Triaging the QB room

[Lorewarn]

This game showed me more than any other how much fans are willing to forgive for a perceived hometown (or home state) hero compared to an 'outsider'. Myself included.

[ZRod]

6 hours ago, Lorewarn said:

This game showed me more than any other how much fans are willing to forgive for a perceived hometown (or home state) hero compared to an 'outsider'. Myself included.

What?

[Husker in WI]

6 hours ago, Lorewarn said:

This game showed me more than any other how much fans are willing to forgive for a perceived hometown (or home state) hero compared to an 'outsider'. Myself included.

 

I think the biggest factor is while Haarberg did have 2 bad fumbles, we actually got the glimpse of Sims some of us have wanted and he immediately fumbled as well. I've been pretty firmly in the "Sims can do several things better than Haarberg" camp, but I'll forgive a lot with Haarberg when the alternative just can't get out of his own way. There are some blinders on with Haarberg being the hometown hero, but at this point it's just as much knowing there's not a less turnover-prone option.

[ColoradoHusk]

I appreciate Haarberg for coming in, righting the ship, and managing the offense the best he can. He definitely plays  tough and has earned the respect of his teammates. I hope that Satt is able to lean on Johnson and Fleeks to run the ball more, and rely less on Haarberg. Unless, HH has wide open field in front on him, he’s not a great runner.  On speed options, he needs to pitch the ball sooner to give the RB some space to get to the corner. Finally,  on a couple of the sacks and big hits he took against Purdue, that was due to him holding onto the ball too long. I realize the WR group isn’t great right now and may not getting open for him, but HH needs to develop that internal clock in his head. 

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, Husker in WI said:

 

I think the biggest factor is while Haarberg did have 2 bad fumbles, we actually got the glimpse of Sims some of us have wanted and he immediately fumbled as well. I've been pretty firmly in the "Sims can do several things better than Haarberg" camp, but I'll forgive a lot with Haarberg when the alternative just can't get out of his own way. There are some blinders on with Haarberg being the hometown hero, but at this point it's just as much knowing there's not a less turnover-prone option.

Yes....and the fact that Sims has been in games twice now for 3-4 plays each and each time, he has screwed up the play.  When you start the year as the starter, I would think that you would actually know the plays.

[Husker in WI]

2 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

Yes....and the fact that Sims has been in games twice now for 3-4 plays each and each time, he has screwed up the play.  When you start the year as the starter, I would think that you would actually know the plays.

 

I would love to know exactly what happened on the 4th down play - Rhule said it was called in wrong, but even in that case you'd think everyone would do the same thing even if it's wrong. And you had Lindenmeyer physically pull Knaak out of his stance and move him to the opposite side of the formation, which was pretty hilarious. I don't know if I can put the playcall on Sims, seems like the left side of the line though it was going the other way, hence the unblocked edge defender. But you can't fumble there, and he went the wrong way on the fake handoff on 3rd down. 

 

And it all could have been avoided if one of the lineman just tapped the helmet of the DL who jumped offsides on the initial 4th and 1. 

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, Husker in WI said:

 

I would love to know exactly what happened on the 4th down play - Rhule said it was called in wrong, but even in that case you'd think everyone would do the same thing even if it's wrong. And you had Lindenmeyer physically pull Knaak out of his stance and move him to the opposite side of the formation, which was pretty hilarious. I don't know if I can put the playcall on Sims, seems like the left side of the line though it was going the other way, hence the unblocked edge defender. But you can't fumble there, and he went the wrong way on the fake handoff on 3rd down. 

 

And it all could have been avoided if one of the lineman just tapped the helmet of the DL who jumped offsides on the initial 4th and 1. 

I was talking about the 3rd down play.  He clearly went the wrong way when everyone else is going the other way.

[Enhance]

I can't really speak for anybody else, but I 100% do not care about Haarberg being a Nebraska kid. It has never influenced my opinion of him playing and so I personally think that narrative is being overblown a bit.

 

In fact, if anything, I'd say I have a bias against Nebraska quarterbacks. If you gave me no context and told me a Nebraskan was starting at QB for the Huskers, my gut reaction would be that the starter was hurt or that the starter was unpredictably bad.

[BigRedBuster]

8 minutes ago, Enhance said:

I can't really speak for anybody else, but I 100% do not care about Haarberg being a Nebraska kid. It has never influenced my opinion of him playing and so I personally think that narrative is being overblown a bit.

 

In fact, if anything, I'd say I have a bias against Nebraska quarterbacks. If you gave me no context and told me a Nebraskan was starting at QB for the Huskers, my gut reaction would be that the starter was hurt or that the starter was unpredictably bad.

This.

 

The entire "we support him as the current starter only because he's a Nebraska kid" is totally over blown and a lazy take.

[Mavric]

7 hours ago, Lorewarn said:

This game showed me more than any other how much fans are willing to forgive for a perceived hometown (or home state) hero compared to an 'outsider'. Myself included.

 

Really this whole thing only shows that people will try to accuse others of this despite there being plenty of other reasons for their choice.

 

Sims turned the ball over six times in the first two games.  Since then he's played five plays and screwed up on four of them.

 

There is absolutely no reason anyone should be questioning why he isn't playing anymore.

[soup]

18 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

I was talking about the 3rd down play.  He clearly went the wrong way when everyone else is going the other way.

and while it doesn't get talked about.  He almost snapped the ball into the motion guy again.  His timing is way off.

 

[Undone]

31 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

I hope that Satt is able to lean on Johnson and Fleeks to run the ball more, and rely less on Haarberg. Unless, HH has wide open field in front on him, he’s not a great runner.

 

Agreed.

I feel like in that first offensive series against Northern Illinois, Haarberg planted his feet and decisively bolted up field with intensity. In the last two games I haven't seen very much of that. He's looked a bit hesitant to pick a lane and dart through it to me, but maybe I'm wrong there.

 

I'm a huge fan of outside tosses. They're a play that can open up lanes and they generally make it fairly easy for your run blockers to see who they need to chip and where they need to be to make a block. I'd rather see Emmett Johnson or Fleeks taking an outside toss and seeing what happens over Haarberg curling out pretty slowly to run the option.

[BigRedBuster]

6 minutes ago, Undone said:

 

Agreed.

I feel like in that first offensive series against Northern Illinois, Haarberg planted his feet and decisively bolted up field with intensity. In the last two games I haven't seen very much of that. He's looked a bit hesitant to pick a lane and dart through it to me, but maybe I'm wrong there.

 

I'm a huge fan of outside tosses. They're a play that can open up lanes and they generally make it fairly easy for your run blockers to see who they need to chip and where they need to be to make a block. I'd rather see Emmett Johnson or Fleeks taking an outside toss and seeing what happens over Haarberg curling out pretty slowly to run the option.

He seems to me like he's trying to protect himself more now than his first game or two.  It reminds me of Taylor Martinez right before he would get hit.  It's possible the coaches have told him to not sacrifice his body the way he was.  But, it's caused him to not really have any vision while running.  He knows where he's supposed to run.  If it's not open, he just runs into the defenders.

[Fru]

Sims was the hand picked portal transfer who was effectively brought in to be “the guy.”

 

Haarberg was the plucky home state kid who was 4th or 5th on the depth chart last year.
 

Sims has had his chances and if he can’t fully separate himself from Haarberg by now, that’s his own fault. 

 

I think it’s safe to say Haarberg was never brought in with a full intention of being the full time starter. At best, I think his initial trajectory was to have a few nice moments in mop up duty, grad transfer to a smaller school and then he goes back to Kearney to sell insurance.

Haarberg is winning and he’s a nice story for now. If he can get us back to bowl eligibility, he’ll retain a special place in the heart of Husker Nation forever. I think Rhule and Co take one, possibly two portal QBs next year and he goes back to being a backup. 

[HANC]

Just my opinion.  I personally don't trust the portal to get a "great-good" QB.  Maybe a grad transfer could fit the bill......  This isn't going to happen, but I really like the kid from South Dakota State.  Mark Gronowski..... All he has done is win at a high level.  He has played 2 seasons and led them to a NC game, in which he tore his acl in the first half, or they win that game.  He took a year recovery, then comes back and leads them to a NC.  This year, he has them undefeated and ranked number 1, and very possibly can lead them to another NC.  That would be 3 years as a starter and 3 National Championship appearances.  I have watched many SDSU games and I believe he is better than anyone we have on the roster.  At 6'3, 225, he is fast, powerful and throws the ball extremely well.