Nyziah Hunter made a habit of turning Nebraska throws into chunk gains, and a few of them changed games in a hurry.
That included the one-shoe sprint against Michigan State, when Hunter broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown and didn’t even realize he had lost a shoe along the way. The GPS noticed. Hunter didn’t.
"That was my first one-shoe touchdown and I had a top speed too," Hunter said. "Even if I had both shoes on, I just wonder what would be my top speed."
The viral number attached to that play was 21.9 mph, and it fit the kind of season Hunter put together in his first year with the Huskers. He was productive, explosive and often at the center of Nebraska’s biggest offensive moments, which is why he lands at No. 6 on the Most Indispensable Huskers list.
Hunter led Nebraska in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in 2025, finishing with 43 catches for 617 yards and five scores. Even with the passing game cooling off in November and Hunter missing the bowl game because of injury, his imprint was obvious.
He delivered in a string of key spots. In the opener against Cincinnati, he came down with a contested touchdown at the end of the first half, a play that ended up mattering by the final whistle.
Against Michigan State, his long score helped put Nebraska in firm control during the comeback win. At Maryland, he had a 64-yard touchdown and later added a 33-yard catch on the game-winning drive that pushed the Huskers into the red zone, finishing that game with 120 receiving yards.
Against Northwestern, he scored on a highlight grab and later picked up a 19-yard third-down catch to keep the winning drive alive.
The 6-1, 205-pound receiver also gave Nebraska value in ways that don’t always show up in the highlight reel. Pro Football Focus credited him with a 77.7 run blocking grade, a solid sign of how much he helped the ground game as well.
Matt Rhule pointed to that physical edge when describing why Hunter fit Nebraska’s offense so well.
"Nyziah, from the day he got here, he's so strong, powerful. He's a tailback at wideout and he's got good ball skills on 50-50 contested balls," Rhule said.
"So we're able to get into '12' personnel with an extra offensive linemen and run duo and run inside zone. "
That was part of the appeal when Nebraska brought him in from Cal: a receiver who could win contested catches and run through contact. Dana Holgorsen saw it up close in spring, and he came away convinced Hunter was built for more than just the usual wideout job description.
"He's 205 pounds and it plays physical. I've coached 210-pound guys that don't play physical.
Nyziah does. He's got above average speed.
He got behind a corner on a go route here, which I haven't seen that since I've been here," Holgorsen said. "As a wideout just actually running by somebody and catching it over his shoulder."
Holgorsen’s point was simple then, and Hunter backed it up once the games started. The offensive coordinator said it plainly later: "At this level you're going to have to run through stuff.
You're going to have to make contested catches when people are on your back. He possesses the ability to be able to do that."
The bigger question now is what Nebraska can do with the rest of its passing game. Hunter already proved he can turn shorter throws into explosive plays, but the Huskers are still looking to open things up even more downfield.
That’s where the offseason emphasis comes in. Anthony Colandrea took more shots downfield at UNLV than Nebraska did a year ago, and the Huskers have spent time working on extending plays to create more of those chances.
"We weren't very good at extending plays and off-schedule stuff last year, so receivers got really lazy once the play breaks down ... they got real lazy on what they were doing," Holgorsen said this spring. "So that has been a big area of focus.
We worked scramble drill a lot. But, man, I'm encouraging those guys to extend the play and make things happen."
If Nebraska gets that part right, Hunter looks like the kind of receiver who can cash in.
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Nebraska Cannot Keep Dodging This Running Back Question Much Longer
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The expectation now is that Nebraska will have to speak publicly about the matter soon, likely in the next week to 10 days as Big Ten Media Days approaches. Until then, the uncertainty lingers not just around Nelsons future, but around what the backfield picture looks like if the Huskers have to keep moving without him. [Read more 🡒]