LINCOLN — They’re the initial pair to emerge from the first real class of Bo Pelini-Barney Cotton offensive line recruits, and Brent Qvale and Jeremiah Sirles might just hold a key to notable improvement for the NU offense next football season.
The redshirt freshman duo, no doubt, are making waves this spring.
“The thing about those guys,” said Cotton, the Huskers’ third-year O-line coach, “is that they’re pretty mentally savvy guys. They’ve got good football minds.”
And decent size, too.
Sirles, at 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, is competing for the top spot at left tackle. Qvale, a giant even inside the NU locker room at 6-7 and 320 pounds, has helped replace injured right guard Ricky Henry this spring and figures to contend for time next fall.
On a line with four fifth-year seniors in its top two units, Qvale and Sirles might just provide the Huskers with the depth they’ve sought since Pelini arrived at Nebraska after the 2007 season.
The youngsters matured fast last fall. Qvale, in fact, looked on track to skip a redshirt before suffering a shoulder injury midway through preseason camp. Sirles practiced with the top offensive group until he settled into a scout-team role in October.
No such plans exist this year for Qvale, of Williston, N.D., and Sirles, from Lakewood, Colo.
“That takes a lot of focus to get in the playbook and be able to compete at that level,” senior tackle Marcel Jones said. “They’re the two that stand out to me the most.”
Junior center Mike Caputo described Sirles and Qvale as “great competitors.”
“They’ve shown us a lot already,” Caputo said.
Sirles will likely start opposite Jones Saturday in the Red-White game as junior-college transfer Jermarcus Hardrick nurses a hand injury.
Since they’ve not played at Nebraska, Sirles and Qvale remain off-limits for interviews.
Cotton said he hopes they represent the next generation of NU linemen. The freshmen appear to possess a fierce attitude sometimes missing from the Huskers’ line play in recent years.
Both have already dealt well with injuries. Sirles missed practice time late last season but has rebounded strongly.
“For an offensive linemen, it’s five seconds of pain and 30 seconds of rest,” Cotton said. “That’s just the way it is. You play through pain. You get your rest and do it again.”
In recruiting linemen, Cotton said, he queries high school coaches about a lineman’s ability to play with pain.
Because unlike perhaps a running back or wide receiver, offensive linemen don’t miss practice on a Tuesday and Wednesday and then play on Saturday.
Not a problem, Cotton said, for Sirles and Qvale.
So how much can they help an offense that ranked 99th nationally last year in yardage and 75th in scoring? More than anything, the coach said, they’re part of a big-picture effort to bolster depth on the O-line.
So far, things look good. The Huskers have consistently utilized two groups of offensive linemen practicing at the same time this spring.
And clearly, it’s an emphasis in recruiting. NU has already received pledges from four high school linemen to replace Henry, Keith Williams, Mike Smith and D.J. Jones after next season.
NU opened the spring with 20 offensive linemen available for practice.
“There’s probably still a place for us to get a little bit bigger,” Cotton said.
Qvale and Sirles, apparently, are just the start.
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