Husker Backfield Shake-Up: Who’s Running It Now?
Nebraska entered 2025 with nine running backs and zero seniors—and promptly lost a third of the room to NFL departures and the transfer portal. Isaiah Mozee, originally a top high-school receiver, led the group with 115 rushing yards and 14 catches. Mekhi Nelson shone briefly in the Las Vegas Bowl but otherwise struggled for touches. Kwinten Ives, poised to inherit a starting job, battled injury and never reclaimed his spring momentum. Conor Booth and Izaac Dickey saw only mop-up duty, while ex-linebacker Vincent Genatone turned special-teams grit into one solitary carry. Freshman Jamal Rule looms as the lone signee of 2026’s backfield haul. Meanwhile, 19 high-rated portal tailbacks remain uncommitted, including Baylor’s Bryson Washington and LSU’s Caden Durham, as Nebraska faces a pivotal decision about reinforcements to this suddenly thin room.
Welcome to Lincoln’s version of musical chairs, where everyone’s scrambling for a yard and half the team has already cashed out. It’s like ordering nine different burgers, only to send three back for being too rare and one for being gluten-free. Isaiah Mozee’s conversion from wideout to rusher? Comedy gold—“Hey KDub, try these weights instead of catching bombs!” And Kwinten Ives, sidelined by injury? Bless him, he thought he was in the clear until the universe handed him the 2025 version of Monday night prime rib. Meanwhile, the portal looks like a clearance rack at a thrift store—19 uncommitted backs begging for a home, yet Nebraska’s still window-shopping. Stick around, folks: this backfield’s going to need more hits than a county fair duck booth.
Rush Hour: Nebraska Snatches Bruin Edge Weapon
The Huskers bolstered their defensive front by landing veteran edge rusher Anthony Jones via the transfer portal. Jones, a four-year wanderer who’s cycled through Oregon, Indiana, Michigan State and UCLA, arrives with 37 career games, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a knack for pressuring quarterbacks. In 2025 at UCLA, he notched four hurries and 1.5 sacks in 11 games. His prior stints included career-best outputs at Michigan State and solid rotational snaps everywhere he went. Standing in Lincoln, Jones projects as a plug-and-play rotational end, offering a blend of length, motor and multi-system savvy to Matt Rhule’s aggressive front.
Ah, the portal: college football’s Tinder. Swipe right on Anthony Jones, whose resume reads like a backpacking trip through the Pac-12 and Big Ten wilderness. He’s been everywhere, man—Oregon one year, Indiana the next, then Michigan State, then UCLA, like he’s sampling every coffee shop in Seattle. But fear not, Nebraska fans, he’s finally parked his tackle-boots in Lincoln and promises to hustle more than your cousin at a family reunion tug-of-war. Expect stoppable runs and quarterback flinches—because if there’s one thing Jones has learned, it’s the art of getting under someone’s skin… and under their arm, and under their chin. Rhule just dialed up the ultimate rental, and this isn’t a short-term lease: he’s here to stay—at least until the next portal opens.
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