Emmett Johnson knew his offensive linemen deserved a moment in the spotlight. So before a run play on the goal line at UCLA, the Nebraska running back directed his big men paving the way to join him in the end zone if he scored.
“Let’s hit it in the end zone,” he told them.
“It,” of course, was the Heisman pose.
“Nebraska football just needs more love,” Johnson told CBS Sports. “I feel like I’ve been disrespected on a couple of platforms, but honestly, it just comes down to me having belief in my teammates. The reason why I’m able to do that is because of them. That’s why I did it with my whole lineup there.”
Johnson isn’t anywhere near the top of today’s Heisman rankings, but he could very well be sitting near the top this time next year. That’s quite the rise for a former three-star prospect, whose only scholarship offer from a power conference was from Nebraska.
It’s hard to find a player more indispensable. Johnson accounts for 37.9% of Nebraska’s total yardage — the highest share of any player in college football. He’s produced 1,582 yards from scrimmage, second-most nationally, and his 1,234 rushing yards lead the Big Ten and rank No. 4 in the country at 112.2 yards per game.
“I personally believe Emmett Johnson should be in New York. I think he should be a Heisman candidate,” Huskers coach Matt Rhule said after the breakout performance against UCLA. “I think he should be a Doak Walker finalist if not winner. What he’s doing is fantastic. I hope people appreciate seeing him. He’s a first-team All-American.”
He’s also the only FBS player with 1,200 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards.
“Most of our game plan was to stop 21…” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper said after the game. “I think he is a very special talent. Nationally, they should be talking about him a lot more.”
If Nebraska (7-4) had stacked a couple more wins, the compact, punishing runner might already be in the thick of the Heisman race. But being underestimated is nothing new.
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A childhood built on proving people wrong
Johnson grew up in Minnesota, where his senior season at the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield turned into a weekly reminder of his competitive streak. Before a much-hyped showdown with St. Thomas, local media compared him to the opposing star, Camden Royal. It struck a nerve. He called his brother, Charles Jr., repeatedly the night before the game.
“Man, tomorrow, I’m going to go for 10 touchdowns,” Charles Johnson Jr. recalled. “And he meant it.”
He didn’t hit 10, but he scored six — five on the ground plus an 85-yard kickoff return.
“Every time he scored he just looked at us like, ‘I told you guys, I’m going to destroy these dudes,'” Charles said. “He’s a really nice dude, but he has that competitive edge to him that if you push him to the limit, he’s going to respond in a manner that is a complete 180 (degrees) from who he is off the football field. If you put pads on him, he turns into somebody different.”
Indeed, Johnson was a terror for opposing defenses. Johnson rushed for 2,484 yards and had 42 total touchdowns in 2021 while playing multiple defensive positions and amassing 71 tackles, 10 TFLs and two interceptions. He became Minnesota’s Mr. Football without ever being treated like a budding star.
“He was my fieriest kid at home,” said Precious Johnson, the family’s matriarch. “He would not walk down he stairs, he would slide down the stairs. He’s the toughest, the most fearless one of the three. He also the quietest kid, just like his dad.”
Precious and Charles Johnson Sr. are Liberian immigrants, but they didn’t know each other in Liberia. Both fled the country during the brutal First Liberian Civil War in the early 1990s.
“When it came to the war, we just fled. We didn’t know where we were going,” Precious said. “There were children on the street, no food, nothing, just fleeing for your life. They’re bombing homes. You never knew where to go or where to be safe. You just kept on walking.”
Precious Johnson escaped Monrovia, Liberia and boarded a ship to Ghana. She arrived in Minnesota on April 7, 1993. A few years later, she met Charles Johnson Sr. in a church choir. She sang soprano; he was a tenor. They were friends first, then began dating. Soon, they were married and raised a family. Today, they still work and provide for their family. Dad works in a retirement home, and Precious is a nurse at Fairview Hospital’s emergency room in Minneapolis.
It wasn’t until the Brothers Johnson were older that their parents took the family to Liberia and shared stories about the struggles they faced during the war.
Just a decade earlier, bombs were falling from the sky. Food was scarce. Children were hungry on the streets. About 200,000 people died.
“You never knew where to go or where to be safe. You just kept on walking,” said Precious.
“They experienced crazy trauma,” Emmett said. “I’m blessed they could reunite here, because obviously, I wouldn’t be here if they weren’t here. I wanna be able to retire my mom from work and tell her she never has to work again, so she can just live a normal life.”
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They call him E-Money
Teammates call him “E-Money,” a nickname Nebraska amplified with a playful “HEJ$SMAN” campaign earlier this month. And he’s earned it. Nebraska’s offense has been battered all year — especially after superstar quarterback Dylan Raiola suffered a season-ending injury Nov. 1 — yet Johnson has been the steadying force.
“The kid just gets stronger every quarter and every series,” offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen said. “He’s turned himself into a complete back that in reality can handle 90% of the snaps and that workload. A lot happens to kids with confidence.”
Holgorsen’s Air Raid roots led many to believe the Huskers would transform into a pass-first, high-flying offense when he arrived in Lincoln late last season. But he retooled his offense during the season as Raiola kept taking punishment, and the offensive line struggled to protect the quarterback.
“Turns out all I do is run the ball now,” Holgorsen laughed.
Nebraska may be grateful he did. Johnson briefly entered the transfer portal last December, prompting a frank conversation with Holgorsen, who had just committed to stay.
“Look, dude, man, I just committed to sign on here for the next couple of years. I kinda need you,” Holgorsen said. “You’re one of the guys I feel like can turn this place around.
“We both committed to it, went to the bowl game and won. Everything just kept improving for him. We started feeding him. This is a whole other Emmett this year.”
Johnson enters the Huskers’ season finale against Iowa (12 p.m. ET Friday, CBS, Paramount+ Premium) as the first Husker with four straight 100-yard performances since 2013.
“I’ve been overlooked my whole life,” Emmett said. “I just use it as fuel every day in practice. I remember what it felt like when I wasn’t getting any offers. I remember what it felt like to be overlooked in conversations and at camps that I attended in the summer. Those things are in my brain when I’m out there playing. It makes me want to go harder. That’s what’s helped me get to this point, and that’s what’s going to keep me going.”
As for the Heisman Trophy?
He said he “100%” believes he should be a finalist. What the future holds for Johnson beyond this season could define whether Nebraska is a Big Ten contender in 2026.
“Obviously, he’ll be a preseason All-American, Heisman Trophy, he’d be on all the watch lists,” Rhule said. “I’m not so sure he shouldn’t go play in the NFL, right? I think he’s going to be a great pro player.”
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