There was a little more at the bottom.
Raiola may not be the first QB trotting out onto the field Saturday with the No. 1 offense. In fact, I don’t believe he will be the first QB taking reps in the spring game. That duty, I’m predicting, will go to Haarberg.
If that’s the case, it would be a nod to the Huskers’ lead QB from the 2023 season who saved Nebraska’s bacon (and, at times, burnt it) on offense and who had a 5-3 record as a starter before going down in the first series against Maryland. And it would be a nod to Haarberg’s improvement throughout the course of the offseason and throughout spring ball as he’s done well while taking in the guidance of new QB coach
Glenn Thomas.
“I think Heinrich’s progressions and just his development as a passer is light years ahead of where it was,” Rhule said on Saturday. “Heinrich can go out there and run the zone read and the QB power and win games for us. But I think his development as a passer, development in the protections (is improved). It’s Year 2 hearing the same play calls. There are some that are different, but the base genesis of what we're doing, a lot of it's the same. I think you just see a guy that's way more comfortable. Last year, they were splitting four reps. Now, that's three reps. And we're getting more reps this year than we got last year. So with reps, he continues to get better.”
Added Satterfield on Tuesday: “I think he's just more comfortable being in there. Last year, we threw him in the fire. He'd never been the starting quarterback, he hadn't gotten a tremendous amount of reps in practice. And so I just think all the reps he got last year, all the stuff he got in the offseason, he's just taken a step in development. I think Glenn has done a really nice job with him, like slowing his brain down a little bit. But he's got a super arm, so the thing with him is just taking some of that velocity off those rows. His accuracy is improved, and he had a really nice day on Saturday.”
While it may not be Raiola getting the heap of public praise from the coaches…
While it may not be Raiola who lines up under center (or behind it in a pistol formation) for the first series, or maybe even the first two series of the exhibition game…
Neither of those are, or would be, indicative of where the race sits. Do not overthink that aspect of the QB discussion if it is indeed Haarberg who gets the first series and charges up the No. 1 offense.
That much is apparent as Raiola created a significant gap of separation on Saturday, per multiple Inside Nebraska sources. He put together an array of throws both simple and spectacular, and the series of plays he made – both in-pocket within the structure of the offense, plus out-of-structure and outside of the pocket – paved the way to a rubber stamp being put on the competition.
That, of course, would all be classified as “unofficial,” if you’re the type who needs to hear the public words of Rhule confirming who the team’s starting quarterback is or will be.
Rhule, of course, will not treat the quarterback the same as the cornerback position (nor should he) where he shared that it would be
Blye Hill as the No. 2 starting outside corner opposite
Tommi Hill if a regular-season game was being played this Saturday. In other words, he’s not going to publicly reveal who the QB would be if Nebraska was beginning the regular season on April 27.
Again, as we reported on both Thursday (
HERE) and Saturday (
HERE), Rhule doesn’t need to reveal that information publicly. The Husker hype train left the station after our initial report of Raiola separating himself in the QB1 discussion, and now it’s halfway down the road.
So, now we’ll play the proverbial *waiting game* to see what we get to see on Saturday. Maybe it involves Raiola uncorking a bomb or two. Maybe it’s kept as vanilla as possible.
For the most part, we can probably expect vanilla. But maybe there’ll be a touch of chocolate sauce. Perhaps one or two ho-hum laser throws to the sideline – throws in which he hits his receiver in the perfect spot and the DB can’t make a fast-enough break on the ball for a PBU or a pick? Or some reps to flash the quick throw/screen game and letting the young speedsters in that WR room cook?
Or maybe just some throwaways in the live-to-fight-another-down approach. Or just limiting the lowlights, as Rhule has preached to the QBs this spring.
We’ll see.
“The plan is they'll all get chances to play with all the different groups,” Satterfield said of what he wants to see from the QBs in the spring game. “They're still battling, playing, battling and competing with each other. And then what I want to see is them taking care of the football, securing the snap, taking care of the football, throwing the ball away when needed, just making sure that we have the ball at the end of every whistle.”
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