Andy Staples: Jeff Sims' future in question if turnover issues continue

The Jeff Sims era at Nebraska did not get off to the start anybody would have hoped for as hype built up during the offseason.

The transfer from Georgia Tech threw for only 114 yards through the air while also throwing three interceptions in Thursday’s 13-10 defeat to Minnesota. He was 11-for-19 passing the football. Sims did run for 95 yards on 19 carries.

On3’s Andy Staples said that it was such a concerning performance that Rhule may soon have to open up the starting quarterback spot to competition once again.

“Matt Rhule is going to have to answer a lot of questions about quarterback play,” Staples said. “Remember they started with five quarterbacks in spring and were deciding between them. I’m not saying bench Jeff Sims right now. I’m saying let’s see what he does against Colorado and then if this happens again, if it’s more of the same, then you probably need to start thinking about opening up the competition. Let’s not throw it out right now. It’s a narrow loss. They were right there. But the defense played great. That is a good sign.”

Two of Sims’ interceptions were costly to Nebraska, and were two of the most consequential plays of the game. Late in the first half, the Cornhuskers embarked on a long drive down the field. The marched down the field over 10 plays to gain 58 yards and windup at the Minnesota 6 with the clock ticking down.

But Sims threw an ill-advised pass into the end zone that was intercepted with just seven seconds remaining. The Golden Gophers took a 3-0 lead into the half.

His final interception also came with under a minute left in the half. With the score tied at 10, Nebraska made one last trek down the field in hopes of entering at least field goal range. But just after cross midfield, Sims threw another interception that halted the Cornhuskers drive and gave Minnesota great field position.

The Golden Gophers capitalized with a walk-off field goal by Dragan Kesich.

“The question now is how does Matt Rhule and company bounce back from this because we know what happened with Scott Frost,” Staples said. “They just kept losing games like this. If that keeps happening, I don’t know what to tell you Nebraska fans because well, we were sure Scott Frost was going to work and we’re pretty sure Matt Rhule is going to work. But this is where Rhule will have to earn his money because he’s got to get this team rallied. He’s got to get them ready to play Colorado.”