Nebraska Cornhuskers News: Jeff Sims on watch list, more

LINCOLN, NE - APRIL 22: Quarterback Jeff Sims #14 of Nebraska Cornhuskers warms up before the contest at Memorial Stadium on April 22, 2023 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - APRIL 22: Quarterback Jeff Sims #14 of Nebraska Cornhuskers warms up before the contest at Memorial Stadium on April 22, 2023 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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The Nebraska Cornhuskers have their new starting quarterback on a watch list, as Jeff Sims is officially a contender for the Davey O’brien Award.

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Sims would be on the list. The Georgia Tech transfer quarterback has even gotten some odds for the Heisman. Now he’s officially among the 35 players on the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List.

Of course, the fact that he’s the starting quarterback on a Power 5 program comes very close to landing him on the list automatically. But there’s also the fact that Sims has had at least a measure of success over the course of his college football career.

The official Davey O’Brien Midseason Watch List will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 24, and will contain all active quarterbacks from the Preseason Watch List, all players honored as a weekly Great 8 recipient through the season’s first eight weeks, and any additional quarterbacks approved by the selection subcommittee.

The list will then be pared down about once a week through October and November and the winner will be announced on December 7. While it certainly feels like a longshot that the Nebraska Cornhuskers will have a seminfinalist or finalist, let alone the winner, a winning season and a solid performance by Sims could certainly help his candidacy.

Other Nebraska Cornhuskers news

  • While there are times when Nebraska Cornhuskers football teams in the past have treated special teams like a graveyard of guys who couldn’t win starting spots, Matt Rhule and Ed Foley want to make sure people don’t believe that will be the case in 2023. As 247Sports wrote, there are going to be starters on Foley’s units. And there will be plenty of competition all over special teams.
  • Earlier this year, defensive back Noa Pola-Gates transferred to New Mexico after spending the previous four years in Lincoln. Gates recently talked to the Albuquerque Journal as to why and it appears that it was at least partially head coach Matt Rhule’s idea. Rhule told Pola-Gates in a post-spring exit interview to “go be great, go be a starter, go be a star player… somewhere else,” Pola-Gates remembered.
  • Former Husker Devine Ozigbo has himself a new NFL team. On Wednesday, the Detroit Lions announced they’d signed the former Nebraska Cornhuskers running back.