Nebraska football suffers surprising miss on recruiting trail

Things can change quickly on the recruiting trail, a lesson Nebraska football learned once again on Friday.

After being projected to land Matthew Gregory, a four-star wide receiver in the 2027 class, one who ranks 97th overall, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings, Nebraska football missed out on his commitment, as the UCLA Bruins swooped in at the last second and landed his pledge.

Gregory visited UCLA before his trip to Nebraska. He canceled another visit, and moved up his trip to Lincoln last week, so it felt like the Huskers had seized control, especially without any other visits on the schedule.

Yet, something must have shifted. Whether UCLA made another offer, with higher NIL than Nebraska was willing to pay, is hard to know, but it feels like something like that.

Out of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Gregory would have been a massive get for Matt Rhule and the Huskers, who already have four top-100 commitments. Gregory would have been the fifth, although one of them, Tory Pittman, is visiting LSU this weekend. 

A wasted opportunity for Nebraska football

It’s disappointing because it felt like this one was in the bag. The Huskers have five-star quarterback Trae Taylor in the 2027 class, and the idea is to pair him with elite pass catchers. There are some on the roster already. Tay Ellis, a three-star, is also a wideout committed in 2027.

Nebraska will surely pivot to some other targets. Khalil Taylor, another four-star target on the board for the Huskers, who fell out of touch a bit, could become a priority once again. He’s been projected to Penn State, and also visited Alabama, but was expected to visit Nebraska football this weekend, before things changed.

Maybe another change can get Nebraska back in the mix. Ahmad Hudson is still out there, too. It’s possible Nebraska didn’t want to overpay for Gregory and risk losing the resources to land Hudson.

Whatever the reason, it’s back to the drawing board. Nebraska needs 1-2 wideouts in the 2027 class, at least one following this surprising development.