Mekhi Nelson’s always given football his all, but he’s got another reason to compete for Nebraska this season.
The junior running back and his girlfriend welcomed their first child, a son, in September.
“I’m not just playing football for me now, I’m playing it for my son,” Nelson said. “My son’s got to eat, so it’s like I go out every day with that on the front of my mind. I’ve got to do it for my kid now.”
Nelson got to spend extra time with his son last week while the Huskers were idle. The tailback said it’s meant a lot becoming a father.
“I was getting told by everybody on the staff who is a father, they were like, ‘There’s nothing like it, but you don’t know that feeling until you actually have your own,’” Nelson said. “You’re holding him, and it’s like you see your face on a baby. It’s the best thing in the world; words can’t even describe it.”
With his son motivating him, Nelson’s done well for the Huskers this year. The 6-foot back has carried the ball 71 times for 309 yards and four touchdowns while also catching 11 passes for 153 yards and another score. In just seven games this season, the junior has nearly doubled his career yardage total from his first two seasons (13 games) in Lincoln.
The break allowed the players to rest, and Nelson said he feels great physically. He suffered an ankle injury earlier in the year but is ready to get Nebraska’s run game going against Washington. The Huskers will welcome the Huskies to Memorial Stadium Saturday night, and Nelson wants the backs playing to their standard.
“When we see holes, we’ve got to accelerate through them,” Nelson said. “We’ve just got to break tackles, we’ve got to run through tackles and things like that. I feel as though this week is a week that we’re going to get better on that, and everything that we’ve been lacking the last couple of weeks, I feel like we’re just going to hone in on those and get better at that. Hopefully this week we get back to our groove.”
That’s exactly what Coach Matt Rhule wants to see from his team this week. He challenged Nebraska to take accountability for their two losses during break.
“While we’re in film, he doesn’t want, ‘Oh, my bad, my bad,’” Nelson said. “He wants more like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to own this.’ Like yeah, that’s my bad, but what are we going to do to be better at that? It’s more attention to detail in practice after we see the mistakes that we made and things like that.”
Running backs coach EJ Barthel is helping the backs attempt to limit turnovers by working on ball security during camps and practices. Barthel teaches the five points of ball security and uses a ball security sheet to test the backs’ ball security levels. The sheet has three levels to see how tight each player holds the ball during reps.
Mekhi Nelson (13) scores a touchdown in the second quarter against the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Lincoln, NE. Photo by John S. Peterson.
“A one is horrible ball security, two is like it’s OK, and then three is like you’ve got perfect ball security,” Nelson said. “I feel as though things like that help remind us we’ve really got to hone in on holding the ball and securing the ball.”
The backs will look to put Barthel’s teachings on display against the Huskies on Saturday night in the program’s Blackout game. Nebraska debuted the black aesthetics last year against USC, and Nelson expects another great atmosphere for this year’s iteration.
“Last year it was something that I didn’t even expect,” Nelson said. “I knew it was going to be big, but I didn’t think it was going to be that big, so I just feel as though going into this year, I feel like it’s going to be better than last year.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network and the Huskers Radio Network.
“They do lots of twists and things like that,” Nelson said of Washington’s defense. “I feel as though they have big defensive linemen, big ‘backers that fill the run, so it’s like we’ve just got to put our big boy pads on, go out there, break tackles and make big plays.”
