Casey Thompson likely out on Saturday
According to local news reports, Husker QB Casey Thompson is listed as questionable vs. the good guys this weekend. He has nerve damage in his elbow which hinders his ability to grip the football.
If Thompson is unavailable, Nebraska will start either Chubba Purdy or Logan Smothers, who combined to complete a whopping 11 passes against the Golden Gophers in Nebraska’s 20-13 loss.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:40 AM ^
Even with Casey this was likely a blowout. Without him -- poor, poor damn Huskers.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:40 AM ^
They should have to start Russell Bellomy, it's only fair.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:47 AM ^
Amen. And because of the dumbass B1G officiating in last year’s game, Nebraska should have two touchdowns subtracted from whatever they score this Saturday. If we shut them out, they should be credited at -14 points in the final score.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:15 AM ^
I was at that game in Lincoln and prefer not to speak or think about it ever again.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
I was on the Nebraska sideline for that game, chumming it up with Adam Devine from Workholics. (not Maroon 5)
It was even worse seeing it up close.
November 9th, 2022 at 1:40 PM ^
I'm reading your post as Margot Robbie flirts with me at a restaurant, and yeah i can imagine it was pretty bad.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:04 AM ^
I still can't believe Hoke didn't have Gardner ready to go as a backup QB. Turned out to be one of many fireable decisions.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:14 AM ^
... and looking back at how the conference season unfolded, it probably cost them a Big 10 Championship
November 9th, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
I do not wish this even on my worst enemies
November 9th, 2022 at 4:33 PM ^
Not having Gardner ready to go that night cost Michigan a shot at the Big Ten title.
Would he have beaten Nebraska? Unsure, but given how he played the rest of the year, he would have been a far better option than Bellomy. Nothing personal to Bellomy, but you could just tell he wasn't even remotely ready to be in that position that night.
November 9th, 2022 at 7:06 PM ^
Damn, I almost had that memory blocked from my brain. Thanks for the reminder
November 9th, 2022 at 9:43 AM ^
Chubba Purdy or Logan Smothers...those are both fantastic names.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:50 AM ^
Isn’t there a plus sized porn star named Chubba Smothers? Not too Purdy.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:52 AM ^
If your daughter had to marry one of them, who would you pick?
November 9th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
i don't have a daughter, but if I did, i would be in camp Logan Smothers.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:18 AM ^
Logan. Good name for a wolverine convert.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:57 AM ^
Chubba Purdy reminds me of a girl I knew in high school.
I should call her…
November 9th, 2022 at 10:34 AM ^
There's a Purdy good chance Chubba starts but our Dline Smothers them both.
November 9th, 2022 at 1:02 PM ^
Chubba Smothers sounds like something you need to look up in Urban Dictionary.
November 9th, 2022 at 2:28 PM ^
I hear Chubba is always walking around half-cocked.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
Vegas line is exploding. Now -30 for the good guys
November 9th, 2022 at 9:51 AM ^
I haven't been falling Neb since the Fall Frost Follies. I assume they've packed it in at this point.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:09 AM ^
I’ve watched them off and on. They came out like gangbusters against Minnesota on Saturday, leading 10-0 after two drives and the home crowd going crazy. Then they did NOTHING the rest of the game.
They lost a shootout with Purdue and escaped at Rutgers 14-13. Nothing noteworthy about them other than their defense has trouble stopping the run.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:21 AM ^
Everyone Michigan plays has trouble stopping the run, maybe before the game but definitely during.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:54 AM ^
lay the points, it's going to be a bloodbath.
November 9th, 2022 at 9:58 AM ^
Before dieting, I was purdy chubba…
November 9th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
The ladies tell me that I have a Purdy Chubba. But who am I to judge?
November 9th, 2022 at 11:06 AM ^
I am thinking about taking Nebraska 1st half line, then laying the points with Michigan at halftime when the spread goes down.
Or if we decide this time to flash fry instead of slow cook, that's fine too. Win-win for me
November 9th, 2022 at 4:33 PM ^
Some people around here believe that’s called “taking the over”😶
November 9th, 2022 at 9:56 AM ^
With how banged up Nebraska is, I really want us to let JJ loose. Give enough reps to Corum to keep him in Heisman contention, but we need to get JJ more live game passing reps going into the weeks leading up to OSU.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:09 AM ^
you must be new here. cmon. we go through this every week.
with MSU's garbage 2ndary, we should light it up passing downfield.
with rutgers being rutgers, we should be able to light it up downfield.
on and on.. its not who we are. we all have hopes that we can somehow be a grind it out tough/physically imposing team, but also be able to throw all over the yard. That doesn't really exist... maybe outside of georgia - who has a good mix however they need to..
We see a team is overmatched and we maul them to death by 1000 cuts.
We all want to see JJ get in a rhythm, but harbaugh, it seems, has NO reason to bother because we just destroy everyone we play.
Have we had a tight game this year? Maybe maryland, sorta? with their cheapy late touchdown it looks close.
Nebraska gives us no reason to not be who we are, and Harbaugh is going to oblige them.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:26 AM ^
I understand it's wishful thinking, but JJ did throw the ball 27 times against Rutgers. I hope we continue that trend
November 9th, 2022 at 10:40 AM ^
He did, though it felt like 11 happened on that one random drive that jimmy decided to throw every down.
I think our offense was humming best when we had balance and switched it up, so we weren't quite as predictable. Schoon and Bell seemed to be the common targets, but.. I don't really understand our passing offense anymore.
That pass to Ronnie bell .. i think against msu?... where it was a deep slant in, was the best pass of the year. it hit him in the hands and he kept going. But we never do that. we do safe passes.. with wr's or te's usually falling down or our of bounds.
I am in your camp in terms of what i hope for, but i think ill just keep getting disappointed because we'll run for 300 this week and probably get 3-4 turnovers. Nebraska will probably try to protect their qb and won't even try to score after a certain point, like rutgers.
This competition doesnt prepare us well for OSU or the playoffs. It doesn't put strain on our system to see where the weak spots are and what we need to fix/clean up
November 9th, 2022 at 2:15 PM ^
Excellent post, TRVB.
The slant-in to Bell is exactly the kind of pass that, if executed multiple times a game in complement with our rushing attack and shorter passing game, would make our offensive as explosive as many of us hoped it would be. But your point is spot-on -- Harbaugh is not going to take that risk very often, because that's not who he is.
Trouble is, if we get behind late in a game, it's risk time, and JJ and the receivers need to be ready to execute that. So we need to rep plays like that, as a nod to tougher sledding ahead. This is where Jim and Co. are making a mistake.
As I have said before, it's a great conversation, because we are talking about how to be successful against the best teams in the country. Fuckin' awesome.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:29 AM ^
Rutgers was more open. The shots are happening, and more likely. The toolbox has room, and the big job will need all of them.
What would be nice is to have more shots at our secondary. The fade on Michigan meme needs a thousand cuts, and 30, or so reps.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:59 AM ^
He had 300+ yards when Indiana stacked the box.
November 9th, 2022 at 1:08 PM ^
Not saying much. Everyone has career days v. Indiana. Remember Devin & Jeremy Gallon?
November 9th, 2022 at 9:57 AM ^
Wishing him a complete and quick recovery.
And, it's possible that Chubba or Logan may see things, in terms of pressure, that they haven't seen before or prepared for.
The only negative about Saturday's game is - Scott Frost won't be on the sideline, making strategic decisions for the Huskers.
I still find it difficult to fathom that Nebraska's AD essentially gave Frost an additional (about $ 7.5M) just to fire him a few weeks early. It looks like Frost tanked the program - and, that's so unfortunate for the Husker fan base.
Go Blue..
November 9th, 2022 at 10:12 AM ^
It is not his money. He doesn't care. Mismanagement at higher level is very prevalent. They could have given that money to students who had to put up with his bullshit coaching.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:29 AM ^
Life - I completely agree - though, it might be difficult to have the money go directly from the Athletic Department to students.
However, I'm sure the AD could have talked to some generous donors / supporters - and said, "Hey, if I do this (wait a few weeks to fire Frost) - can you set up a collective so we can raise and divide this $ 7.5M "separation fee" and give a portion to every player on the roster?" I don't think there would have been any issue with that.
Or, the Athletic Department could just have polled the players and asked - "what do you really need"? $ 7.5M could go pretty far to advance S&C facilities / equipment / staff.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:05 AM ^
sandbagging for a top pick in the draft.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:57 AM ^
Ha ha ha. Even they won't stoop down to Colts level.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:09 AM ^
I suffered a “double crush” pinched nerve in my neck and elbow 1.5 years ago in a mountain biking accident (blind drop off ended up being droppier than I expected). Yesterday I was finally officially discharged from physical therapy. Pinched nerves suck. They really mess with day to day functioning so much more than I ever imagined. And the time it takes those suckers to start firing normally and the muscles to not tighten up is frustratingly long.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:37 AM ^
Similar learnings from my PT. I haven't been as dedicated since my back is worthless and hard to isolate.
This is not the social media story people post. Nerve damage is a graveyard of lost youth.
Thanks for this inspiration.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:12 AM ^
I watched some of the Nebraska Illinois game when Purdy was in and... yikes. He doesn't have much of an arm and overall was just running around for his life.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:32 AM ^
There wasn't much to beat out at FSU and he couldn't even stick there. Every time I've seen that kid play, whether at FSU or Nebraska, he looks pretty terrible. He's got that Artur Sitkowski vibe to his game: highly rated as a recruit but...why?
November 9th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
OK, but let's get serious. What are the backup QBs' real names?
November 9th, 2022 at 10:40 AM ^
Ubiquitous Jones & D.J. Snapple
November 10th, 2022 at 7:55 AM ^
They also have a highly coveted freshman, Magnificent Johnson.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:47 AM ^
You talking to me?