Three & Out: New offers, Husker fans impress, and 2023 QB intrigue

This is HuskerOnline.com’s feature in which recruiting analysts Mike Matya and Bryan Munson give their weekly takes on topical issues concerning Nebraska football, baseball and recruiting.

Today in our next installment of “Three and Out” we hit on new offers, Husker fans impress, and 2023 QB intrigue

There was a feeling as I was reviewing the list of visitors last weekend that there could be a quantity of new offers extended. There was definitely a feel of locking down the 500-mile radius with the offers and also another in-state offer, but this one to a freshman.

In all of the cases of the new offers, their words indicate that the recruits were surprised to get the offer and excited about it. Yes, Nebraska lost this weekend, and has done their fair share of losing this year and the last few years to be honest. The recruits are still looking at their spots on the field or their side of the ball and seeing positive things.

Big-bodied, big-armed gunslinger. Can put the ball into tight spots. Accurate. Really like his feet, particularly when he gets outside of the pocket. Keeps his eyes down field.

Wide receiver with length and athleticism. Can stretch the field defensively, works in tight spaces in the screen game, and also a threat in the redzone fade game. Nice to see that he is a big play threat as a kick returner.

Otting was a little shorter than I thought he might be, but put on the film and it doesn’t lie. Would be an interior guard or center recruit, and I really like how he turns his defender. Good athlete for a lineman.

An athlete that could play on either side of the football at the next level and the Huskers like him as a safety. Great frame with good speed.

Nice size and athleticism for just a freshman. Can see Jones really developing into a pass-rushing OLB or if his body takes off could be more of a DE in a 3-4.

Nebraska missed a lot of time due to Covid and a seemingly never-ending dead period. There was a need to play catch-up, particularly with the players in the neighboring states that are holding offers from Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Iowa.

The Huskers need to find a way to be effective in these neighboring states and really treat those states as the same priority as in-state players. With these most recent scholarship offers, they are working toward that goal.

– Bryan Munson

Through all the good, the bad, and all the in-between of Nebraska Cornhusker football, there always remains one steadfast constant: Husker Nation.

The Nebraska football program has seemingly reached an inflection point, with the team suffering another losing season without a bowl game, and an underwhelming recruiting class, but Husker fans continue to do their part in support of the team and it still carries a significant intact with visiting recruits.

NU hosted several visiting football and basketball prospects last weekend, several of which received new offers from the Nebraska staff, and in their post-visit comments, most of them were blown away by the support of Husker Nation they witnessed on Saturday.

“It means a lot because you always dream about having that kind of fan support growing up,” Lloyd said. “So being able to go to a school that has that kind of fan base and to try and win some games and make it even better, it should be a lot of fun.”

“That was my first time for a game at Nebraska,” Weinrich said. “I was super-impressed. The atmosphere was insane! It was exactly what you want to play in and the type of fans you want to play for.”

“First off, I thought the fans were crazy!” Kohl said. “There were a lot of people there and it was sold out. Another thing that stood out was just the gratitude and respect of everyone, not just the coaching staff, towards me. The people were nice and it was just really cool to be a part of and to be around.”

“That was my first time in Lincoln and I loved it,” Manning said. “The atmosphere was amazing. They left a great impression.

“That was my first time visiting Nebraska and seeing a game. It was a great experience. The atmosphere in the stadium was crazy.”

Which other college football teams can boast of such unwavering and passionate support from their fan base through thick and thin times in their program? And mostly “thin times” recently, if we are being completely honest about it.

Husker Nation deserves all the plaudits they receive for being the “best fans” in college football. They have proven it, in spades, throughout the past two decades of mediocre, and even at times lousy, football they have endured.

Sooner or later, they will be rewarded for such loyalty and it will make it all the sweeter for what they had to go through to get back to a successful and relevant Nebraska football program they can be proud of supporting.

– Mike Matya

I didn’t know who JJ Kohl was before this weekend. I hadn’t heard the name before, but once I put the film on, it was clear that this was a very talented guy and it also led me to believe that things may not be completely clear with Reese Mooney.

Mooney is a heck of a quarterback. He plays at Denham Springs, which happens to have the largest enrollment of all of the high schools in Louisiana. There is no debating the level of football he was playing at is legit.

This process for Mooney, however, has been a little complicated. When we first caught up with Mooney he was a baseball commit to Houston. Once he backed off of his commitment to Houston a lot more schools emerged as schools he was considering and seemed to like.

Mooney has had the Huskers out in front for months. I would go as far as say that Nebraska has been the solid, advertised leader for Mooney going back to around March of 2020. It’s been about 20 months and Mooney is just now down to 11 schools.

While the process seems to be finally winding down, is it possible that there is a risk here for Nebraska potentially? Could Mooney be persuaded to take another look around once he’s recovered from his ankle surgery? Somewhere closer to home possibly? Are there any MLB Draft chances?

And let’s address the two sports in college finally. I have had a few chances to talk to several DI coaches about athletes playing two sports in college. There was one common answer among those coaches: Show me someone that plays two sports in college and I will show you a person that is not reaching their potential in either of those two sports. Lots of truth to that.

Now let’s look at geography and this may be the most compelling reason for Nebraska to be intrigued with Kohl. The Huskers have a need to dominate the immediate area when it comes to recruiting. You don’t get that by allowing an area recruit, particularly a quarterback who could influence other recruits to follow him, to go to another local school and recruit against you.

I have had several off-the-record conversations where Mooney has gone to some great lengths to talk about his interest in Nebraska. He was communicating with just about everyone from HuskerOnline leading up to the time when he was injured (Michigan State game or so) and when he was going to visit initially (Northwestern) to when he did visit (Michigan game).

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks as we approach Mooney’s announcement. Does Kohl visit again? Does the interest remain consistent for Mooney? This will definitely be an interesting story to follow.

– Bryan Munson