Nebraska Football had 50+ recruits in attendance to see the Huskers take on Washington on Halloween. Though the result ultimately didn’t play out the way the Huskers wanted, the Blackout game left a lasting impression on some key 2028 and 2029 targets. Here’s the latest intel double-digit targets that were in attendance for Saturday’s game.
*** 2028 Severn (Md.) Archbishop Spalding four-star interior offensive lineman Bryce Smalls made his way back to Lincoln for the fourth time to date and his second Blackout game experience.
“Nebraska has great fans and you can tell football means a lot to the people there,” he said. “It was cool getting to experience that atmosphere again.”
Smalls has been to Lincoln before, but Saturday’s visit was his first time on campus since Geep Wade and Lonnie Teasley took over the offensive line room. Meeting with Wade was impactful, but it’s been assistant head coach Jamar Mozee who’s been leading the way for the No. 6 interior offensive line prospect in the country. The Huskers have long been after Smalls and despite staff changes at offensive line, remain heavily under consideration for the four-star. That said, programs like Tennessee, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Alabama and Ohio State are pushing hard for the top-100 prospect. Nebraska’s successfully gotten him to campus four times now, they’ll need at least another visit or two if they want to pull Smalls out of Maryland.
*** 2028 St. Louis (Mo.) Cardinal Ritter College Prep four-star wide receiver Ryan Richmond-McDavis made his first trip to Nebraska on Saturday. One of the fastest prospects in the cycle, Richmond-McDavis put down a blazing 4.37 on the Under Armour camp circuit this past offseason. Nebraska was among the first to offer, back in September 2025 but were unable to get the four-star to Lincoln until this past weekend. That said, he notes he’s in regular contact with the coaching staff, hearing from Daikiel Shorts Jr. and/or Keith Williams at least three times a week. He spent time with both on campus along with Matt Rhule. Though the offense struggled, Richmond-McDavis came away impressed with how much the Huskers threw the ball and the the opportunities the wide receivers had to stretch the field and create big plays. Earlier this fall, Omaha (Neb.) Millard South traveled out to St. Louis to take on Cardinal Ritter College Prep. On Saturday, Richmond-McDavis re-connected with 2027 Millard South five-star quarterback Trae Taylor, who did his part to peer recruit the speedster to join him at Nebraska. Coming out of his first visit, the four-star says Nebraska is in his “top ten.”
*** Nebraska seems to have moved the needle with just about every offensive line target on campus, despite the loss. Outside of the aforementioned Smalls, 2028 Olney (Md.) Good Counsel four-star interior offensive lineman Josiah Eney, Powder Springs (Ga.) Hillgrove four-star offensive tackle Amaree Joshua, Murietta (Cali.) Valley four-star offensive tackle Vincent Shields and Pittsburgh (Penn.) Central Catholic offensive lineman Roman Maurizio left Lincoln with a better impression of the program than what they came in with. Nebraska’s offense might be struggling with its identity right now, but offensive linemen are enjoying what they’re seeing from Geep Wade’s unit and what they’re hearing from the first year assistant. The Huskers also had 2028 Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech five-star offensive tackle Antijuan Wilkes Jr. Credit to Nebraska for getting Wilkes to campus and they’ll continue to swing away at the five-star but they’ll need to put in a lot more work and get the five-star to campus a few more times to have a real shot of sticking around in that recruitment. Nebraska also got 2028 Des Moines (Ia.) Christian four-star offensive lineman Declan Heying back to Lincoln on Saturday, I’d consider the Huskers a dark horse. I don’t get the sense he’s a lock to stick in the Midwest with SEC and Big Ten attention growing, while Iowa and Iowa State are gunning to keep the four-star home. Still, Nebraska has quietly gotten him to campus three times and they’re a program I get the sense could shift momentum in this recruitment in a hurry.
*** Coming out of his last trip to Nebraska on Oct. 10, I noted the Huskers had emerged as the favorites to land 2028 Kansas City (Mo.) Center four-star tight end Israel “Izzy” Johnigan. Johnigan made it back to Lincoln last weekend and Nebraska remains the program to beat for the No. 6 tight end. National attention is growing though, it’s worth monitoring just how long Johnigan chooses to explore his options and how many national visits he opts to take later this fall and into the offseason. At this point, it’s hard to see a program overcoming the early lead Nebraska has established for themselves, but recent offers from Notre Dame and Oregon could shift this recruitment in a hurry.
*** Nebraska entered the weekend as the program pushing hardest for 2028 Sherman Oaks (Cali.) Notre Dame four-star running back Noel Washington. Coming out of the weekend, the Huskers stand atop his recruitment but it isn’t necessarily a commanding lead for the Huskers. Washington is a contender on the rise and he’s expected to see the Huskies in action at home later this fall. UCLA is the program close to home that’s given him a lot to think about. The Huskers are leading the pack, but a strong day on the ground from Nebraska’s backs could have seen the program earn a commanding lead for the four-star.
*** Nebraska entered the weekend in the top five for 2028 Corona (Cali.) Centennial three-star cornerback Jordan Kirkpatrick, a priority target for secondary coach Addison Williams and the Huskers defensive staff. The rising 6-foot-1 defensive back described Williams like an “older brother” and noted their conversations mean a lot. Still, Nebraska entered the weekend with ground to make up on programs closer to home like UCLA, Cal, Arizona State and Washington. Coming out of the weekend, the Huskers have a made a move up among that top five for the three-star. Now the question is, is that one visit enough for Nebraska to secure a commitment? Kirkpatrick is working towards a decision at the end of December/early January, there’s no guarantee Nebraska will be able to get him back to campus before decision day.
*** Severn (Md.) Archbishop Spalding EDGE Nomue Duncan and Forest (Miss.) EDGE Nosiah Davis both visited Nebraska for the first time on Saturday. Neither have stars by their name just yet, but Duncan has the likes of UCLA, Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska battling for his commitment while Davis has the likes of Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU battling for his commitment. Both were treated like priority targets, the Huskers certainly seem to be higher on both than rankings services at this point, and both came away impressed with what they saw from Roy Manning and his EDGE room.
*** 2029 Eastvale (Cali.) Roosevelt four-star defensive back Xavier Marshall made his long-awaited first trip to Lincoln to see his cousin, Andrew Marshall, in action for the Huskers. Andrew Marshall’s development under both Rob Aurich and Addison Williams isn’t loss on the younger Marshall.
“I expected Andrew to develop the way he did just playing in the Big Ten but also playing under the coaches and [specifically] Rob Aurich, who coached Chris Johnson Jr., a first round draft pick who also played at my high school and now seeing what Andrew is doing and becoming a potential first round pick shows me that his system works.”
Coming out of his first trip to Lincoln, Nebraska is now firmly in Marshall’s top five and the Blackout environment in Memorial Stadium gave him a lasting memory.
“The environment surprised me,” he said. “A lot the energy and fans gave me something I’ll always remember.”
*** 2029 Blue Springs (Mo.) South EDGE Cash Denney landed an offer from Nebraska just last week and quickly made his way to Lincoln to the first time on Saturday. Denney appears to be next up out of Blue Springs South and he’s hard to miss at 6-foot-5, 230-pounds. 2029 Orange (Cali.) Lutheran three-star quarterback Ezrah Brown made his first trip to Lincoln on Saturday, the Huskers are monitoring the top-25 signal-caller closely as he plays through his sophomore season.
