Who will play quarterback for Nebraska on Saturday night? The top three quarterbacks on the depth chart took the field in the Huskers’ loss against Maryland, and all three are options this weekend.
The Cornhuskers are trying to decide between the injured Heinrich Haarberg, former starter Jeff Sims, and backup Chubba Purdy. Head coach Matt Rhule met with the media on Thursday afternoon and said all three quarterbacks are still in the running to start on Saturday.
“Heinrich’s going to practice tomorrow. He’s obviously been out there on a limited basis. Chubba and Jeff have gotten most of the reps. But I know he definitely wants to play. He’s pushing to come back and play, and so we’ll see how he does tomorrow and get him to the game, warm him up.”
He also complimented the work that Sims and Purdy have done in practice this week. Rhule went on to state that the quarterback room has been hard at work to try and fix the five-turnover performance last Saturday.
“I think Jeff and Chubba have done a really nice job this week. Obviously any time you have the things that transpired last week, I think everyone comes in determined, knowing that they can fix some of those things. I think we fixed a lot of things as a staff and as players. They both, with a chance knowing, ‘Hey, I get all the reps,’ they’ve been able to get a lot of reps, and they’ve done a really nice job. And so we’re prepared to play either one or both.”
When asked about Haarberg’s recovery from his injury, Rhule made it clear that Heinrich will only see the field if he can contribute to the offense in some impactful way.
“He’ll definitely be available in some capacity, but whether he starts or not, I think, will just depend on how he feels on game day. We obviously wouldn’t want to put him out there if we weren’t able to run him and run the option and do the things that he does best. And so he’ll test it full speed again tomorrow and see if he has the same good results.”
Nebraska will take the field at Camp Randall Stadium this Saturday against the Wisconsin Badgers. Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on NBC.
Find a photo gallery of Nebraska’s three quarterback options below.