LINCOLN — Two years ago, Heinrich Haarberg was preparing to play quarterback against Michigan’s national title team. The Wolverines scored early, “the game got out of hand really fast,” and Haarberg hasn’t forgotten the way UM steamrolled the Huskers 45-7.
Michigan makes a return trip Saturday, and Haarberg will again be staring down a Wolverine defensive end. He might even take a snap or two at quarterback.
But he has an entirely different role. He’s a tight end whose primary role, this season, has been as a cross blocker on NU’s successful “slice” inside zone play. He’s also the QB whenever Nebraska wants to run the short yardage “tush push” sneak popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles.
“You can’t just expect to line up and run it without practice,” Haarberg said Tuesday. “You saw Akron — there were eight guys inside of three guys, there were guys flying over the top.”
Haarberg became the “Sandy” quarterback last year at USC. The Kearney Catholic graduate still isn’t sure if offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen — at the time calling his first game for the Huskers — knew what it was.
“So I go in there and we got three yards and from then on, Coach Holgorsen was like, ‘Oh, this is awesome, Heinrich can get three yards a pop on ‘Sandy,’” Haarberg said.
It’s an ultra-physical play with fellow tight end Luke Lindenmeyer pushing Haarberg’s backside. Haarberg doesn’t know what the play is called “Sandy.”
But he knows more than ever before about blocking. Of his 70 snaps this season, 30 have come as a run blocker. He’s been effective on the cross block that sprung back Emmett Johnson’s long touchdown run against Akron. It’s a block delivered at full sprint, often at an end that’s moving upfield at a 90-degree angle of the blocker.
“You have to think about delivering the blow,” Haarberg said. “It’s just like running the football, in my mind. If you’re a ballcarrier and you go into a hit scared, you’re going to get lit up.”
Haarberg’s goal is to “widen the gap” for the back, who can either run often of Haarberg’s rear end or cut the ball backside if the defensive line overplays the front side gaps. Against Houston Christian, Haarberg learned another tough lesson.
“When I hit (his opponent) I thought, ‘this guy’s dead,’” Haarberg said. “I thought I cleaned him out. And he ended up making the tackle. That’s something I’m working on — continuing to run my feet through contact. It looked really cool on the replay but, at the end of the day, my guy still made the tackle.”
Haarberg said he’s spent the past few days thinking about the Michigan loss two years ago. He had a ready answer Tuesday for how much beating the Wolverines would mean Saturday.
“That maize and blue M, it pops out on the schedule every year,” Haarberg said. “It doesn’t matter what they looked like the year before, it pops. Just having the opportunity to go up against another historic program is a huge deal.”
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Sam McKewon
Sports Editor
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