Mickey Joseph addresses multiple factors in QB controversy after in-game switch

The Nebraska Cornhuskers and head coach Mickey Joseph came up just short on Saturday, losing to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 20-13. The Cornhuskers were without their starting quarterback Casey Thompson in the game. Thompson is still nursing the hand injury that knocked him out of their contest against Illinois. So, against Minnesota, Chubba Purdy got the starting nod. But Purdy was replaced with Logan Smothers after a poor performance.

Joseph’s decision to bring Smothers appears to have started a quarterback controversy at Nebraska. And after the game, he addressed the in-game switch, why it happened, and his decision not to play Thompson.

“I thought he saw [the field well] early,” said Joseph and Purdy’s start to the game. “But I didn’t think he saw it towards the end of the game. So that’s why it was a change with Logan. I thought Logan gave us a better chance, Yeah, we probably should have (switched to Logan), but we figured we had to throw the ball down the field.

“And then, he wasn’t seeing it; we figured we had to make a change. In this league, you can’t do that. You can’t go six three-and-outs in this league; you can’t do it. Because they’ll eat the clock up, He made some good throws today. He just got to be more consistent in practice for what we see. But he stood up today.”

Purdy has struggled to deliver the ball down the field when asked to pass this season. This year, entering the game, the freshman signal-caller had completed ten of his 20 attempts for 50 yards. The more troubling stat is his two interceptions to zero passing touchdowns, which continued Saturday. Purdy completed six of 16 passes for 41 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. Those struggles passing were enough for Joseph to call his day early and see if Smothers could do any better.

Joseph on Purdy’s struggles and Thompson’s status

The problem for Purdy, according to his head coach, was he wasn’t seeing the whole field well enough or consistently.

“He’s not seeing the coverages. He’s not seeing the progression that he needs to get to, where he needs to get the ball to. We have kids running open, and he’s gotta find them. He’s gotta hit them.

As for Thompson, he’s doing better and possibly could’ve played, but Joseph was not risking the health of his starter behind the Cornhuskers’ offensive line.

“I thought he had better a feeling. He had more feeling in his hand today. But I just didn’t feel comfortable playing him. He’s been hit a lot this year,” said Joseph.

Thompson has been hit more times than he and Joseph would like. Sometimes it has been due to the Texas transfer quarterback holding on to the ball too long. But most of the time, it can be accredited to the lack of pass protection he’s been dealing with all season. Thompson has been sacked 19 times in just eight games. Not seen here is the number of times he’s been hit on the season.

The Cornhuskers have a chance to be bowl eligible this year with three games remaining. Sadly, their next game is against the defending conference champs, the Michigan Wolverines. And without Thompson back in the saddle for next week’s game, Nebraska will likely have to cancel their plans to go bowling at the end of the season.