TJ Lateef Season 2025

Honors & Awards
» Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week (Nov. 10, 2025)
»Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Spring 2025)
» Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2025)

2025 (Freshman)
TJ Lateef has played in four games this season with one start. He spent the first nine games as Nebraska's No. 2 quarterback before starting at UCLA, where he became just the fifth true freshman to start at quarterback for Nebraska since 1950. Lateef has impressed, completing 29-of-34 passes (85.3 completion percentage) for 466 yards and four touchdowns while rushing 16 times for 81 yards and two scores.

Lateef was impressive in his debut against Akron, completing 6-of-7 passes for 128 yards while rushing twice for 17 yards, including an eight-yard touchdown. He was even better against Houston Christian, completing 5-of-5 passes for 126 yards with a 62-yard touchdown pass. Lateef also had a rushing touchdown against HCU. He played most of the second half against No. 23 USC following an injury to Dylan Raiola. Lateef completed 5-of-7 passes for seven yards against the Trojans and rushed six times for 18 yards.

Lateef led Nebraska to a win in his first career start at UCLA. The Huskers scored touchdowns on their first four full drives of the game as Lateef completed 13-of-15 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns while rushing five times for 31 yards. Lateef was named the Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week for his performance at UCLA.

Before Nebraska (Orange Lutheran HS) 
Lateef was one of the top quarterback recruits in the country while starring at Orange Lutheran High School in California. Lateef threw for more than 6,500 yards in his final three seasons, accounting for 66 total touchdowns while helping the Lancers to back-to-back trips to the CIF Southern Section playoffs, including a semifinal appearance as a senior.

Lateef threw for 2,274 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior, completing 71 percent of his passes. He also added 292 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. Lateef’s play helped Orange Lutheran to a playoff semifinal appearance and a No. 13 national ranking. For his efforts as a senior, Lateef was named to the Cal-Hi Sports all-state first team.

In his junior season, Lateef completed 63 percent of his passes (152-of-241) while throwing for 1,965 yards and 13 touchdowns. An all-league pick, Lateef also rushed for 230 yards and five scores. He was also an all-league selection as a sophomore after completing 202-of-320 passes (63.1 percent) for 2,446 yards and 18 touchdowns with 150 rushing yards and three scores. 

Lateef was rated as a four-star recruit in the On3 Industry Ranking. Rivals listed Lateef among the top 150 recruits in the country and regarded him as the nation’s No. 11 pro style quarterback. Lateef was one of 20 quarterbacks nationally invited to compete at the 2024 Elite 11 Finals.

Personal
TJ is the son of Tony and Heather Lateef, and he has one sister, Genesis. TJ is a criminology and criminal justice major.