Should Nebraska Bench Jeff Sims?
Nebraska was handed a massive blowout loss from Deion Sanders and the new-look Colorado Buffaloes earlier today. The game was never close, as Nebraska was outplayed on both sides of the ball, but the defense looked marginally better than the offense. The Cornhusker’s offense has failed to put up more than 14 points in their first two games, and Senior QB Jeff Sims has a lot to do with the team’s struggle to put up points. This begs the question, should Nebraska bench Jeff Sims and start Heinrich Haarberg??
Sims transferred to Nebraska back in December of 2022 after underperforming at Georgia Tech. The former three-star was incredibly inconsistent with the Yellow Jackets and didn’t show enough for Georgia Tech to be convinced that he could be the starter in 2023. Though Sims can struggle with accuracy and decision-making, his athleticism and scrambling ability are a major addition to any college offense. Needing a QB, Rhule, and the Cornhuskers took a chance on the project QB, thinking that he could be fixed and retooled. Through the first two games of this season, you could argue that Sims is playing the worst football of his collegiate career…
In the opening game of the season versus Minnesota, Sims threw three interceptions. One of those picks came in the fourth quarter with a minute to play, as Jeff threw a ball into triple coverage to Minnesota DB Tyler Nubin. This turnover led to a game-winning FG by Minnesota, and Nebraska lost a game that they had in their grasp. Fast forward to today, Nebraska came into Colorado as two-point underdogs, so many expected a close football game. Instead, the Buffaloes took it to the Skers and blew them out by 20. Sims added another interception to his season tally today, as it is now at four through two games. He was inaccurate, flustered at times, and was flat-out awful. The 21-year-old did have an impressive rushing touchdown, but we already knew he was good at that, and his rushing ability isn’t good enough to single-handedly carry an offense. Long story short, Sims has looked awful through the first two games of the season, but the question remains, Should he be benched??
Sims went down with an apparent lower leg injury in the fourth quarter of today’s game, so we finally saw Heinrich Haarberg. The former Kearney Football Legend actually looked pretty decent in his limit snaps, running the offense and evening throwing a touchdown pass late to TE Thomas Fidone II. Haaberg has been with the program for three years now but finally got to see his first game action today. Chubba Purdy, brother of 49ers QB Brock Purdy, also saw some action today but did nothing noteworthy. With everything being said, is it already time to pull the plug on the Sims experiment and start Haaberg??
Not yet… Yes, Sims has looked incredibly uninspiring so far this season, but we have to keep in mind that it has only been two weeks, and Nebraska has played two very good defenses. Haarberg looked decent in his limited snaps, but we haven’t seen him put it all together yet in a full game. Next week’s game vs. Northern Illinois is make or break for Jeff Sims. If the ladder can’t lead the Huskers to a dominating win against a newer FBS school, it may be time to switch it up in Lincoln…
