Nebraska football takes on Penn State Saturday night at 6:00 pm in Happy Valley. You can watch the game on NBC. The weather forecast for the game is the day will be partly sunny with a high of 46. It will chill down to upper 30s before the end of the game.
How about that UCLA game?! I know you’ve had a relaxing bye week to forget about things but WOWZERS! Did I just witness a very young QB who was quick through his progressions and kept the defense a half a step slower with his run threat? TJ Lateef was 13-15 throws for 205 yards, including 3 touchdowns. Side note – it’s pretty special when former Husker QB and Heisman winner stops by to see you at practice. Well done, Eric Crouch. Lateef was named B1G Ten Co-Freshman of the Week. Congrats kid!
Emmett Johnson was out there being Emmett. He received the National Player of the Week award! In fact, there were quite a few comments about him getting stronger as the game went on. With only two games left on the schedule I think EJ will continue to get 25 carries or more a game. Emmett is a quality guy too, as he gave a shout out to his wide receivers and O-Line for blocking for him. OC Dana Holgorsen even said, “our receivers were out there hunting blocks.” It was also nice to see Jacory Barney finally show up on a stat sheet. That’s 3 road wins in case you weren’t counting, and the first time that’s happened for the Huskers since 2014.
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) November 11, 2025
Nebraska football tailgate will look at some cooked cat vs Penn State
On to this week. Penn State at night because why wouldn’t they schedule it so Nebraska gets back at 3 am Sunday on a short week for a Black Friday game. Interestingly, there are several Pennsylvania ties other than Matt Rhule. Linebacker Marques Watson-Trent, Mekhi Nelson and Elijah Jeudy are from there to name a few. Former coaches who played in Happy Valley are LB coach Rob Dvoracek, LB coach Phil Simpson and Coach Matt Rhule. They better remember where they get their paychecks.
The Nittany Lions are 4-6 but that’s deceptive. Yes, they lost 6 in a row at one point but after firing James Franklin, they seem to be back on track with interim coach Terry Smith (also a Penn St alum like Matt Rhule), and they are performing up to their significant talent level. The atmosphere will be the first true road game test for the Huskers. However, ticket prices were single digits since the students will be on break already. I'll be curious how much red is in the stands.
Penn State lost a starting QB. Now it's Redshirt Freshman, Ethan Grunkemeyer (6’ 2” & 207 lbs) who was 8/13 with 75 yards passing last game and had two touchdowns. Good news for the Blackshirts is that he’s not a guy who wants to run it much. Better news is that the head coach is fine with him just handing off the ball. Lions had 50 running plays versus 13 pass plays in their victory against Sparty last week. The biggest wide receiver threat is Davonte Ross who only had 2 catches but one of them was a LONG 75-yarder. Lions running back Kaytron Allen had a career high 181 yards off of 25 carries. Look for him to be carrying the load again against the struggling Husker run defense.
They always say that the most improvements happen between week 1 and week 2. I would suggest that it is true for Husker QB, TJ Lateef. They’ve given him another full week of experience with the 1’s and he looked pretty accurate with his spins in Pasedena. Granted, the Penn State defense is in the top 25 and their pass rush is going to be a problem for the youngster but I look forward to watching him spin it. He looked good a couple weeks ago. Good enough to get Dayton Raiola to decommit.
Penn State will eat clock during the white out in Happy Valley. Their O Line has me envious and are reminiscent of the kind of guys that played in Nebraska’s old Pipeline. They have big tight ends that will get results and compress the field, and it’s Senior Day. They are a physical bunch and there will be a lot of Huskers in the cold tub on Sunday. However, I'm not buying into the 9.5 point spread. This will be another one score game I suspect.
I think the win will come down to whoever has the explosive play, or better special teams. I don’t like the fact that Penn State has blocked 4 kicks so far this year. They are good. But, I do have LOTS of faith in Australia native, Archie Wilson. Thank goodness for Mike Ekeler and what he's put together. The fact that TJ Lateef seems to know when is the right time to get some quick yards with his feet to make 3rd down more manageable is also comforting. I would love a Blackshirt pick but the odds are slim with very few throws from the Nittany Lions.
I'm too busy planning the last tailgate next week to leave you with a winning recipe. That's on me but trying to figure out what to serve in the chilly hours before the 11 am kickoff on Black Friday overtook my timeline. Regardless, I'll be cheering on Big Red and screaming at my television no doubt. Just imagine the controversies when Nebraska pulls out the win...stay tuned and as always, GO BIG RED!