The Nebraska Cornhuskers are hitting the 3-0 mark with a 59-7 win over the Houston Christian Huskies on Saturday, a game that looked over long before halftime. The Huskers raced to a 38-0 lead, pulled their starters after two quarters, and handed the keys to a wave of backups who soaked up meaningful reps. It was dominance in every phase, but what happened late in the contest revealed more than just Nebraska’s depth. It revealed a reminder of what’s at stake for the program’s very identity, and why Matt Rhule refuses to let a proud tradition fade away.

The walk-on program is Nebraska’s heartbeat, a piece of its fabric that predates the transfer portal and NIL deals. And on Saturday, one of those walk-ons made sure it kept beating. Matt Rhule didn’t mince words when talking about Derek Wacker, the redshirt freshman linebacker from Yutan, Nebraska. “The concern I had, just for the record, was that the walk-on program might die with the proliferation of the 105-(man) roster and all that. But with Derek Wacker, man, that thing is alive and well. He’s starting on kickoff, kickoff return, and he forced a fumble. He’s an excellent football player.” That forced fumble, scooped up by Kahmir Prescott in the fourth quarter, was more than a highlight—it was proof that Nebraska’s walk-ons still have a place in big moments.

The game itself was never in question. After an opening drive that stalled in the red zone, the Huskers’ first-team offense rattled off four straight touchdown drives. Rhule’s group then shifted into developmental mode. “It was good to get a lot of guys rep, like real reps,” Rhule said. By the end of the night, an eye-popping 101 different Huskers saw the field. Blackshirt Williams Nwaneri returned a scoop-and-score in the second quarter after Riley Van Poppel stripped the quarterback. Wacker’s fourth-quarter play was the cherry on top of a defensive clinic.

For Wacker, though, the moment carried weight far beyond the scoreboard. A walk-on with no scholarship, no NIL backing, and no guarantee of a roster spot in the fall, he has lived on the margins of a powerhouse program. Just months ago, his biggest stage was a spring scrimmage in front of a few thousand fans, making a handful of tackles against third- and fourth-stringers. “I feel I’ve made a lot of jumps this offseason and I’m ready to attack it again come summer,” Wacker said. “Status with the team? Keep working, and we’ll find out in the end. I don’t think anyone knows at this point.” That humility is the lifeblood of Nebraska football.

What complicates it all is the looming $2.8 billion House vs. NCAA settlement. If enforced, the 105-man roster limit could effectively choke off walk-on opportunities. Programs that once leaned on their depth and development pipelines will be forced to trim. Nebraska, perhaps more than any other school, knows the weight of that decision.

“There’s a little bit of stress because of the uncertainty of the events going on,” Wacker admitted. “No one really knows for sure what’s going to happen. I have to trust my coaches, trust God, have faith, and keep working, and everything will be all right in the end.” That trust goes both ways. Rhule has made it clear he’ll fight for the players on the fringe because he understands their value.

Why Matt Rhule will always fight for walk-ons

It makes sense now why Matt Rhule throws so much of his energy behind a backup. He can see himself in them—because he was one. Long before he wore the headset, Rhule was a pay-your-own-way LB at Penn State, grinding through the walk-on gauntlet with no guarantees. That background explains why, even as Nebraska’s roster gets squeezed by new NCAA limits, he still champions players who weren’t supposed to be here. “Coach Matt Rhule has a bond with the pay-your-own-way players,” as the saying goes, and it’s real. He’s admitted more than once this spring that he dreads the day he has to tell a kid their dream is over.

Derek Wacker gets that. He’s the latest poster child for Nebraska’s walk-on tradition, and his story has roots in Yutan, a town of about 1,400 just 45 minutes north of Lincoln. “I was a die-hard Husker fan growing up,” he said. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be than here. I bleed Husker red, and it’s an amazing feeling to come and play in Memorial Stadium in front of fans and in front of my family.” Nebraska’s walk-on program dates back to 1962, but in moments like this, you can feel why Rhule still treats it like sacred ground.