what the Husker game plan looks like without Emmett Johnson and while I do think Johnson’s run game will be sorely missed, it does give Nebraska the element of surprise. Nebraska’s opponents were well aware that the key to stopping Nebraska was stopping Johnson, he just made it hard for them.

Who will step up? We don’t know and neither do the Utes.

Also, the opt outs for Utah are on their offensive and defensive lines which should work out in our favor.

#5 ABOVE .500

Nebraska is 27-27 in bowl games. This win will put the Huskers over .500. Last year they took the step to even out the wins and losses and this year they will take another step forward to put the Huskers back ahead in the winning column.

Plus ending the season 8-5 sounds a hell of a lot better than 7-6.

One last time this year, I say GOOOOO BIIIIGGGG REDDDD!

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