Nebraska Walking the Line Between Fun and Focus in Las Vegas

There are many on-field goals for the Nebraska football team this week in their Las Vegas Bowl showdown with No. 15 Utah, but given the location of the game, they have one key off-field goal as well – to not sin in Sin City.

Let’s not get our wires crossed, though. This is a bowl game. It’s not a regular-season game, and it’s certainly not a Big Ten Conference game. However, for a team that hasn’t beaten a nationally-ranked team since 2016, it’s a chance to finally get a monkey off their back that’s plagued them year after year.

It can also be argued that even if Nebraska wins, it might come with an asterisk, given the bowl game atmosphere of today’s college football. Both the Utes and Huskers have seen marquee players opt out of the game with their future in mind. Add on the fact that Utah coach Kyle Whittingham just took on a new job at Michigan, and it’s not exactly like we’re getting mid-season form Nebraska against mid-season form Utah.

Nonetheless, Utah’s a team that will look to assert its will against a Nebraska team that is fighting with a lot of its weapons sidelined come Wednesday. That alone is reason enough for NU to make sure the chin straps are buckled up this week.

“We let everyone go home for four days, and you know guys flew on Christmas to get here,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said Saturday during his bowl week press conference. “Everyone was here on time. They all found a way to get here. The minute we landed, we didn’t go to the hotel. We came directly here for the guys who were flying in on the team plane from Lincoln – came right to practice and sort of set the tone that hey, we’re here to play football.”

Don’t get Rhule wrong, they’re certainly having fun this week too. On Sunday, the team took in the NFL game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Giants. Rhule also may or may not have been harnessed in a zipline on Fremont Street, flying above his team below. After all – it’s Vegas.

Now the team is just a few days away from “go time,” and for a team that is awfully young due to injury and opt-outs, it’s time to get to work.

“Our final line is just wanting to come out and have fun, but also joining and being here,” Nebraska senior tight end Heinrich Haarberg said in his game week press conference. “It’s not like we’re in the middle of nowhere here. It’s a really cool destination for us to have fun. Coach R’s done an unbelievable job kind of setting us up for that.”

It’s not just Rhule who is helping set the tone this week for the Huskers – so is senior defensive back Ceyair Wright. With plenty of distractions in the city that never sleeps, Wright wanted a chance to address the team about the opportunity in front of them.

“All he simply said was obviously we’ve been through a lot this year,” Rhule said. “We’ve had some great highs, we’ve had some great lows, but we do have a chance to go out and play a top-ranked team and what an experience it is and play one more game together. I thought his call to the guys to have fun, but to focus was great. I think the guys have all focused at a high level. All the other stuff is great, but we’re here to play a football game.”

For a lot of the new faces, including early enrollees, the extra bowl practices are also serving as first practices for the future of the team. It’s also one last go for the outgoing seniors of the team, like Wright and Haarberg. Even if bowl games still serve as a one-game showcase – for many seniors on the team, it’s a final chance for them to play the game they love.

However, even those sentimental seniors know these extra snaps need to go to the future of the team.

“These reps are invaluable for a lot of guys,” Haarberg admitted. “I mean, it’s tough during fall camp and during the season. Some of these guys, they’re talented, they’re going to play someday, but it’s just hard to get them the reps. The coaches do a great job of getting those guys reps while at the same time keeping some of the older guys focused and helping coaching those guys.”

Much like the end of the 2024 season, the Nebraska football team that jogs out of the tunnel will look quite different from what the fans became accustomed to this season. In this new era of the transfer portal, coaches like Utah’s Kyle Whittingham are jumping ship to get their roots planted at their new school.

Given his new destination, Rhule and company will go up against Whittingham soon enough, but the Huskers still have the task of playing a team ripe with Whittingham’s teachings. Wednesday is a pride game for both programs. It won’t define the season for either team, and it won’t necessarily be a true picture into the future of either program.

For a player like Nebraska sophomore Jacory Barney Jr., it’s all focus from here on out. He says he views the game as both a way to toast the senior class, but build for a bright future in Lincoln.

“It’s pretty easy,” Barney Jr. said of the team staying focused on the game at hand this week. “Our schedule, our process – it pretty much sets us up for success. Every day, we may get a little free time, but it’s set up right to where we have time to focus and lock in when it’s time to lock in.”

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