Friday Flakes: Justin Evans Makes a Preseason All-American Team Amid Low Win Total Expectations by Some

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

What does Oregon’s Dante Moore (QB), Indian’s Charlie Becker (WR), Iowa’s Trevor Lauck (OT) and Nebraska’s Justin Evans (C) all have in common?

They were named to the preseason All-American second team by The Athletic.

Justin Evans was also named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List for the upcoming season. Here is a statement from the Athletic Department on that topic:

Justin Evans was honored Thursday, as he was named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List. The 40-person preseason list is chosen by the trophy committee using data from Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Evans returns as one of the team leaders for the Huskers this fall, as the East Orange, N.J., native has 31 career starts at Nebraska and logged 38 career appearances as a Husker. He leads an experienced Husker offensive line that returns a pair of starters in 2026. Last season, he started all 13 games at center, paving the way for Emmett Johnson to earn first-team All-America honors. He started all 12 games at guard in 2024 and played in all 13 games, including five starts, as a redshirt freshman in 2023.

Of the 40 members of the watch list, 13 are from the Big Ten, the most of any conference.  The Rimington Award is determined by a combination of All-America Teams, including the Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News and the Football Writers of America.

The award, which is named after former Husker great and College Football Hall of Famer Dave Rimington, a two-time first-team All-American and two-time Outland Trophy winner. As a senior in 1982, he swept both the Outland and Lombardi Awards and finished fifth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

It is never a bad thing to have one of the best Centers in the country to lead your offensive line.

Low Win Expectations

The Over/Under Win Total line for Nebraska has been set at 6.5 wins.

Like clockwork most of us were thinking six wins a few months ago. Now we have people talking about eight or nine wins.

Well two recent predictions or ratings should pour a little water on that.

In The Athletic, Stewart Mandel is predicting that Nebraska will be the 14th best team in the Big Ten. The final record will be 6-6 and going 3-6 in the conference.

The following was sent to me, and admittedly I do not know what PEAR Ratings even means but their analytics has Nebraska at 5.2 wins or 98th in the country. You can attach whatever legitimacy to it that you want.

With a little more local flavor, the writers at On3 (Sean Callahan, Steven Sipple and Robin Washut) all have Nebraska going 7-5. Though that was nearly a month ago.

For me? If I had to put a large sum of money down on it, I’m probably going under 6.5 wins at this time. Every year I end up talking myself into more wins. I’ll publish my official prediction at some point but the only game I missed last season was Iowa.

Here are a couple other examples or anecdotes on the topic as well.

What say you?

SPORTS! SPORTS! JORTS! SPORTS! SPORTS!

The 3-2-1: Justin Evans’ rare opportunity, Nebraska’s RT battle and Emmett Johnson keeps rising
Justin Evans eyes history, Gunnar Gottula pushes at right tackle and Emmett Johnson makes his case in Kansas City.

We hit on that and more in this week’s 3-2-1 column with the latest insights, key questions, and one bold prediction.

Corey Brown details why ‘attack-react’ approach best suits Nebraska’s IDL
Corey Brown has work to do. The first-year interior defensive line coach from Miami (Ohio) inherits a D-tackle room that contributed to Nebraska’s 4.82 ypc allowance in 2025. Plus, just three total sacks from a season ago currently sit among his position room.

In the hope of fixing those issues, first-year defensive coordinator Rob Aurich from San Diego State chose Brown to coach his D-tackles, shifting NU from a three- to a four-man front.

2026 Big Ten college football predictions: Oregon, OSU are loaded, but will Indiana repeat?
The reigning king of college football could be especially entertaining this season, thanks largely to scheduling luck. Unlike the past two years, when the top teams barely played each other, my predicted top four — Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State and USC — play five of a possible six matchups against each other.

College football preseason 2026 All-America teams from The Athletic
The Southeastern Conference hasn’t won a national championship since Georgia trounced TCU in January 2023, but it’s still the league that produces the most high-end talent. The SEC has led all conferences in NFL Draft picks for 20 consecutive seasons, including a record 87 in 2026.

It’s also the league that produces the most preseason All-Americans. This marks the fifth time in the last six years the SEC has had the most representation on The Athletic’s All-America teams (the Big Ten led in 2023). And for those Big Ten fans thinking: That’s great, but which conference has had the most postseason All-Americans? Well, you’ll be happy to hear that over the last five seasons (2021-25), the Big Ten leads with 72, followed by the SEC (62), ACC (30) and Big 12 (30).

Husker DL Whittington: ‘I have the heart of a lion’
Nebraska defensive lineman Jahsear Whittington is aware of the discussion around his size and the questions about how he’ll hold up during this first year in the Big Ten. 

Count Whittington among those who aren’t concerned. 

The Pittsburgh transfer has bulked up nearly 25 pounds since arriving on campus in January. Whittington said he was “maybe a pound below” 250 pounds when he showed up in Lincoln and this week was practicing between 275 and 279 pounds. The quickness and bend that he showed at Pitt, however, is still there. 

College football’s mad two-week scramble to land a transfer portal QB
EIGHT DAYS ON the road. Six college visits. More than 6,000 miles traveled across the country and back.

After starting 10 games in the SEC at Missouri last season, Beau Pribula expected his transfer portal experience in January to be one school, one trip, done deal. The first visit was supposed to be a mere formality, with a coaching staff he knew well, before he signed and enrolled for his senior year.

“STICK TO SPORTS!” Nah.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos