Nebraska football is flawed at quarterback. Is there a solution?

LINCOLN, Neb. — In conversations about play calling and quarterback decisions, the benefit of hindsight turns every fan into an expert and every media member into a know-it-all.

We should all try to avoid going there.

But here we are, studying the final sequence for Nebraska’s offense Saturday in its 13-10 loss against Maryland that denied bowl eligibility for the Huskers.

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They started at their own 3-yard line with almost 10 minutes on the clock.

In his first meaningful action this season and likely in need of surgery to repair a groin injury, Chubba Purdy rushed to his right for 13 yards. The crowd at Memorial Stadium roared its approval, willing the Brother of Brock along the way for every one of the 70 yards that his lone drive covered.

Purdy completed a third-down throw to Billy Kemp, just back from injury, for 24 yards. Purdy rushed to his left for 9. Emmett Johnson burst up the middle for 29. Purdy went right, then cut left and weaved for 11 yards to the Maryland 5.

Something incredible was about to happen. Nebraska, at minimum, would kick a field goal and take the lead with three minutes to play. And there’s no way that the defense would let the Huskers lose, right? Not this group, well on the way to keeping a fifth consecutive opponent to 20 points or fewer for the first time at Nebraska since Ndamukong Suh and the 2009 Blackshirts did it.

“You talk about moments that can ignite an offense and ignite a team,” coach Matt Rhule said.

Then on first-and-goal from the 5, Purdy messed up. Nebraska called a handoff to Johnson. But Purdy kept it and rolled right. It was not a run-pass option play, Rhule said. Purdy had no protection. Chased by two Terrapins, he almost took a sack near the 20-yard line, throwing it away — outside of the pocket and past the line of scrimmage to avoid intentional grounding.

How lucky. Count your blessings, Marcus Satterfield, and take the points. A second-down run to Johnson lost 2 yards. And on third-and-goal from 7, disaster struck.

Purdy had receivers Malachi Coleman and Alex Bullock wide to his left and Kemp in the slot on the same side. None were open as the play developed. Coleman was late to cut to the center of the field and clear space for Kemp. Coleman’s defender, Tarheeb Still, moved off the freshman as Purdy fired for Kemp on a corner route toward the back of the end zone.

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The pass didn’t get enough air. The area was too congested. Still grabbed an easy interception. No points for Nebraska. And Maryland, after Still’s 19-yard return, marched 75 yards for the winning chip shot field goal as time expired.

GO DEEPER

When will Nebraska finally end its run of historically bad turnover trouble?

It begs many questions:

• Why is Purdy put in a position to attempt that throw when the lead was there for Nebraska to take on a chip shot of its own? His connection with Kemp earlier on the drive marked Purdy’s first and only completion of the season.

• Why not just run the ball three times from the 5? Nebraska averaged 5.2 yards per rushing attempt in the second half.

“I think we were rolling on that last drive,” center Ben Scott said. “The body blows were starting to add up. The defense was starting to wear down.”

• Why leave it in the hands of a QB to make a mistake? Satterfield and Rhule saw enough Saturday — and have seen it all season — to know how this situation goes. The Huskers lead the nation with 27 giveaways through 10 games.

Even before the fateful Purdy pick, quarterbacks Heinrich Haarberg and Jeff Sims committed four turnovers against Maryland. Both were on the bench for a reason. Every Nebraska possession in the fourth quarter ended with a turnover. And Purdy had received limited practice reps with the No. 1 offense.

Perhaps the most compelling argument that should have pushed Satterfield, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, to play it conservatively on third down came just two plays earlier. Remember, on first down, Purdy tried to do too much and escaped. His errant decision did not create an overly negative play.

So why push it? Take the field goal. It’s not like Nebraska was down three points and trying to avoid overtime with its third-string QB in the game. The score was tied. This defense looked up to the task of holding Maryland.

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Losers of four consecutive games, the Terps’ possessions to that point in the second half had ended in three turnovers, a failed fourth-and-1 rush and a field goal after they gained three yards in three plays from the Nebraska 21.

The interception gave Maryland life. A Nebraska field goal would have deflated the Terps.

From here, Nebraska faces a QB quandary. It can go back to Haarberg, who’s got bruised confidence to go with a tender ankle. His interception in the first quarter marked Haarberg’s eighth turnover in the past four games. The Huskers can go to Sims, who did his job for the better part of two quarters Saturday but melted when they got to the fourth quarter with a three-point lead.

Or Nebraska can try Purdy, which makes some sense, except for the fact that he’s not healthy. Asked if Purdy could withstand an entire game, in contrast to the emergency relief role he played on the final drive Saturday, Rhule said Purdy could better answer that question.

“I’m happy to see Chubba got a chance to play,” the coach said. “If he’s the guy, we’ll coach him up.”

The Huskers will attack the problem “day by day,” Rhule said.

“You get in there (Sunday) and you see where Heinrich is at physically. Heinrich’s gift is that he’s a dual threat, so if he doesn’t have the ability to run and cut and do all those things, that limits what he can do.”

Rhule doesn’t want to let the decision lag through the week as the Huskers prepare for Wisconsin.

“I’d be lying if I told you I knew who it was going to be,” Rhule said.

The Badgers, by the way, are in worse shape than Nebraska after losing 24-10 Saturday at home against Northwestern on the heels of a loss at Indiana.

Regarding the Huskers, the overriding truth is this: The turnovers, poor QB play and coaching decisions that involve the position are killing them.

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“It’s just a shame,” Rhule said. “It overshadows all of the good things that (the team is) doing. When you’ve got (five) turnovers and you lose 13-10, that’s pretty hard to do. It means that we’re being physical and running the football and doing some other decent things. But the passing game is really not where it needs to be for us.”

All three quarterbacks threw interceptions.

“Any time it happens across multiple players,” Rhule said, “you have to sit down as a coaching staff and say, ‘We’re obviously not getting it done.'”

The Huskers are not handling the QB position well.

Nebraska, when it finishes the regular season this month — with or without a bowl game on the horizon — must reassess everything about how it’s managing the quarterbacks. With one win in its final two games, it can survive one season of this QB mess.

It can’t survive two seasons of it without setting back the progress of the program as a whole.

First, who plays the position next year? Nebraska needs to hit the transfer portal for one or two new arms in addition to incoming freshman Daniel Kaelin. And who coaches the quarterbacks next year?

The events of Saturday, with nearly an entire season as the backdrop, ought to ignite a spirited discussion.

(Top photo of Chubba Purdy: Dylan Widger / USA Today)

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