UCLA is now 3-6, but anybody who has been paying attention knows that their record does nothing to explain the story of their 2025 season. Their head coach at the start the season, DeShaun Foster, was fired after the Bruins started 0-3 with losses to Utah, UNLV and New Mexico. UCLA also fired their offensive and defensive coordinators.
Then it appears a spark was lit. UCLA loses by three at Northwestern and then beats #7 ranked Penn State. Then they follow up that big win by beating Maryland and Michigan State. Their offense was putting up points and benefiting from the play calling of Jerry Neuheisal (currently 33 years old). Unfortunately for them they ran into Indiana who looks like the best team in the country and lost in a convincing fashion.
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Fortunately for them, they got a bye week before Nebraska came to town.
Unfortunately for them, Nebraska showed up with 25,000 friends to help them fill the stadium.
Unfortunately for Nebraska, their starting quarterback went down with a season ending injury the week before.
Fortunately for Nebraska, T.J. Lateef was the backup quarterback.
Nebraska beat UCLA last night 28-21, to get to their seventh win of the season. Just to reiterate what happened last night. A wounded Nebraska football team, with injuries up and down the roster, came to town against one of the hottest teams in the conference who has one of the best quarterbacks in the country. The game was at 8 p.m. central time and was on the west coast. Nebraska’s quarterback was starting his first game and it was on the road. Also UCLA was coming off of a bye. UCLA was a 2.5 point favorite.
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The Huskers controlled the game. Even when UCLA tried to make it a game in the fourth quarter it never really felt like Nebraska was going to let this one get away.
Which brings me to my main point. At some point Nebraska fans (myself included) need to simply drop their baggage. Stop carrying it around. Call your local garbage collection company and order a rolloff if you need to. Use the rolloff to deposit all that Nebraska football baggage you continue to hold on to. In fact, I bet your neighbors would help finance that rolloff because they probably have their own Nebraska football baggage they’d like to toss in as well.
There was a lot going against Nebraska last night against UCLA and yet they still walked away with a win. When Nebraska went up 28-7, many fans and I include myself, kept looking around the corner for the boogie man. UCLA made a couple plays with some long drives to pull it within a touchdown but when it was winning time the Nebraska offense put the game away.
Nebraska won by seven but it felt like more.
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They now get their own bye week before the season finale of Penn State and Iowa. They will likely be underdogs in both games. Those games both look daunting.
Use this bye week to find somewhere to lose the baggage. If you have an annoying neighbor, then maybe take it to his house. Or like I said above, order a rolloff if you need.
The Morning After
Steven Sipple: In a hard-fought win, Husker freshman QB Lateef makes it look easy
Nebraska earned a hard-fought triumph Saturday night in the Rose Bowl.
As you know, Big Ten football wins seldom come easily for any team, and the Huskers encountered rough waters late in this game.
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Through it all, easily the most intriguing element of the contest was Nebraska’s TJ Lateef made it look easy on offense as his team held off UCLA 28-21.
UCLA vs. Nebraska: Final takes and grades
Nebraska (7-3, 4-3) arguably had one of its better showings of the season as the Huskers beat UCLA (3-6, 3-3) 28-21 on Saturday.
Here are the final takes and grades following NU’s win, as Nebraska now heads into its second bye week of the season.
What we learned from Nebraska’s win over UCLA
PASADENA, California – For the third time this season, Nebraska responded from a disappointing loss with a bounce-back victory, topping UCLA 28-21 in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night.
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Here are five of our biggest takeaways from the win and what it means for NU going forward…
Report Card: Breaking down Nebraska’s win over UCLA
PASADENA, Calif. — Nebraska football finished off a 28-21 win over UCLA on Saturday evening to head into the bye week sitting at 7-3.
Here’s a report card from after Saturday night’s win over the Bruins:
Rhule and player postgame notes after Huskers beat UCLA
Nebraska leaves the Rose Bowl with a 28-21 win over UCLA. Feeling good, feeling great. Let’s fire off some shorthand quotes from Matt Rhule and players after the win with the full stories to come.
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– Matt Rhule said it was a great football game. He thought Nico Iamaleava was fantastic and is a warrior.
– He said Nebraska hit him so many times and he didn’t know how long he could do it. “And he just did it all night.”
Nebraska tops UCLA: Emmett Johnson, TJ Lateef lead the way as Huskers clinch winning season
Nebraska beat UCLA 28-21 on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl behind a steely nerved performance from quarterback TJ Lateef in his starting debut.
Lateef, a true freshman from Compton, Calif., threw for 205 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-15 passing as the Huskers improved to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten, clinching a winning regular season for the first time since 2016.
