Matt Rhule and the Nebraska football team are expected to get several pieces of very good news this weekend, but that doesn't take the sting out of what has been a week's worth of weird recruiting news. On Thursday, the Huskers lost a third recruiting battle to a Big Ten rival they shouldn't be losing recruiting battles to. Even worse, NU lost a recruiting battle for the second straight day to Michigan State and its new coach, Pat Fitzgerald.
On Wednesday, Rhule lost a recruiting battle to the Spartans for linebacker Matthew Brady. The commitment to MSU wasn't entirely shocking, as Fitzgerald's squad was making serious progress in convincing Brady that East Lansing would be a better home than Lincoln. However, the Huskers should also be able to always beat a program like Michigan State in a head-to-head battle.
On Thursday, Nebraska took another blow, this time in the form of Henry Sakalas. The linebacker announced the Spartans had gained his commitment on Thursday morning.Â
Sakalas is from La Grange Park, Illinois. He was one of the visitors MSU had on campus last weekend and now joins Brady as someone who just wrapped up his recruiting a bit earlier than most around the sport expected.
Henry Sakalas and Matthew Brady give Nebraska football a strange Michigan State problem
Sakalas' commitment also likely calls off other scheduled visits with Illinois and Nebraska for the next two weekends. Sakalas had some other offers from Minnesota, West Virginia, San Diego State, and plenty of Power Four programs. He's ranked 855th overall in the class of 2027 on the 247Sports Composite, as well as 30th among prospects from Illinois.
Both losses to Michigan State are even more painful, considering Nebraska also lost a recruiting battle to Wisconsin. The Badgers started the week by nailing down the commitment of 4-star defensive back Mekhi Williams.Â
Williams, a former Florida State commit, was someone the Huskers hoped to flip. So was LSU and, of course, Wisconsin. Somehow, Luke Fickell was the one who convinced the talented defender to spend his college days in Madison.
None of Nebraska's recruiting losses are great, mainly because Matt Rhule and his staff are trying to show that the small and weak 2026 class was a blip. However, in the grand scheme of things as far as the most wanted and most talented prospects, Michigan State might have stolen players who were about to find there wasn't room in Lincoln. On the other hand, the official visit schedules of both hint at a degree of interest still there from the Huskers.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of all of this is that while the commits are all locked in this week, there's no guarantee Nebraska couldn't switch them before December and national signing day, if Rhule and his staff set their minds on it.
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