With their win over Cincinnati in Week 1, Nebraska became the first college football team to take a playful jab at the recently engaged Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
The game was held at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Chiefs. The semi-neutral site allowed Kelce and Swift to attend the game on Thursday night, where fans spotted them watching from their suite.
Following their win, the Nebraska football team's social media account decided to mock its celebrity viewers. They posted a photo of Kelce and Swift's engagement with their mascot photoshopped onto Kelce's body, captioned, ‘Change of plans.' The post was quickly deleted, but not before others nabbed a screenshot.
Now deleted tweet pic.twitter.com/s7EMWztek7
— CFB Home (@CFBHome) August 29, 2025
Neither Kelce nor Swift responded to the post, but some of the latter's fans were not happy with it. However, the majority of the college football fan base found the humor in Nebraska's jab.
Although the crowd made it seem as if it was a Nebraska home game, Kelce was at the stadium in support of his alma mater. The All-Pro tight end attended Cincinnati from 2008 to 2012. Kelce's older brother, Jason Kelce, who is also a former Bearcat, joined them at the game.
Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, joined the Kelce brothers and Swift in the suite. Unlike the Kelce family, Mahomes seemed to be mainly on Nebraska's side due to his connection to Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola.
Nebraska tops Cincinnati to begin 2025 college football season 1-0
Although the game came down to the wire, Nebraska maintained control throughout. Cincinnati made a respectable push in the second half, but could not mount enough offense to secure the comeback.
The game came down to the final drive, which ended with an interception from cornerback Malcolm Hartzog. Cincinnati got the ball back down by three with two minutes remaining and got to Nebraska's 33-yard line before the turnover. Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby picked up 34 of his 69 passing yards on the final two-minute drill.
Raiola ended the game with 243 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions, while completing 79 percent of his passes. Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson supplemented the pass attack with 108 rushing yards on 25 carries.
Both teams return home for Week 2, where they each begin softer two-week stretches. Nebraska will face Akron and Houston Christian over the next two weeks before welcoming Michigan to Lincoln.
Cincinnati has a bounce-back opportunity against Bowling Green in Week 2 before it faces Northwestern State in Week 3. The Bearcats have a bye in Week 4 before hitting the road against Kansas on Sept. 27.
