The Nebraska football team got some bad news on Saturday. One of the Huskers’ top targets at the quarterback position from the 2021 class committed to Utah.
Peter Costelli announced on his official Twitter account that he chose the Utes. Now, recruiting analysts believe that the Cornhuskers are going to need to shake up their approach for a signal-caller from the upcoming class.
Mike Schaefer of 247Sports found the announcement from Costelli a bit of a surprise for a couple of different reasons. The site relies heavily on their analysts talking to prospects and then predicting where they think the kids will end up using “crystal balls.” The Huskers 247Sports site pointed out there was not a crystal ball prediction for Costelli to Utah.
The 4-star prospect visited Nebraska twice over the winter and was expected to make a third trip to Lincoln in March. Then things came to an abrupt halt as the coronavirus outbreak swept across the globe. In-person contact was ruled out of bounds by the NCAA.
That change in the recruiting calendar could have made the difference for Costelli in picking his school. In talking to Greg Biggins of 247Sports, the quarterback said he liked the way he felt like he fit in the Utes’ offense.
I am 100% committed! #GoUtes @UtahCoachWhitt @Coach_Ludwig @FWhittinghamJr @missionfootball @diablocjohnson @GregBiggins pic.twitter.com/iTwbKnigsf
— Peter Costelli (@CostelliPeter) April 11, 2020
He added he had a visit with the coaching staff earlier in the year and hit it off.
“I have visited before and really liked it there. They made me a priority and recruited me hard for a while now and that meant a lot.”
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Schaefer believes losing out on the California quarterback means that Nebraska will look to an in-state prospect as their top target for the position. Heinrich Haarberg, out of Kearney, has been getting more attention from a wide variety of programs over the last few weeks.
The Huskers have yet to give him an official scholarship offer, but experts believed it was just a matter of time. The timetable might have just been moved up as the Huskers scramble to make sure they get at least one dual-threat signal-caller in the upcoming class.
There are a few other names the Cornhuskers could be looking at focusing on now that Costelli is off the board. Ty Keyes is one such prospect who could get the attention he didn’t get because of Costelli.
Keyes is also a 4-star prospect who is considered the fourth-best player in the state of Mississippi for the 2021 class. Keyes recently talked about how much he appreciated assistant coach Mario Verduzco reaching out to him.
“The coach at Nebraska likes the way I get the ball out of my hand. He likes the way I can make plays with my feet too. I’m just glad someone from so far away sees the potential in me. I’m just glad to get that opportunity.”
