Allegiant Stadium will be a sea of red on New Year’s Eve.
No. 15 Utah (10-2) and Nebraska (7-5) will meet in the 2025 Las Vegas Bowl, held at the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. The bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. MST on Dec. 31 and will be televised on ESPN.
It’s the second trip to the Las Vegas Bowl in three years for the Utes, who lost 14-7 to Northwestern in front of an announced crowd of 20,897 in the 2023 edition of the game.
This time around, the bowl is on Dec. 31 instead of the day before Christmas Eve and the Utes are heading into the bowl with 10 wins, so the fan turnout from Salt Lake City should be much higher.
Utah finished its conference slate with a 31-21 win at Kansas, marking the first time since 2019 that the Utes have won 10 games in a regular season. Utah has won five straight games and heads into the Las Vegas Bowl with considerable momentum.
A win over Nebraska in the Sin City classic would give the Utes 11 wins on the year, which would be just the fourth time in program history that Utah has won 11 or more games in a season.
The Utes enter the game with the nation’s No. 6 scoring offense (40.9 points per game), No. 2 rushing offense (269.8 yards per game) and No. 7 total offense (478.6 yards per game).
Defensively, Utah still ranks in the Top 20 in scoring defense (18.67 points allowed per game) and passing defense (177.5 yards allowed per game), but cracks have started to show in the Utes’ run defense near the end of the season. In the final two games of the regular season, Utah allowed a total of 762 rushing yards.
Nebraska enters the Las Vegas Bowl having lost three of its last four games, including a 37-10 loss at Penn State and a 40-16 loss to Iowa.
Starting quarterback Dylan Raiola suffered a season-ending injury in the Cornhuskers’ early November loss to USC, and in the three games following Raiola’s injury, Nebraska has averaged just 153.7 passing yards per game.
Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson (fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game with 120.9) would present a significant threat to the Utes’ run defense, but he declared for the NFL draft on Friday and will more than likely not play in the Las Vegas Bowl.
That means Utah will likely be facing the Cornhuskers’ backup quarterback and second-string running back in the Dec. 31 contest.
TJ Lateef, who has filled in after Raiola’s injury, has thrown for 461 yards and three touchdowns on 57% completion in three games as the starter. He’s also added 48 yards and a score on the ground.
Lateef suffered a hamstring injury in the regular-season finale against Iowa, but Nebraska expects him to start in the Las Vegas Bowl vs. Utah.
Johnson has shouldered the vast majority of the workload for the Huskers this season, carrying the ball 251 times for 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns. His replacement in the bowl game will be either freshman Isaiah Mozee (19 carries for 83 yards), freshman Mekhi Nelson (15 carries for 59 yards and a touchdowns) or sophomore Kwinten Ives (16 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns)
The Cornhuskers will also be missing starting offensive guard Rocco Spindler and starting tackle Gunnar Gottula, both out with injuries.
Defensively, Nebraska has allowed just 141.1 passing yards per game (No. 2 in the country) and 312.3 total yards per game (No. 23).
Where Utah has an opportunity against the Nebraska defense is on the ground, and the run game has been the Utes’ strength this season.
The Huskers gave up an average of 171.2 rushing yards per game this season, and in the last two games against Penn State and Iowa, Nebraska allowed 231 and 213 yards, respectively.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule fired defensive coordinator John Butler last week.
One losing streak will be broken in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Utah has lost five consecutive bowl games, with its last bowl win coming in 2017 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl vs. West Virginia. Meanwhile, Nebraska has lost 29 consecutive games against teams that were ranked at the time of the matchup. The Huskers’ last win in such a game came in 2016 over No. 22 Oregon.
The 2025 Las Vegas Bowl is in the final year of its current bowl tie-ins. This year’s game pits a current or former Pac-12 school against a Big Ten program.
Due to bowl contracts that run through the 2025 football season, legacy Pac-12 schools (Utah, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Cal and Stanford) and current Pac-12 members (Oregon State and Washington State) will continue to represent the Pac-12 Conference in this season’s bowl games.
The Las Vegas Bowl selected No. 3 among the former Pac-12 schools. The Alamo Bowl took No. 16. USC (9-3) and the Holiday Bowl took No. 18 Arizona (9-3). Utah was a no-brainer for the Las Vegas Bowl due to its proximity to the city.
How did Nebraska end up in the Las Vegas Bowl?
Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon went to the College Football Playoff from the Big Ten and No. 19 Michigan — No. 4 in the Big Ten standings — is headed to the Citrus Bowl. The No. 5 team from the Big Ten, USC, fills the former Pac-12 tie-in the Alamo Bowl.
That left a conglomerate of 8-4 and 7-5 teams. The ReliaQuest Bowl selected No. 23 Iowa (No. 6 in the Big Ten standings), and the Las Vegas Bowl selected Nebraska and its large fanbase for the Sin City showdown.
The Las Vegas Bowl matchup will be the fifth matchup between the Utes and the Cornhuskers. Utah is looking for its first victory in the series after Nebraska beat the Utes 31-0 in 1968, 55-9 in 1980, 42-30 in 1989 and 49-22 in 1992.
Utah opened as a 13.5-point favorite over Nebraska.