Head coach Scott Frost made it official during a Thursday evening media appearance. Texas transfer Casey Thompson will be the starting quarterback for Nebraska’s Week 0 showdown with the Northwestern Wildcats in Dublin, Ireland.
"Casey's gonna be the guy."
Scott Frost confirms that Casey Thompson (@LilThurm) will be QB1 for the #Huskers in Dublin. @KETV #GBR
(h/t: @HuskersRadio) pic.twitter.com/eFwro38eKu
— Matt Foster KETV (@MattFosterTV) August 19, 2022
The Husker head coach made the announcement on the Nebraska Radio Network, telling host Greg Sharpe,
“Casey is going to be the guy. But we’ve had a lot of guys playing well at that position. Chubba (Purdy) just keeps improving, Logan (Smothers) is clearly better than he was last year, I’ve seen a lot of good things out of (Heinrich) Haarberg and Richie (Torres) is a super talented young guy. I like what we have at that position. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one plays. But Casey is going to take the first reps.”
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. As our own Jakob Ashlin wrote,
“Thompson has been considered the favorite for the starting job. Last season, he completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 2,113 yards, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions for the Texas Longhorns. He also rushed for 157 yards and four touchdowns.”
Thompson will be the first opening-day starting quarterback for the Cornhuskers since Adrian Martinez made the last four season-opening starts at that position. Frost also confirmed that team captains would be announced over the weekend, and the first round of defensive blackshirts will be handed out before the team leaves for Ireland.
Media reaction to Scott Frost’s announcement of a Week 0 starter can be found below. Stay tuned to Cornhuskers Wire as we’ll have all the coverage leading up to Nebraska’s season opener on August 27th against the Northwestern Wildcats in Dublin, Ireland.