John Bullock Season 2023

Honors & Awards
» Four-Time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll
» Sam Foltz 27 Hero Leadership Award (2024)
» Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2020, 2024) 
» Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2020, 2024)

2024 (Senior)
John Bullock has started every game this season. He has totaled 56 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, four pass breakups and one interception, which he returned for a touchdown. Bullock ranks second on the team in in tackles and third in interceptions, TFLs and pass breakups.

He opened the year with a pair of tackles against UTEP. Bullock then recorded five tackles against Colorado with a career-high 2.0 TFLs, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry. He set a career high with nine tackles against Northern Iowa, 1.0 sack and a pass breakup. Bullock had nine tackles again the next game against Illinois, including a two-yard sack and a pass breakup. He also forced a fumble that resulted in a takeaway that led to a Husker touchdown.

Bullock had a big impact in Nebraska's 28-10 win at Purdue. He recorded four tackles with a three-yard tackle for loss and had his first career interception. Bullock intercepted as fourth-quarter pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, giving the Huskers a 28-3 lead with less than six minutes to play. Bullock totaled four tackles against Rutgers. He finished with three tackles at Indiana. He recorded five tackles at Ohio State. Bullock recorded eight tackles against UCLA with a four-yard sack. He led Nebraska with seven tackles at USC and added one pass breakup.

Bullock is wearing the No. 5 after he was one of 10 Huskers to win a team vote to wear a single-digit number.

2023 (Junior)
Bullock moved from nickel back to linebacker during the spring and emerged as a starter and key playmaker. He played in all 12 games with 10 starts. Bullock wore the No. 5 as one of 10 Huskers to earn a single-digit number in a team vote selecting him as one of Nebraska’s “toughest” players.

Bullock helped a Blackshirt defense that posted Nebraska’s best rushing defense (92.9 yards per game), total defense (303.5 yards per game) and scoring defense (18.3 points per game) since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011. Bullock was fourth on the team with a career-high 50 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two pass breakups and one forced fumble.  He had six games with five or more tackles on the year. 

Bullock earned his first career start at Minnesota and recorded six tackles while breaking up the first pass of his career. At Colorado, Bullock totaled five tackles, then totaled eight tackles against Louisiana Tech with his first career tackle for loss. Bullock had six tackles at Illinois with his first career sack and a pass breakup. He finished with three tackles, 1.0 TFL and a half sack against Northwestern. Bullock totaled seven tackles against Purdue, including five solo stops. He made his 10th start of the season against Iowa and recorded five tackles and forced a fumble.

2022 (Sophomore)
Bullock played on special teams in 10 games as a sophomore. He recorded his lone tackle of the season with a solo stop on kickoff coverage at Purdue.

2021 (Redshirt Freshman)
Bullock played on special teams in every game of the 2021 season, recording five tackles. In the win over Buffalo, Bullock made the first tackle of his career on kickoff coverage, and he also downed a punt at the Bulls’ 2-yard line. Bullock also had a tackle on kickoff coverage at No. 20 Michigan State and a tackle on punt coverage at Minnesota. He added another tackle on punt coverage against Purdue. Bullock’s final tackle of the season came on punt coverage against No. 6 Ohio State, resulting in a loss of three yards on the return.

2020 (Covid Season)
Bullock added depth at outside linebacker, but did not play in a game as a redshirt freshman.

2019 (Redshirt)
Bullock redshirted in his first season at Nebraska.

Before Nebraska (Creighton Prep HS)
Bullock was a defensive standout for Omaha Creighton Prep High School, earning honorable-mention all-state recognition from both the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald for his play. Bullock was also a first-team All-Metro choice by the World-Herald, helping the Junior Jays and Coach Andy Yost to a Class A state playoff appearance in 2018. Bullock was also a key part of Creighton Prep’s success as a junior, helping the team to a 9-3 record and a trip to the Class A state semifinals. Bullock had scholarship offers from Augustana and Lindenwood and interest from several other schools. 

Personal
John was born on April 22, 2001, and is the son of Steve and Drlynn Bullock. Bullock earned his degree in psychology in December of 2023. 

John’s younger brother, Alex, is a junior wide receiver for the Huskers. The Bullocks became the first brothers to start the same game on the opposite side of the ball at Nebraska since 1987, and did so in eight games in 2023.