Nebraska football loses the horserace for 5-star offensive line target

Nebraska football fans know that the recruiting ride can be quite the roller coaster. Some days, there are a lot of ups, and other days there are a lot of downs. So far this week, the proverbial roller coaster has been head downhill at a pretty steady pace.

On Sunday, the Cornhuskers found out they’d lost the race for one of their top offensive line targets to Oregon State. That loss was a bit of a surprise considering how confident most analysts were that Matt Rhule and company had made some serious strides. On Monday, they suffered another recruiting loss.

Nebraska football loses the horserace for 5-star offensive line target

The Huskers had thought they’d be able to pull off one heck of an upset in landing Douglas Utu. However, it looks like the pull to play in the SEC was just a bit too much. Just one day after the Cornhuskers lost Brian Tapu, Utu announced he was headed to the Tennessee Volunteers.

Utu took an official visit with the Volunteers over the weekend and is now the fourth 2025 ESPN 300 prospect committed to the university. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound lineman's pledge to Tennessee follows other visits to Washington, Michigan, Nebraska and Alabama.

It was after the Nebraska visit that at least some recruiting analysts believed they could pull off the upset. That they didn’t win the race is becoming a bit of a trend during this period of recruiting and undoubtedly has some nervous about the results.

However, it’s worth noting that the Huskers might not be winning fights for these kinds of prospects, they are in the fight. That’s despite the fact that the Huskers are coming off a 5-7 season and haven’t been to a bowl since 2016. 

Should Nebraska football break that streak this season, they might find winning battles for 5-star prospects just a bit easier moving forward.