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Heinrich Haarberg named Nebraska football starter against Northwestern

By Oliver Vandervoort

Oct 6, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Heinrich Haarberg (10) smiles with teammates on the bench during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 6, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Heinrich Haarberg (10) smiles with teammates on the bench during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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If the Nebraska football team did have a quarterback battle during the bye week, then Heinrich Haarberg emerged the victor and has been named the starter.

It didn’t take very long into Monday’s press conference for the question to be popped. Who was going to start for the Nebraska football team against the Wildcats?

After all, going into the bye week, Huskers head coach Matt Rhule had made it clear. Jeff Sims was healthy and the coaching staff planned to have a bit of a QB competition to see who would start in their seventh game of the season.

Chubba Purdy was even said to be in the mix.

It appears that as the smoke cleared, Nebraska football coaches had settled on a guy. It seems more than likely that Haarberg will indeed be “the man” for the foreseeable future.

While Rhule didn’t commit to naming the Kearney native the starter for the rest of the season, it doesn’t sound like at the moment, the job is Jeff Sims to take back. In other words, Haarberg would need to get hurt, or play badly enough that a change was needed.

Nebraska football has its quarterback for Northwestern

Granted, Big Ten West quarterbacks are dropping like flies, so it’s not a given that Haarberg can stay healthy. Especially considering his work load.

The positive there is that if the Nebraska football team does suffer another injury at the quarterback position, they now have a backup who is seasoned and has plenty of starting experience under his belt. This isn’t the Chubba Purdy/Logan Smothers situation from last year.

Haarberg has been far from perfect this season. He’s completed just 52.1 percent of his passes for 631 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs. But he offers the Huskers another weapon on the ground as the team deals with a depleted running back room.

He’s also someone who showed a little more confidence in actually pitching the ball when needed when running the option. Something that has come back as a big part of this offense, even if they’re not running as much as the Nebraska football teams of old.

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