In-state freshman tells Nebraska and Matt Rhule he'll enter the transfer portal

Just a few weeks before the Nebraska Cornhuskers were set to play in a bowl game (which one, they weren't sure of quite yet), players started letting the team know that they were planning to enter the transfer portal.

Nebraska native and former three-star prospect Caden VerMaas was one of the first to reach out to head coach Matt Rhule to let him know he would be entering his name into the portal.

Throughout his true-freshman season, VerMaas played in just two games and didn't log any stats for the Huskers. However, with four seasons of eligibility remaining, it's undeniably unfortunate to see an in-state player head to another program.

Caden VerMaas to enter transfer portal

VerMaas was the first Nebraska player to let the team know that he would be leaving once the portal opens in January.

While the loss of VerMaas doesn't mean a huge loss of productivity, it could mean that more players start to consider the transfer portal as a viable option, instead of sticking around for another season with the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska finished the year with a 7-5 overall record, about as average as a Power Conference can get during the regular season. In fact, it's only one game better than the Cornhuskers' record from last year, which was 6-6 at the end of the regular season but ended with a five-point win over Boston College in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.

This postseason, it isn't clear who Nebraska will face in a bowl game, or even which bowl game the team is heading to, but despite yet another mediocre record, the Cornhuskers will continue to be led by Rhule.

As the end of the regular season approached, Nebraska and Rhule agreed to a two-year contract extension, keeping the Cornhuskers' head coach around through 2032 and increasing his buyout from $5 million to $15 million.