Huskers gain another commitment from Mississippi CB/PR Hartzog
Malcolm Hartzog, from Bassfield (Miss.), has only held the offer from Nebraska since the bye week for the Huskers in November. The 5-foot-10 and 165-pound cornerback committed to Nebraska a day after his official visit to this weekend ended.
"Yes sir!" told HuskerOnline.com about his decision to commit to play college football at Nebraska. "I like the way their coaching staff works. They showed me a lot of love, as you can see from the video I put on twitter. They liked me and it felt like home."
The Huskers inched closer to filling up their recruiting class for 2022 by adding Hartzog. Hartzog, who is projected to play cornerback and return punts for Nebraska.
Hartzog spent the most time around head Coach Scott Frost and defensive backs coach Travis Fisher. They plan to start him at cornerback on defense, and to also use him in the return game on special teams.
"Yes sir, they said cornerback, they will also look at me for nickel and safety," Hartzog stated. "They said they need a punt returner, too."
As a senior, Hartzog had three interceptions, seven pass breakups, and seven tackles-for-loss on defense. He also returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown. He also tallied 403 yards on 11 kickoff returns [36.6 average], six of which he returned to the house for touchdowns. He had five punt returns that he returned for touchdowns as well.
But he may have had even more impressive statistics on offense this past season. He rushed for 1,231 yards on 71 carries [17.3 ypc], with 28 rushing touchdowns. He added three touchdown receptions on only seven catches.
Hartzog held offers from Nebraska, Ole Miss, South Alabama, Southern Miss and Marshall and also received interest from several SEC schools.
One potential reason those SEC schools may not have offered was because of his desire to leave the state to play football in college.
Hartzog joins Jalil Martin as the only two players projected to play in the secondary for Nebraska. It does appear Nebraska has eyes on adding more players in the secondary to join them.
Right before traveling to Lincoln, he helped his Bassfield (Miss.) Jefferson Davis County High School team win the Class 3A state championship.
"We did real good," Hartzog said. "We got a ring which is amazing. We stayed with our game plan and it worked. We blew them out. I had a pick, a couple past deflections, and two rushing touchdowns as a running back."
Hartzog believes that he can be a key piece of the puzzle to helping the Huskers get back to playing championship football as well.
"I think that I'm going to come and and be a good player, and hopefully help them win a ring," Hartzog shared.
Hartzog was selected to play in the upcoming Mississippi/Alabama All-State game after being designated Mr. Football in Mississippi's Class 3A.
"They announced that when I was at school and it surprised me," Hartzog said.