Nebraska football sees recruiting highs and lows, losing 4-star IOL to Miami

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. No, 1,000 monkeys aren’t writing this article. That sentence just sums up recruiting for Nebraska football so far this summer. If May and early June were the worst of times with a dry spell and some big-time recruiting losses, late June has been the best of times with three offensive line commits in a 7-day streak.

And perhaps we’re back to the worst of times with Friday’s recruiting loss to the Miami Hurricanes. 4-star interior offensive lineman SJ Alofaituli was likely always going to head to the Sunshine State but for a while there, it felt like the Huskers had a shot.

Whatever hopes the Nebraska football had of stealing its fourth offensive line commit since Brian Tapu kicked things off was dashed on the rocks when Alofaituli announced on 247Sports’ YouTube channel he’d picked the ACC’s rising power.

Nebraska football loses out to old foe in IOL recruiting battle

The Huskers were in the fight right to the very end with other finalists Miami, and Michigan and to some degree, the fact that NU was right there for the four-star prospect from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman is a bit of a moral victory.

As has been the case with several other targets this summer, Matt Rhule has the Huskers looking like they’ve had better chances with some of the country’s best players in a way that hasn’t been the case for several years. The next step is actually winning more of these battles.

It’s of course, also worth pointing out that it’s only July. Nebraska football has lost recruiting battles before only to make a late push. Dylan Raiola obviously comes to mind. Tapu is a much more recent example, and that took just a few days to turn it around.