// This is the single game page 2025 Utah football - HuskerMax

Utah 44
Nebraska 22

Dec. 31, 2025 • 2:30 p.m. Central
Las Vegas Bowl • Las Vegas, NV • ESPN
1st 2nd 3rd 4th  F 
Utah 7 17 14 6 44
Nebraska 14 0 0 8 22
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
First quarter
 NU: M.Nelson 38 run (Cunanan kick) 11:08
 UU: Dampier 3 run (Curtis kick) 8:33
 NU: Barney 8 pass from Lateef (Cunanan kick) 2:20
Second quarter
 UU: Buchanan 20 pass from Dampier (Curtis kick) 10:05
 UU: Dillon 28 field goal, 4:13
 UU: Dampier 11 run (Curtis kick) 0:20
Third quarter
 UU: Rogers 3 run (Curtis kick) 10:40
 UU: Dampier 5 run (Curtis kick) 5:56
Fourth quarter
 UU: Bentley 17 pass from Dampier (kick failed) 8:16
 NU: Lateef 7 run (Clark pass from Lateef) 1:55

                           NU         UU
FIRST DOWNS .............. 17         26
  By rushing ............. 11         12
  By passing .............. 6         13
  By penalty .............. 0          1
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) ... 37-161     45-225
PASSING-YARDS (NET) ..... 182        310
  Comp-Att-Int ...... 15-28-1    19-31-0
TOTAL OFFENSE ........ 65-343     76-535
Punt Returns-Yds ........ 0-0        2-1
Kickoff Returns-Yds .... 4-70       2-17
Int. Returns-Yds ........ 0-0        1-0
Punts-Avg. ........... 5-42.6     3-35.7
Fumbles-Lost ............ 0-0        1-0
Penalties-Yds .......... 5-35       4-25
Possession Time ....... 31:39      28:21
Third-Down Conv. ....... 8-16       7-14
Fourth-Down Conv. ....... 1-3        2-3

RUSHING
  NU: M.Nelson 12-88; Mozee 7-32; Lateef 13-22; Ives 4-14; Barney 1-5.
  UU: Dampier 19-148; Parker 16-50; Rogers 3-11; Ficklin 5-10; Johnson 1-3; Bray 1-3.

PASSING
  NU: Lateef 15-28-1 182.
  UU: Dampier 19-31-0 310.

RECEIVING
  NU: Mozee 4-48; Key 4-28; M.Nelson 3-48; Barney 2-21; Clark 1-31; Lundenmeyer 1-6; 
  UU: Bentley 6-106, Davis 5-66, Buchanan 4-76, Parker 3-53, Simmons 1-9.

Attendance: 38,879
TJ Lateef
Nebraska Athletics
Quarterback TJ Lateef twirls into the end zone for the Huskers’ final touchdown after being upended by a Ute near the goal line.

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Utes roll past Huskers in Vegas

Utah dominated play after the first 15 minutes and made easy work of the Huskers, 44-22, in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Things looked promising for Nebraska early on. The Huskers led 14-7 after one quarter on a pair of long touchdown drives, the first of which was capped by Mekhi Nelson’s 38-yard scoring jaunt.

Once the first quarter expired, however, everything turned Utah’s way.

During the pivotal second period, Utah outyarded the Huskers 198-17 as Nebraska failed to garner a single first down. On defense, meanwhile, the Huskers had their opportunities but couldn’t close the deal: The Utes converted a third-and-20 for a touchdown, a fourth-and-4 en route to a field goal and a third-and-9 for a touchdown that made it a 24-14 game at the break.

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

After intermission, Utah picked up where it left off, scoring a pair of third-quarter touchdowns as the Nebraska offense continued to flounder. During a 26½-minute stretch spanning the middle two quarters, the Huskers gained five net yards and zero first downs on six possessions.

The Utes’ lead grew to 44-14 in the fourth period before Husker quarterback TJ Lateef scored with 1:55 left and threw for a two-point conversion to make it a more respectable 44-22 final. Still, it was a third consecutive game lost by 20 points or more, the first time that has happened to Nebraska since 2007.

Omaha World-Herald*
HuskerMax/On SI
Lincoln Journal Star*
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2025 results
08/28 @ Cincinnati W 20-17
09/06 Akron W 68-0
09/13 Houston Christian W 59-7
09/20 Michigan L 27-30
10/04 Michigan St. W 38-27
10/11 @ Maryland W 34-31
10/17 @ Minnesota L 6-24
10/25 Northwestern W 28-21
11/01 South­ern Cal L 17-21
11/08 @ UCLA W 28-21
11/22 @ Penn State L 10-37
11/28 Iowa L 16-40
12/31 Utah L 22-44
— 2024 | 2026 —

Commentary

Stryker

The Huskers demonstrated how far they have to go to become relevant on the national stage.

Tad Stryker
HuskerMax/On SI
Henry

While a bowl game against the No. 15 team in the final College Football Playoff rankings brought with it opportunity, it also showed just how far away this program is.

Kaleb Henry
HuskerMax/On SI
Callahan

NU came into the game short handed, and that’s exactly how it played out on the field.

Sean Callahan
HuskerOnline
Shatel

The offense that would work for Rhule was right under his nose Wednesday at Allegiant Stadium — the system run by Utah's Jason Beck.

Tom Shatel *
Omaha World-Herald
Sipple

There have been so many embarrassments like this for the Huskers in the past 15-plus years that it’s difficult to put them in perspective.

Steven Sipple *
HuskerOnline
Johnston

Nebraska went from exotic three-man fronts to vanilla four-man looks just so players could remember their assignments. Utah’s offense tore that apart like wet paper.

Jon Johnston
Corn Nation
Just

Authenticity and toughness. Those — while they were not consistently on display in 2025 — should be Nebraska’s core principles next season.

Amie Just *
Lincoln Journal Star
Rubek

All of the Huskers’ flaws were on display in Sin City, especially the Blackshirts’ failure at tackling.

Anthony Rubek
Daily Nebraskan
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