Nebraska
What to watch for in Las Vegas Bowl game between Utah and Nebraska
The stage is set for Utah and Nebraska to go toe-to-toe in the 2025 Las Vegas Bowl.
The Utes (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) and Cornhuskers (7-5, 4-5 Big Ten) are set to kick off from Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 31 at 1:30 p.m. MT. Fans not making the trip to Las Vegas will be able to tune in via ESPN.
With several bowl game opt-outs and a significant head coaching change headlining the major storylines, here’s what to watch for when Utah and Nebraska take the field on New Year’s Eve.
Morgan Scalley Takes The Wheel
Kyle Whittingham’s expedited takeover in Ann Arbor, Michigan, puts Utah’s longtime defensive coordinator, Morgan Scalley, at the helm of the Utes for the first time as the head coach.
Scalley was previously in charge of the Utah defense for 10 seasons, helping reaffirm the same principles Whittingham established when he was the team’s defensive coordinator; relentless, smart, tough and not prone to giving up a lot of points.
Since 2019, the Utes have held opponents to 15 points or fewer in 36 games, including seven times during the 2025 regular season. Scalley’s defense in 2025 ranked No. 5 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing efficiency defense, No. 15 in interceptions (14) and No. 16 in scoring defense, allowing just 18.7 points per game. Utah was No. 2 in the Big 12 in passing yards, allowing 177.5 per game.
It’s safe to assume the transition to Scalley — a Salt Lake City native who’s been on the Utes’ sidelines in some capacity since 2007 — will be seamless for the most part, and that Utah’s defense will continue to be stout as it faces a Nebraska offense that’s being led by a true freshman making his fourth career start. How the Utes as a whole come out of the gate and their intensity and focus on both sides of the ball after the abrupt head coaching switch, will be worth monitoring, though.
Utah’s Bowl Game Opt-Outs
From the sidelines to the field itself, Utah will be without several key figures for its postseason game.
The offensive line, especially, won’t look the same, as both Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu have opted out of the Las Vegas Bowl while declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.
It’ll be interesting to monitor how the Utes — who averaged the second-most rushing yards per game (269.8) in the Football Bowl Subdivision in the regular season — function without their two best offensive linemen bookending their front line against a Cornhuskers defense that allowed the third-highest yards per carry average in the Big Ten (4.8).
According to reports, Keith Olsen and Zereoue Williams will fill in for Fano and Lomu along the offensive line. Olsen, a 6-foot-6 junior, started at right tackle for the Kansas game and has allowed one pressure and one hurry in 64 pass blocking opportunities this season, according to Pro Football Focus. Williams, a 6-foot-8 Arizona native, played in all 12 regular season, mainly at left tackle, and recorded 79 total snaps, including 59 on run plays.
As for the other side of the ball, Utah will be down without its main edge rushers in John Henry Daley and Logan Fano. Daley’s absence has been felt since his season-ending injury against Kansas State in November; Logan, meanwhile, recently announced with his brother that he’ll be entering the 2026 NFL Draft.
Utah’s Offensive Play-Calling
First-year offensive coordinator Jason Beck has orchestrated the Utes offense to the tune of 41.1 points per game — the third time since 1930 that Utah averaged over 40 points per game — and 478.6 total yards of offense per game, ranking No. 6 in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He’s been creative, too; from wildcat packages, flea flickers, defensive players lined up at skill positions and designed run plays for both the starting and backup quarterback.
A standalone postseason game to cap off the 2025 campaign will give Beck more opportunities to show what he’s got up his sleeves as a play-caller. And given his name has been attached to the list of assistants Whittingham will reportedly target to join him at Michigan, it’ll be interesting to see how Beck approaches what could be his final game as the Utes’ offensive coordinator.
Not to mention, Utah won’t have its top two tackles leading the way in the run game. If the Utes can’t move the ball with the same consistency they had in the regular season, it’ll be worth monitoring how Beck adjusts.
Will Ryan Davis Play?
Utah’s top receiver wasn’t involved during the home finale against Kansas State and was ruled out for the Kansas game in the days leading up to kickoff. It’s unclear what sort of ailment Davis has been dealing with, though he’d certainly like to be on the field for what will likely be the final college football game of his career.
Davis, a New Mexico transfer who began his career at UAB in 2019, led Utah with 659 receiving yards on 57 receptions, hauling in four touchdowns across 11 regular season appearances.
Nebraska Without Emmett Johnson
The Cornhuskers were middle of the pack in the Big Ten in rushing, averaging 144.7 yards per game during the regular season, due in large part to Emmett Johnson’s success on the ground. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior from Minnesota was named the Big Ten Running Back of the Year after totaling 1,451 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, plus 46 catches for 370 yards and three more touchdowns. His 1,821 scrimmage yards ranked No. 2 in the country.
The Utes won’t have to worry about trying to slow down Nebraska’s dynamic tailback, though, given he’s already declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Utah struggled defending the run down the stretch of the regular season, giving up 275.3 rushing yards per game and yielded 7.1 yards per carry in November, including 472 yards on the ground to Kansas State on Nov. 22.
MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS
Nebraska
‘Best we’ve played all year.’ Trent Perry scores 20 points as UCLA routs No. 9 Nebraska
The UCLA men’s basketball team made Senior Night one to savor Tuesday, dominating No. 9 Nebraska 72-52 at Pauley Pavilion for its 20th victory of the season and third over a top-10 ranked opponent.
The Bruins improved to 20-10 overall and 12-7 in the Big Ten with one regular season game remaining, Saturday at crosstown rival USC.
Trent Perry scored 20 points, Eric Dailey Jr. had 14 and three players — Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark and Xavier Booker — each added eight points.
“Nebraska’s got a great team,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “This is the best we’ve played all year — they brought out the best in us. We went from our worst defensive effort to our best. They outhustle everyone they play, but not us. Tonight we were great, but I love the way they play. If we had their attitude we’d have their record.”
Eric Freeny had four points, five rebounds and three steals in 18 minutes for UCLA, which got 26 points in the paint and 17 second-chance points.
“Effort is what it takes to win in March,” Freeny said. “It was our last home game. Coach keeps on pushing me to be better everyday.”
Sam Hoiberg had 12 points to lead Nebraska, but Pryce Sandfort, who began the game leading the conference in three-pointers made per game, was held to nine points.
“Sandford has been unbelievable so to hold him to nine points is amazing,” Cronin said. “Brandon Williams was the unsung hero.”
Williams had six points and three rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
The Bruins were in control from the opening tip-off and never trailed the Cornhuskers (25-5, 14-5). UCLA improved to 10-3 in all-time against Nebraska and the win greatly strengthened its resume for the NCAA tournament as the Bruins also beat then-No. 4 Purdue 69-67 on Jan. 20 and then-No. 10 Illinois 95-94 in overtime on Feb. 21 on Donovan Dent’s layup with one second left.
“We have to take attitude we came with tonight, bottle it up and take it on the road,” Dailey Jr. said. “We’ve got so much left. The season’s not over… we’re only as good as our last game. It’s all about how you respond. I love the fight that we played with tonight.”
This is the fifth time in Cronin’s seven seasons that the Bruins have won 20 or more games. They are 17-1 at home (their only loss in overtime to Indiana on Jan. 31).
“Since I’ve been here we don’t lose much at home.” Cronin said.
UCLA went ahead by 15 points, 37-22, on Perry’s three-pointer with 2:41 left and led 37-24 at intermission. The Bruins shot 50% from the field in the first half (15 for 30) while Nebraska was only 31% (nine for 29).
The Bruins increased their advantage to 18 points on Dailey’s dunk less than five minutes into the second half and the visitors got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Prior to pregame introductions the Bruins honored seniors Bilodeau, Dent and Clark; fifth-year player Jamar Brown; redshirt seniors Steven Jamerson II, Jack Seidler and Anthony Peoples Jr; and redshirt junior Evan Manjikian. In a media timeout, midway through the first half, former coach Jim Harrick (who led UCLA to its 11th national championship in 1995) was honored and got a loud ovation.
“I’m happy for our seniors, I didn’t want them to lose their last game at Pauley,” said Perry, who reversed a subpar performance at Minnesota, where he was 0-for-7 from the field with one rebound and one assist in 26 minutes. “I had to come out here tonight and bounce back for my team. I play for something bigger than myself and I’m fortunate to have the type of guys I do around me.”
UCLA guard Skyy Clark looks to pass while under pressure from Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg and forward Berke Buyuktuncel in the second half.
(William Liang / Associated Press)
Over the last four games, Dent has 46 assists and just two turnovers.
Bilodeau has scored in double figures in 26 of 28 games played, totaling 20 points or more nine times.
Dailey moved to within five points of reaching the 1,000-career point milestone.
UCLA has now made at least one three-pointer in 887 of 888 games dating to February 2000.
“We had one practice this week, that’s it,” Cronin said. “We watched film, had a heart-to-heart talk and a shoot around today but that’s it.”
Nebraska
4.1-magnitude earthquake hits south-central Nebraska
People across Nebraska and Kansas reported feeling an earthquake Sunday afternoon.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a quake measuring 4.1 on the Richter Scale struck around 1 p.m. about 3 miles east of the Webster County village of Cowles, which is in south-central Nebraska near the Kansas border.
A quake of that magnitude is considered “light” and not likely to cause damage.
But the USGS received dozens of reports from people who said they felt the quake, some as far away as Omaha and Manhattan, Kansas. Numerous people took to social media to report feeling the quake.
Two aftershocks of 2.6 magnitude later occurred near the original quake site, one about 90 minutes after the initial quake and one later Sunday night.
Earthquakes are relatively rare in Nebraska, but the state does usually record one or two minor ones per year. The last time Nebraska recorded a quake of a magnitude 4 or above was in December 2023, also in Webster County.
Nebraska
Nebraska Lottery results: See winning numbers for Powerball, Pick 3 on March 2, 2026
The results are in for the Nebraska Lottery’s draw games on Monday, March 2, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on March 2.
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing
21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
7-5-8
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
03-08-09-17-25
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning 2 By 2 numbers from March 2 drawing
Red Balls: 14-26, White Balls: 17-18
Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning MyDay numbers from March 2 drawing
Month: 05, Day: 03, Year: 23
Check MyDay payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing
28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Nebraska Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, 5: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- 2 By 2: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
- MyDaY: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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