Football <\/p>\n
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 \u2013 to not sin in Sin City.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not get our wires crossed, though. This is a bowl game. It\u2019s not a regular-season game, and it\u2019s certainly not a Big Ten Conference game. However, for a team that hasn\u2019t beaten a nationally-ranked team since 2016, it\u2019s a chance to finally get a monkey off their back that\u2019s plagued them year after year. <\/p>\n
It can also be argued that even if Nebraska wins, it might come with an asterisk, given the bowl game atmosphere of today\u2019s 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\u2019s not exactly like we\u2019re getting mid-season form Nebraska against mid-season form Utah.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Utah\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe let everyone go home for four days, and you know guys flew on Christmas to get here,\u201d Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said Saturday during his bowl week press conference. \u201cEveryone was here on time. They all found a way to get here. The minute we landed, we didn\u2019t go to the hotel. We came directly here for the guys who were flying in on the team plane from Lincoln \u2013 came right to practice and sort of set the tone that hey, we\u2019re here to play football.\u201d<\/p>\n Nebraska’s Matt Rhule became the first college football head coach to zipline over Fremont Street tonight. Respect. pic.twitter.com\/abCemxlPsZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Las Vegas Locally \ud83c\udf34 (@LasVegasLocally) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Don\u2019t get Rhule wrong, they\u2019re 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 \u2013 it\u2019s Vegas. <\/p>\n Huskers in the house for @Giants<\/a> vs @Raiders<\/a>! pic.twitter.com\/8hcXRnE5Un<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Now the team is just a few days away from \u201cgo time,\u201d and for a team that is awfully young due to injury and opt-outs, it\u2019s time to get to work.<\/p>\n \u201cOur final line is just wanting to come out and have fun, but also joining and being here,\u201d Nebraska senior tight end Heinrich Haarberg said in his game week press conference. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re in the middle of nowhere here. It\u2019s a really cool destination for us to have fun. Coach R\u2019s done an unbelievable job kind of setting us up for that.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just Rhule who is helping set the tone this week for the Huskers \u2013 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. <\/p>\n \u201cAll he simply said was obviously we\u2019ve been through a lot this year,\u201d Rhule said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some great highs, we\u2019ve 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\u2019re here to play a football game.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 for many seniors on the team, it\u2019s a final chance for them to play the game they love.<\/p>\n However, even those sentimental seniors know these extra snaps need to go to the future of the team.<\/p>\n \u201cThese reps are invaluable for a lot of guys,\u201d Haarberg admitted. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s tough during fall camp and during the season. Some of these guys, they\u2019re talented, they\u2019re going to play someday, but it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s Kyle Whittingham are jumping ship to get their roots planted at their new school. <\/p>\n 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\u2019s teachings. Wednesday is a pride game for both programs. It won\u2019t define the season for either team, and it won\u2019t necessarily be a true picture into the future of either program.<\/p>\n For a player like Nebraska sophomore Jacory Barney Jr., it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty easy,\u201d Barney Jr. said of the team staying focused on the game at hand this week. \u201cOur schedule, our process \u2013 it pretty much sets us up for success. Every day, we may get a little free time, but it\u2019s set up right to where we have time to focus and lock in when it\u2019s time to lock in.\u201d<\/p>\n Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking\u00a0<\/em>Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0subscribing to\u00a0<\/em>HuskerMax on YouTube<\/em><\/a>, and visiting\u00a0<\/em>HuskerMax.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0daily.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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