The Nebraska football team just added some late-cycle help in the backfield, and it comes from a former Big Ten rival. Tikey Hayes, who started his career at Penn State, is heading to Lincoln according to a Tuesday report from Sean Callahan of HuskerOnline.com.
Hayes spent the spring at Iowa Western Community College after leaving the Nittany Lions in January. Now he’s coming back to the Big Ten with four years of eligibility left and a chance to actually carry the ball more than three times in a season. That’s exactly how many rushes he got for Penn State in 2025, finishing with 18 yards.
This is a depth move that could turn into a bigger role. Nebraska finished 81st nationally in rushing last season at 145.9 yards per game, and their leading rusher is gone. Emmett Johnson carried the load with 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns on 251 carries, then went pro and got picked by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The running backs room right now includes sophomore Isaiah Mozee, Mokhi Lenson, junior Kwinten Ives, and freshmen Conor Booth and Jalam Rule. Hayes adds scholarship-level experience to a group that doesn’t have a clear feature back yet. Hayes was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, so the talent is there. It just hasn’t translated to college production yet.
He’ll have a full offseason to work with the Cornhuskers before they open the 2026 season on September 5 against Ohio University at Memorial Stadium. If he can beat out the younger guys and carve out a role early, this could look like a steal for Nebraska. If not, it’s still a low-risk add with multiple years of eligibility left.
Either way, it gives Matt Rhule another option in a backfield that needed one.
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