In early December 2021, Academy of Holy Angeles running back Emmett Johnson had just won Minnesota’s Mr. Football award, but only had a small array of scholarship offers from directional schools.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Minneapolis native had offers from North Dakota, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Western Kentucky and Northern Iowa.
That might seem like an under-recruitment for a player deemed to be the best in the state that year, but it’s commonplace for a Mr. Football to end up at a smaller school. While there are rare comets such as Michael Floyd, the Cretin-Derham Hall receiver who went to Notre Dame and a seven-year NFL career, there are many more award winners who don’t play at the FBS level.
Johnson was in that latter group — until he made huge leaps.
Nebraska offered Johnson a scholarship with only a few days left before the early signing period opened for the 2022 recruiting class. He quickly committed and signed to be in head coach Scott Frost’s final recruiting class.
On Friday, Johnson will return home to play against the Gophers as one of the best running backs in the Big Ten. With a career high 176 yards on 21 carries in a 34-31 win at Maryland last weekend, the redshirt junior leads the Big Ten in carries (105), sits second in rushing yards (650) and is tied for fifth in touchdowns (seven).
Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson (21) carries the ball against Michigan State defensive back Malcolm Bell (14) during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Bonnie Ryan)
“Being born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it’s going to be extremely fun to have a lot of family come watch, who don’t usually get the chance to come out here,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday in Lincoln, Neb. “It’s going to be really exciting.”
Gophers defensive coordinator Danny Collins gave a lauding scouting report in coach speak, mentioning the player’s jersey number. “Running back runs extremely hard, (No.) 21, just a great player there,” Collins said Tuesday. “He always keeps his feet running.”
In high school, the Gophers did not offer Johnson a scholarship, but liked him as an athlete and were considering him as a potential cornerback.
Holy Angels coach Jim Gunderson said Johnson had been focused on a goal of playing college basketball through his junior year, before he fully switched his focus to football. That is late in the recruiting process, and since the world was just returning to normal after the pandemic, Johnson didn’t really get to show his skills at camps.
“I think he just kind of stayed off the radar,” Gunderson said. “The Gophers always kind of had interest, but they were just wondering how big he was, how fast he was at his size. And I think just through his hard work in the offseason that junior to senior year, his whole gait changed. His senior year (he) was like shot out of a cannon every time he touched the football.”
Before that 2021 season, the Gophers received a commitment from tailback Zach Evans, a standout from the heart of big-school Texas football at Rockwall-Heath. The 5-foot-9, 205-pounder had good stats for a player in Class 6A and had other reported offers from Iowa, Utah, Texas, Notre Dame and many more, according to 247Sports.
After two seasons at Minnesota, Evans transferred to North Texas to chase a name, image and likeness (NIL) payday and the chance at starting snaps. But he had nine carries for 58 yards in 2024 before leaving the program.
Johnson entered the transfer portal after last season, but quickly returned to Nebraska. It’s worked out for him under Cornhuskers offensive coordinator Dana Holgersen, the former Wester Virginia and Houston head coach.
This fall, Johnson’s rushing totals in half a season equal what he did in 13 games a year ago. Beyond lofty Big Ten rankings, his rushing total, carries and touchdowns are each within the top 20 in the nation this year.
While Johnson is having a breakout fall, the Gophers still probably wouldn’t trade their top tailback, Darius Taylor, for Johnson straight up. Taylor, a member of the 2023 recruiting class, put up bigger numbers than Johnson going into this year, but Taylor’s hamstring injury, coupled with ineffective offensive line play, has limited his production at the season’s halfway point.
Friday will be another chapter in what the Gophers might have missed out on. Johnson has forced 31 missed tackles this season, per Pro Football Focus, while Minnesota’s defense has missed an average of 14.5 tackles in the last four games.
When Johnson was at Holy Angels, the offense would set up at the 40-yard line. And each time Johnson touched the ball, he felt he needed to cross the goal line. To cope with that relentlessness, Gunderson then moved the drill down to the 10-yard line in order to get Johnson back into the huddle sooner.
“I haven’t had a harder worker, more driven kid in my life,” said Gunderson, who has been at Holy Angels for 16 years, including 11 as head coach.
Becker coach Dwight Lundeen, who is in his 56th season, told Gunderson that Johnson is the best cutter he’s ever seen. That was on display during Johnson’s 50-yard run in the Maryland win last weekend.
“How hard he runs is how hard he’s always run,” Gunderson said.
Johnson will bring that style back home on Friday, and while he didn’t know how many family and friends will be at Huntington Bank Stadium, it will include Gunderson.
“Pretty fired up for that,” Gunderson said.
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