Matt Rhule shares status of Nebraska's injured quarterback room
The quarterback carousel continues to spin for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and head coach Matt Rhule for all the wrong reasons. The Cornhuskers came up short at home on Saturday, falling to the Maryland Terrapins 13-10. Still, it’s possible that was not their only significant loss of the game, as starting quarterback Heinrich Haarburg had to leave the game early with a leg injury.
On Monday, as Nebraska prepares to travel to Madison, WI, to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, Rhule took a moment to discuss the health of his quarterbacks heading into their week 12 contest.
“Quarterback-wise, Heinrich has a pretty good ankle sprain,” said Rhule. “So, we’ll see if he can do anything tomorrow. Chubba (Purdy) came out of the game a little bit banged up (and) hasn’t played much; he’s a little bit banged up from getting hit. Jeff Sims (is) healthy.
“We’ll go through the week and probably come all the way up to game time in terms of who will play. Obviously, each guy brings a little bit of something different to the table. So we’ll have sort of a pretty diverse plan and see who’s able to go. But I won’t be able to comment on Heinrich til after I see him tomorrow if he can do anything at all.”
All three quarterbacks were in action on Saturday against Maryland for Nebraska, and none of them did particularly well against the Terrapins defense. Before getting knocked out of the game, Haarburg was only credited with completing one of his five pass attempts for zero yards and one interception. Sims, who saw the majority of the action at quarterback, finished the game, completing 8 of 13 pass attempts for 62 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. And Purdy finished the day 1-3 for 24 yards and an interception.
It is difficult for Rhule to say who will get this start on Saturday against Wisconsin for Nebraska with so many variables surrounding the statuses of his quarterbacks. Still, it will be a story that is monitored closely around the program, as the Cornhuskers are just one win away from being bowl-eligible this season.
Nebraska will take on Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium Saturday in a game under the lights. This Big Ten West showdown will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and can be viewed on NBC or by using the Peacock app. This matchup between Nebraska and Wisconsin will be significant to both programs as they enter 5-5, and one win away from being bowl-eligible in each respective head coach’s first season running the program.