PASADENA — Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef likely expected to ride the pine in his first season in Lincoln, and why wouldn’t he?
The true freshman, an Orange Lutheran alumnus, spent most of the season sitting behind Dylan Raiola as the second-string, watching the prolific second-year Huskers’ signal caller lead Nebraska to wins over Michigan State, Michigan and Northwestern.
But very quickly, at the behest of the randomness that college football can create, Lateef has now eyed down USC and UCLA’s defenses in back-to-back weeks — reminders of where he grew up and developed.
Raiola went down last week with a fractured fibula, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, and Lateef has suddenly become the Huskers’ top man behind center. And on Saturday, after completing five passes last week in lieu of his teammate’s injury against the Trojans, Lateef earned his first start against the Bruins.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule told reporters earlier this week that once Lateef entered the game against USC that he was going to coach the first-year Husker like “a veteran.”
“I want him to know that I have so much confidence in him that I’m going to coach him like Dylan,” Rhule said at his Monday press conference in Nebraska.
Playing at the Rose Bowl, Lateef carved up UCLA on his first drive. The 6-foot-1 dual-threat freshman made the most of his Southern California return from the start — he used his legs on his first play, storming forward on a read-option for 14 yards and a first down. Playing back-and-forth with Nebraska star running back Emmett Johnson, he led the Huskers to a game-opening touchdown — a passing touchdown, his second of his career.
Lateef didn’t slow down, connecting with Johnson for a 56-yard touchdown on a screen pass. Two drives into his first-career start, the Compton native set a new college-best. Any semblance of touchdowns could be a start — just two for now — trying and match the 54 touchdowns he tallied as a starting quarterback at Orange Lutheran.
UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper spoke earlier this week about the need to view Lateef’s high school film before facing Nebraska at the Rose Bowl. It was a hard truth for a player with very little college film — from sporadic playing time across three games — as Skipper and senior defensive analyst Kevin Coyle prepared the Bruins for a Raiola-less Nebraska.
“He’s kind of had to do the game plan and scheming that they had up for Dylan and his reps, so we’ll have to adjust as the game goes,” Skipper said. “With all of these quarterbacks nowadays, they’re all athletic and he’s very athletic, so you just need to see what plays they’re going to do, how they’re going to move the pocket, things like that, and we’re going to have to adjust to it.”
But after two drives — as halftime crawled to a close — Lateef’s new film would be something UCLA could mark down as proof of room for improvement on defense, the homecoming trip proving difficult to stop in Pasadena.
Six-for-six for 119 passing yards and two touchdowns (for a 376.6 passer rating) is a halftime performance worth calling home about.
But Lateef won’t have dial-up home with his family intently watching in the stands.