The Pick Six Podcast - Husker sports news and analysis · Omaha World-Herald

After going bust in Vegas, what Nebraska needs to do in the portal

January 1, 2026·1 hr 6 min·4 clips

The kickoff return strategy left Nebraska repeatedly starting inside its own 20.

1. The Pick Six Podcast from the Las Vegas Bowl centers on Nebraska's 44-22 loss to Utah and what comes next for the Huskers. 2. Sam McKeown and Evan Bland host the discussion, and Bland is identified as the transfer-portal guru handling the roster reporting. 3. The episode asks whether Nebraska is built to compete with Utah, Penn State, and Iowa, or whether the bigger issue is identity. 4. Nebraska opened the game with a 14-7 lead after one quarter and then went through five straight three-and-outs. 5. Utah answered with 37 straight points, and the hosts say the final margin fit what they saw on the field. 6. Sam McKeown says Allegiant Stadium was bright, clean, and functional, and notes that it will host the national championship next year. 7. Evan Bland says Nebraska's offense had early success with Dana Holgorsen's five-wide concepts and then ran aground. 8. The hosts describe TJ Lateef as tentative in the pocket and say Utah's blitz looks created problems for Nebraska's protection. 9. They also say Nebraska got away from the run after early positive first-down yards and fell into longer passing downs. 10. The defense discussion turns to Caleb Benning's 13 tackles, Devin Dampier's 43-yard run, and the move toward a Rob Orich-led 4-2-5 structure. 11. Sam McKeown argues that Nebraska's kickoff-return choices, including Ja'Cory Barney's repeated starts near the 10, 16, and 18, hurt field position. 12. He pushes back on the 'scared money don't make money' approach and says the returns became a roulette-wheel strategy. 13. The hosts compare Utah's trench play and tight ends to Nebraska's defensive backs and say Utah looked like the more grown-up team. 14. They say Nebraska has lost its defensive identity and is not built around the line of scrimmage the way old Nebraska teams were. 15. Evan Bland says Matt Rule's postgame answer implied Nebraska is not a top-15 team, but also not a bottom-15 team. 16. The conversation connects the bowl result to Nebraska's late-season swoon, including five losses in the final seven games of the season discussed. 17. The tone is conversational, blunt, and reactive, with the hosts working through the game and the portal in real time. 18. The format mixes quick game takeaways, roster projections, and repeated back-and-forth debate over scheme and program direction. 19. Fans tracking Nebraska roster changes, portal moves, and Big Ten identity questions. 20. Casual listeners wanting a broad college-football recap with less Nebraska focus.

As heard by us

A bowl loss turns into a blunt read on Nebraska's thin quarterback room and portal pressure.

Nebraska's 44-22 bowl loss to Utah becomes less a scoreboard note than a roster check. Sam McKeown and Evan Bland use the media hotel conversation after Allegiant Stadium to read the game as evidence of where the Huskers stand, and the sharpest point is the quarterback room:…

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Why you'd press play

You need the portal plan after Nebraska got doubled up in Vegas.

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