The spring game for Nebraska has been a showcase event since the days of Bob Devaney roaming the sidelines. It’s specifically grown into a big event for Husker recruiting since the mid-2000s. The tradition of using the spring game to show recruits what a game day is like in Nebraska a big benefit to the program. Sources at Nebraska have described this weekend as the biggest recruiting weekend of coach Scott Frost’s tenure.
The visit list backs that up.
Wide receivers coach Mickey Joseph told Hail Varsity last week what he hoped recruits would get out of the weekend.
“I think they’re gonna see the atmosphere,” Joseph said. “They are going to get a little taste of that of the crowd and what’s going on. I think they’re gonna see high energy from football players, high energy from the coaches and that’s what they’ve been looking for. They look for energy. Right now, I think we have a lot of energy right now in football program.”
The Huskers have a mega-recruiting weekend on tap with over 100 visitors coming to town. The program will need every scholarship and walk-on commit to help peer recruit. Several will be back in town including wide receivers Decoldest Crawford and Janiran Bonner.
The biggest visitor of the weekend is TCU transfer Ochaun Mathis. The pass rushing specialist will draw a lot of attention from coaches and fans this weekend. Mathis (6-5, 220) racked up 15 and a half sacks over his career at TCU. He was a two-time second-team All-Big 12 selection.
Several priority targets for the 2023 class are making the trip to Lincoln this weekend. Wide receiver Joshua Manning will be back on campus once again. He’s become a huge focus for Joseph. Defensive backs Braeden Marshall, Kayin Lee, Kahlil Tate, and Curley Reed are all highly-regarded prospects coming to town. The Huskers will host several top EDGE targets too. Maverick Noonan, Teitum Tuioti and Trey Wilson are just a few. Inside linebackers Phil Picciotti and Raul Aguirre are big-time recruits for Barrett Ruud to meet with.
Outside of Mathis the name most talked about this weekend is 2024 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola. He’s in the mix to be the No. 1 player in the entire 2024 class and has the scholarship options to match that. Raiola threw for 3,341 yards and 42 touchdowns as a sophomore last season before transferring to Chandler High School in Arizona. This visit is hugely important for Nebraska who is competing with USC, Ohio State, Georgia and others for the quarterback.
The Huskers have a big group of players coming from Georgia this weekend. That’s not a big surprise since the team has done well there with this staff. That includes 4-star Georgia offensive line commit Bo Hughley (6-7, 290) and athlete Barry Jackson.
“I look forward to seeing the environment of the school and the how the coaches get along with players,” Jackson told Hail Varsity.
Nebraska’s recruiting efforts in Georgia are led by tight ends coach Sean Beckton. He is excited about the opportunity to show off Lincoln this weekend.
“The spring games is always major for me,” Beckton said. “I’ll try to get as many guys from the South up here and get them a chance to see more of a game, even though it’s a practice. It kind of gives me a chance to get those guys here on campus and see what Lincoln, Nebraska, is about on an actual game day without actually being a game. We’re excited about it. We got a few guys coming from that way. We’ll be giving them a showcase of what we have to offer here with fans and all the things that’s going on with that particular day.”
Stay tuned to Hail Varsity for reaction throughout the weekend and next week from the visitors.
2022 Scholarship Signees
RB Emmett Johnson (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
WR Decoldest Crawford (Shreveport, Louisiana)
WR Janiran Bonner (Ellenwood, Georgia)
TE Chase Androff (Lakeville, Minnesota)
EDGE Jake Appleget (Lincoln, Nebraska)
CB Malcolm Hartzog (Prentiss, Mississippi)
S Gage Stenger (Omaha, Nebraska)
S Jalil Martin (Chicago, Illinois)
K Timmy Bleekrode (Furman University)
2022 Walk On Signees
QB Cooper Hausmann (Norris, Nebraska)
TE Luke Lindenmeyer (Papillion, Nebraska)
OG Dylan Parrott (Eldridge, Iowa)
S Blake Miller (Nebraska City, Nebraska)
K Spencer Pankratz (Furman University)
K Charlie Weinrich (Stillwell, Kansas
2023 Commits
3-star OL Gunnar Gottula (Lincoln, Nebraska)
3-star OC Sam Sledge (Omaha, Nebraska)
3-star QB William Watson (Springfield, Massachusetts)
2022 Official Visitor
EDGE transfer Ochaun Mathis (TCU)
2022 Visitor without Nebraska Offer
WR Micah Manning (Iowa Western Community College)
2023 Visitors with Nebraska Offer
3-star RB Sergio Snider (Arlington, Texas)
3-star WR Joshua Manning (Lee’s Summit, Missouri)
3-star DT Joshua Horton (Fairburn, Georgia)
3-star Louisville commit EDGE Adonijah Green (Ellenwood, Georgia)
3-star EDGE Maverick Noonan (Omaha, Nebraska)
3-star EDGE Teitum Tuioti (Eugene, Oregon)
3-star EDGE Trey Wilson (Garland, Texas)
3-star EDGE Zach Ortwerth (St. Louis, Missouri)
3-star ILB Phil Picciotti (Perkasie, Pennsylvania)
3-star CB Braeden Marshall (Lake Mary, Florida)
4-star CB Kayin Lee (Ellenwood, Georgia)
3-star S Kahlil Tate (Chicago, Illinois)
3-star WR Malik Elzy (Chicago, Illinois)
4-star DT Edric Hill (Kansas City, Missouri)
3-star EDGE Caleb Otlewski (Melissa, Texas)
3-star ILB K’Vion Thunderbird (Chicago, Illinois)
4-star ILB Raul Aguirre (Fayetteville, Georgia)
3-star CB Dash Dorsey (Wheaton, Illinois)
3-star S Phillip Roche (Merrillville, Indiana)
4-star CB Curley Reed (Lake Charles, Louisiana)
3-star DT David Borchers (Eldridge, Iowa)
3-star S Watts McBride (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
S Christian Ford (McKinney, Texas)
WR Barry Jackson (Ellenwood, Georgia)
2024 Visitors with NebraskaOoffer
5-star QB Dylan Raiola (Chandler, Arizona)
3-star RB Titus Cram (Bondurant, Iowa)
3-star EDGE Marquise Lightfoot (Chicago, Illinois)
3-star CB I’Marion Stewart (Bolingbrook, Illinois)
2025 Visitors with Nebraska Offer
DT Tyson Terry (Omaha, Nebraska)
ILB Christian Jones (Omaha, Nebraska)
2023 Visitors without Nebraska Offer
4-star Georgia commit OT Bo Hughley (Fairburn, Georgia)
3-star OT Brock Knutson (Scottsbluff, Nebraska)
3-star RB Joshua Robinson (Lombard, Illinois)
ILB Kevon Freeman (Lake Charles, Louisiana)
RB Bjourn Mayes (Chicago, Illinois)
RB Pernell Reynolds Jr. (Waukesha, Wisconsin)
WR Josh Bailey (Waukesha, Wisconsin)
OG Jack Rons (Littleton, Colorado)
OT Kaleb Cline (Spencer, Iowa)
DT Lorenzo Brinkley (St. Louis, Missouri)
EDGE Justin Surma (Waukesha, Wisconsin)
ILB Dwight Johnson Jr. (Hampton, Georgia)
ILB J’dyn Bullion (Omaha, Nebraska)
CB Kameron Richardson (Kirkwood, Missouri)
S Kameron Sallis (Kennedale, Texas)
ILB Dalton Snodgrass (York, Nebraska)
RB CharMar Brown (Omaha, Nebraska)
DT Mason Goldman (Gretna, Nebraska)
EDGE Victor Isele (Grand Island, Nebraska)
ILB Lance Rucker (Omaha, Nebraska)
S Brock Murtaugh (Omaha, Nebraska)
RB Sebastien Boyle (Scottsbluff, Nebraska)
QB Brice Koontz (Columbia, Maryland)
WR Jaylen Lloyd (Omaha, Nebraska)
WR Joe Roll (Gretna, Nebraska)
TE Cayden Echternach (Omaha, Nebraska)
OG Aidan Gilmore (Dallas, Texas)
OT Jude Collingham (York, Nebraska)
DT Sam Cappos (Lincoln, Nebraska)
ILB Ayden Barnby (Papillion, Nebraska)
ILB Matthew Thompson (Papillion, Nebraska)
ILB Jeremiah Truitt (Omaha, Nebraska)
CB Wesley Okafor (Omaha, Nebraska)
S Donnovan Whitfield (Omaha, Nebraska)
P Simon McClannan (Omaha, Nebraska)
QB JT Fayard (Richmond, Texas)
RB Carlos Collazo (Aurora, Nebraska)
RB Cole Ballard (Omaha, Nebraska)
RB Devyn Jones (Papillion, Nebraska)
WR Colin Sims (Gretna, Nebraska)
WR Isaiah Zelasney (Osceola, Nebraska)
EDGE Conor Connealy (Elkhorn, Nebraska)
EDGE Rocco Marcelino (Omaha, Nebraska)
ILB Joshua Robles (Papillion, Nebraska)
ILB Kade Selp (Lincoln, Nebraska)
ILB Max Buettenback (Lincoln, Nebraska)
2024 Visitors without Nebraska Offer
3-star TE Christian Bentancur (Woodstock, Illinois)
3-star DT Eddie Tuerk (La Grange, Illinois)
4-star RB Aneyas Williams (Hannibal, Missouri)
3-star RB Jaden Hart (Michigan City, Indiana)
QB Alessio Milivojevic (Wheaton, Illinois)
WR Isaiah McMorris (Omaha, Nebraska)
ILB Trent Moudry (Wahoo, Nebraska)
WR Keelan Smith (Shawnee Mission, Kansas)
TE Abram Edwards (Winfield, Iowa)
TE Eric Ingwerson (Papillion, Nebraska)
2025 Visitors without Nebraska Offer
ILB Gus Ritchey (Pittsboro, North Carolina)
QB Colby Smith (Fort Worth, Texas)
QB Jack Wallace (Iowa City, Iowa)
RB Cash Buettenback (Lincoln, Nebraska)
OG Henry Rehberg (Omaha, Nebraska)
EDGE Pierce Mooberry (Omaha, Nebraska)
S Caden VerMaas (Omaha, Nebraska)