Search

» » McKewon: Jeff Sims' sharp darts smooth over Nebraska's offense ragged play - Omaha World-Herald

McKewon: Jeff Sims' sharp darts smooth over Nebraska's offense ragged play - Omaha World-Herald

LINCOLN — Jeff Sims glanced up from his phone, wearing a curious smile as to what his new teammate, MJ Sherman, might say about him.

Two new Nebraska football players. Two blue chips. One, Sims, who’d quarterbacked Georgia Tech for three years. Another, Sherman, who’d won rings as backup Georgia pass rusher.

“Basically, all I’ve got to say is: He makes me better,” said Sherman after his Red team lost 21-7 to Sims’ White squad. “Iron sharpens iron, that’s our mentality here. It’s just two hammers going at each other right now.”

On a blustery day of homecoming honors for Frank Solich and pugnacious football from a team learning how to win, Sims swung — flung — first. His opening pass of the day was a dart up the seam to NU tight end Nate Boerkircher, who caught it in stride and rumbled for a 38-yard gain.

People are also reading…

Pretty. Pointed. And against the first team defense.

“Once I seen Nate, I said, ‘big body, big target, put it on him and let him roll,’” Sims said of what he called his favorite play in spring camp. That pass set up the White’s first field goal of the day. One drive later, Sims hit Virginia transfer Billy Kemp on back-to-back throws — on a 24-yard corner route and 15-yard slant — to set up another field goal.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder had other moments, too. He evaded the quick pass rush of a young Husker defensive lineman for a scramble. He bulldozed over reserve safety Kaine Williams on a seven-yard quarterback draw for a touchdown. In completing 9-of-13 passes for 138 yards, Sims also kept Nebraska’s offense — with its constantly-changing position groups and formations — relatively free of penalty drama.

He looked like the quarterback Nebraska recruited him to be, clearly ahead of the three healthy backups (Heinrich Haarberg, Chubba Purdy and Richard Torres) and more than capable of outdueling 2022 starter Casey Thompson, held out as he recovers from a shoulder injury. Thompson, like many injured teammates, wore a stylish, white Adidas sweatsuit on the sidelines. Fans haven’t heard from him since he beat Iowa — 18 hours before Matt Rhule became Nebraska’s leader.

Sims wore the road white uniform — and impressed Rhule, who said Sims looked “on time,” befitting of a passer who happens to run a 4.4-second 40-yard dash.

“He’s not a runner who throws,” Rhule said. “He’s a passer. I think he did some things with his legs, extending plays — dead to rights on the one, he spun out — that’s what we’re looking for from him.”

Only once, on a botched exchange between he and fullback Janiran Bonner, did Sims seem offbeat as he cradled a fumble on the turf. His teammates didn’t play quite as cleanly.

The two squads combined for eight turnovers — six lost fumbles, two interceptions — three of which came on consecutive drives for the Red teams. Both squads sputtered some in the red zone, with quarterbacks taking drive-killing sacks. NU missed two field goals and failed to execute two fake punts, called by Rhule to help the Red offense stay on the field. Equipped the No. 1 offensive line — well ahead of the backup group — the White team ran 25 more plays, held the ball nearly 18 more minutes and jumped out to an insurmountable 21-0 lead when Sims trucked Williams on the way to the end zone.

“I seen the end zone, and I said ‘all right, Jeff, you’ve got to get in,” Sims said. He did. Only a 53-yard scoop-and-score from Michael Booker III — that Rhule admitted would have been overturned by replay booth — scored any points for the Red team, which alternated Purdy and Torres.

Sims alternated with Haarberg, who had the day’s longest run — a 23-yard option keeper — balanced against 2-for-9 passing and the “fumble” leading to Booker’s score.

“As a whole I think it needed to be cleaner,” Sims said of the team’s sloppy play. “The Red team offense and us — we had turnovers on that side of the ball. That’s one thing we put a big focus on is protecting the ball, and I didn’t think we did that today.”

NU’s defense — missing several starters with injury — racked up 18 tackles for losses and 11 pass breakups. Newcomer Princewill Umanmielen had three. Kai Wallin had two. Sherman himself had 1½, including a fourth-down stuff in the second half, when neither team scored.

Rhule promised a full, physical game and delivered it, the event stretch a half-hour beyond Big Ten Network’s scheduled window. At game’s end, he called a timeout with one second left to let Purdy — by then working with the White offense — throw one more pass into the end zone.

Millard South graduate Gage Stenger intercepted it. Rhule said he was pleased no players complained about wanting to quickly end one of the longest spring games in recent Husker history. He thanked fans, Solich, and his players, who’d done, to this point, everything he’d asked. Because Nebraska is well over the 85-man scholarship limit, some won’t be here in a few weeks.

Sims and Sherman, two sides of the same coin, transfers trying to take Nebraska football where it hasn’t been lately, won’t be among the departures. They both look much closer to the team’s backbone.

“I think Jeff Sims has a great future here, a great future within this offense,” Sherman said. “I believe he can take us a lot of places that we want to go to.”

Don’t expect Sims to chalk up much glory. A self-described “perfectionist,” he counts up the plays where he fell short.

“I left some stuff out there on the field,” Sims said. “It’s all about just going back, attacking the summer, and working on what I need to work on to get better for the season.”

Nebraska's Jeff Sims after the 2023 Spring Game

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule speaks after the spring game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

  • • Texts from columnists
  • • The most breaking Husker news
  • • Cutting-edge commentary
  • • Husker history photo galleries
Get started

Adblock test (Why?)



"smooth" - Google News
April 23, 2023 at 06:35AM
https://ift.tt/aslLTBp

McKewon: Jeff Sims' sharp darts smooth over Nebraska's offense ragged play - Omaha World-Herald
"smooth" - Google News
https://ift.tt/e8IUKTv
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update

Bagikan Berita Ini

0 Response to "McKewon: Jeff Sims' sharp darts smooth over Nebraska's offense ragged play - Omaha World-Herald"

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Powered by Blogger.