Husker Dan: Casey Thompson Looks to Be the Starter

Can he hold up in the Big Ten?

Nebraska Athletics photo

As Nebraska heads into the off season, all eyes are going to be on who the Husker starting QB is going to be when Nebraska takes on Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 27.

It's a safe bet that most Husker fans would probably pick Texas transfer Casey Thompson to win the job. And why not? Casey's in the lead for now because he started 10 games last year for the Longhorns. (The rest of the Husker QB room has just two starts: Logan Smothers and Chubby Purdy with one apiece.

So does Casey have a lock on the starting QB role this fall? Maybe. And probably. Let's look at how and why Casey became available to Nebraska.

First of all, Husker four-year starting QB Adrian Martinez opted to transfer to Kansas State. That left the door wide open for transfer portal players. Head coach Scott Frost and offensive coordinator Mark Whipple did just that. They offered scholarships to Thompson and Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy.

For now, we're going to focus on Thompson.

Casey Thompson (6-foot-1, 194 lbs., Texas 2-yrs.)

Last year, after the Longhorns began the season at 1-1. Thompson replaced Hudson Card, who was the starter for the first two games. Thompson went on to start the rest of the season.

The problem in those 10 games? Texas went 4-6. Setting aside the losses, how did Thompson do in his starting role? Here are his 2021 stats:

Passing: 165-261 for 2,113 yds, 24 TDs, 9 INTs, rushed for 157 yards for 4 TDs and ran for a 2-point conversion.

Not bad.

Although Thompson's stats for the season were good, they apparently were not good enough to stop Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian from signing another QB in freshman Maalik Murphy (Gardena, CA) and getting Ohio State QB Quinn Ewers via the transfer portal.

Those two acquisitions left Casey out of the QB picture for the Longhorns. On a side note, with his move to Texas, Quinn Ewers became the first amateur athlete to sign a $1 million-plus NIL contract!

So why and how did Thompson fall from Sarkisian's grace? A couple of things happened. Casey sustained an injury to his right thumb (throwing hand) during the 55-48 loss to Oklahoma. The injury bothered Thompson the rest of the season.

Three games later at Iowa State, Thompson was replaced by Hudson Card - the player Casey took over for in game three of the season. Thompson struggled in the Cyclone game, going just 2-6 for 2 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs. No doubt the thumb injury affected Thompson's play. Casey came back a week later and went 30-43 for 358 yards, 69.8% and threw 6 TDs with 1 INT in a 57-56 OT loss at Kansas.

The following week, Texas lost its sixth game in a row, a 31-23 setback at West Virginia. That defeat ended Texas' hopes for any bowl game consideration. On Texas' first play from scrimmage, Thompson's pass to WR Marcus Washington was way behind the receiver. And late in the game, with Texas in position to at least tie the game, Thompson missed a wide-open receiver on fourth down.

After the season ended, Thompson found himself with no place to go - at least not at the University of Texas.

The QB door was wide open at Nebraska. Frost and Whipple knew enough about Thompson that they offered him a scholarship.

The main question concerning Thompson is, can he be a successful QB in the Big Ten? Big Ten defenses are going to be unlike those in the Big 12.

Needless to say, for a Husker quarterback to be successful in the Big Ten, the Husker O-line will need to be a very strong, reliable unit. They must be able to protect the QBs and open holes for the running game. If they can't, it won't matter who the starting QB is this fall.

How ’Bout Them Huskers

In this week's podcast, my 16-year-old grandson and I talk about the QB room and who we think will be the players who make the grade this fall. We also talk about the USFL and the former Husker players who are in the new league. Don't miss this one! Here's the link. 

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