Cole Stukenholtz: Surprises, Vital Signs and Sims

A big-picture look at the Nebraska defensive line, the running game and the quarterback

In the wake of Nebraska’s collapse at Colorado, I want to put a bow on the second game of the season before looking ahead to game three and beyond.

Disrespect drama

It sucks that Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has to defend himself over the so-called "disrespect" CU coach Deion Sanders and his son Shedeur Sanders referenced. It's classic gaslighting. Blow up something so inflammatory, real or imagined, that the other party has no choice but to address it. Once the gaslighter has pulled that pin out of the grenade, the other party gets stuck sifting through the debris while they move on to the next bit of media bait.

As for the actual substance? Best I can tell, the Sanderses got all mad about throwaway offseason comments that didn’t reference them or Colorado specifically. Or they just made it up.

“bUt rHuLe sAiD hE wOuLdN’t HaVe cAmErAs fOlLoW HiM aRoUnD” (Deion has had a LOT of behind-the-scenes video since his hire.)

“bUt rHuLe sAiD hE ChOsE tO cOaCh tHe pLaYeRs oN tHe rOsTeR” (Deion infamously purged a majority of CU's 2022 roster and hit the transfer portal hard, resulting in 68 new scholarship players.)

“hE’s sUcH a JeRk fOr KiNdA sOrTa SaYiNg sTuFf aBoUt pRiMe”

Please.

There are also politicians who do this all the time. Sports is admittedly much lower stakes than the activity of our elected officials, but when the media (the people covering coach Sanders in Boulder especially) don't ask about or report on the facts, then the gaslighter gets away with it.

Deion worked in TV. He knows how to play this game. We – the media, opposing fans, college football followers in general – shouldn’t make it this easy for him.

(Colorado State head coach – and former Nebraska offensive coordinator – Jay Norvell just took a much more direct shot at Deion Sanders this week. I’m sure everyone will handle it gracefully…)

Youth movement up front

I still contend that I was right to worry about the Huskers’ defensive front. Ty Robinson was the only guy with more than two starts, the other two starters had to make significant gains, and almost all the depth would have to come from true freshmen. Those were the facts before 8/31.

My goodness, they have surprised me.

And DL coach Terrence Knighton aka “Pot Roast” deserves a raise.

Nebraska’s defensive line has been the (positive) story of the young season. Cam Lenhardt starting right off the bat as a true freshman. His classmates Princewill Umanmielen and Riley Van Poppel making contributions. But most importantly, Nash Hutmacher and Blaise Gunnerson made that jump. The upperclassmen look the part and have terrorized Minnesota and Colorado in the trenches.

The unpredictability of the 3-3-5 defense has lent a hand. There isn’t really a weak link in this defense, considering how all three levels have performed thus far.

Don’t take this as me calling the Blackshirts perfect – they have worn down later in games, given up a few big plays, and have only one non-garbage-time takeaway so far. But leading the country in sacks? That’ll play.

Question is, can they get some help?

Signs of life on offense

The quarterback and the turnovers stick out like a tuba player marching in the wrong direction during halftime. Can’t fix the offense averaging four giveaways per game. Keep that up and this season will be on life support.

There has been movement of the ball, though. NU can run it a little, sitting 36th nationally at 201 yards per game after playing two Power-5 defenses. If they can simply hold onto the dang ball, they can certainly score enough in tandem with that defense to win some games this season. Even cutting their turnovers in half would have been enough to knock off Minnesota, and they would have made Colorado earn it in the fourth quarter.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has taken his fair share of criticism these first couple weeks. Play-calling, personnel, practice habits -- it’s all relevant. But the sky isn’t falling quite yet.

Keep running the ball, mix in a couple more designed runs for Jeff Sims (or Heinrich Haarberg – more on him later), and run ball-security drills in practice like your job depends on it. For Satterfield, it might.

The Sims stumper

Matt Rhule got Jeff Sims out of the transfer portal. I’m sure he also recruited other quarterbacks this offseason to come play for him, likely with better résumés and results. Sims is who he got.

As such, Rhule said and did all the right things to pump up the Georgia Tech transfer. Even if he didn’t actually believe it, who among us hasn’t tried to support a teammate or a player you’re coaching by attempting to speak improvement into existence? You want your QB to have plenty of confidence, especially after Casey Thompson transferred.

I don’t think Casey got run out of Lincoln, by the way. He had shoulder surgery and couldn’t participate in spring practices to compete with Sims for the job. If you’re Rhule, and Casey asks you where he stands in early May, you’re telling him he’s behind Sims! This staff would have preferred to keep both, no question. But kids want to play, and Florida Atlantic gave Casey that chance.

So Rhule handed the keys to the offense over to Jeff Sims. In fact, one could argue that Sims has cost NU both of their first two games this season.

• Three interceptions against Minnesota.
• Two fumbles lost and another interception against Colorado.
• All six turnovers while the games were still in the balance.

When this two-game sample size is added to his history at Georgia Tech, the sum total tells me that Sims is not capable of leading Nebraska to a .500-or-better regular season.

Is it possible that he’s still the best option in this 2023 Nebraska QB group? Yeah, it’s possible, maybe even likely. But could those of us outside the program who can’t compare guys in practice get a little Heinrich Haarberg action on Saturday? Even if Sims is healthy and starts, I hope to see Haarberg at least play a couple series, just so we can see for ourselves.

Under the lights

I’ll admit it – I’m a sucker for this coaching staff geeking out over getting to coach a game in Memorial Stadium for the first time. Lincoln is one of just a handful of college football meccas. Having lived here since 2002, I know I have taken it for granted at times. But it’s still special.

Here’s to a successful night for the Huskers as they open the home slate Saturday night against Northern Illinois. Time to get some good vibes going.