Nebraska Football has been winning in spite of an offense that’s among the worst in the country. On Saturday, they couldn’t keep that streak going.
Nebraska Football came into Saturday knowing that a win would make them bowl eligible for the first time since 2016. So the Huskers decided to play remarkably similar to the way they’ve played the previous six seasons.
Ok. That’s not really fair. The Huskers’ defense did enough to win. The offense though, was absolutely offensive.
On the day, quarterback Heinrich Haarberg completed just 12 of 28 passes for 129 yards and two interceptions. He did not have a touchdown pass. He was equally bad running the ball, outside of one 43 yard gallop late in the game that gave the Nebraska Football team new life.
In total, Haarberg carried 14 times for 36 yards. Meaning he was at negative rushing over his first 13 carries.
It’s officially time to have a serious talk about Haarberg. He came into the game 97th in the country in QBR according to ESPN. While he still has more touchdowns to interceptions (7-6), he’s got just 3 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in Big Ten play.
He’s also completing exactly 50 percent of his passes. That’s not good enough in today’s game. Not with as many passes as he’s thrown this season.
While it’s true there are times that the wide receivers are not helping him with drops, he looks like you’d expect someone who is completing just 50 percent of his passes to look.
And he’s still the best Nebraska football has at quarterback. Which is why the transfer portal should be a big discussion this offseason.
Nebraska Football offense is without true starting quarterback
After watching the kind of performance Haarberg had today, it’s hard not to argue the Huskers need to look at a change, but their options don’t present that as a move that’s going to happen.
The good news is that Nebraska Football is still very much in a bowl game race. They have three more games and need only to win one. If the offense has another game like today though, 0-3 isn’t out of the question.