Nebraska football defensive back Quinton Newsome has been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his outstanding performance in the Huskers’ 31-14 win over Purdue.
Newsome returned a blocked field goal 68 yards for a touchdown to give the Huskers a 21-0 lead in the third quarter. Elijah Jeudy came up with the block for the Huskers' first blocked field goal since Cam Taylor-Britt blocked a field goal at Michigan State in 2021, and Newsome provided Nebraska's first blocked field goal return for a TD since Nathan Gerry's 85-yarder against Minnesota in 2014.
Newsome wasn’t simply in the right place at the right time on the blocked field goal. He was in the exact spot that he was taught to be and did the exact thing that he and the Huskers had drilled in practice over and over, according to Matt Rhule.
“I love Quinton Newsome,” Rhule said after the game Saturday. “Quinton and I, when I first got here, we might have battled a little bit on some certain things here and there. But he's standing exactly where he's supposed to be standing. He gets to the level of the kicker and he turns in at the ball. And the ball comes up to him and he catches it and he scores a touchdown. Whether he wants it or not, that'll be on my teach tape for the next 10 years like, ‘Hey, at Nebraska, here's where we stand.’”
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Newsome was also involved in another major special teams play in the first quarter, as he recovered Alex Bullock’s muffed punt to keep possession at the 13-yard line. The Huskers eventually drove 87 yards on 15 plays to score their first touchdown on the possession, which ran 8 minutes, 52 seconds across the first and second quarters.
Newsome tilted his head skyward for a brief moment on the play but then looked down and instantly dove on top of the ball, recovering it to set up that 15-play scoring drive. His recovery set the course for the rest of the game. After the Huskers polished off that first touchdown drive, four plays later another Husker defensive back – Tommi Hill – corralled an interception to set up a 73-yard touchdown pass from Heinrich Haarberg to Jaylen Lloyd for a 14-0 lead.
It was all kick started with Newsome’s heads-up play on the recovery, and he book ended his special teams performance with the return touchdown – one in which he and Hill ran down the field together and high-fived as they ran into the end zone.
“I saw the ball pop up and I caught it," Newsome said. "I saw the grass and Tommi running with me. This is six right here. We’re going to the end zone. Taking the practice reps and bringing it to the game. You never know when you’re going to block a field goal in the game. That was a big moment in the game.
"... I think the rush and hype of the game (is why we high-fived). I saw him next to me. He stuck his hand out and gave me a high five. This is something we dreamed about since we were young. It was a great feeling."
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In addition to his work on special teams, Newsome had five tackles and also came up with a fumble recovery on defense following Jimari Butler's forced fumble. It was part of another dominant defensive effort as Nebraska held the Boilermakers to under 200 yards of total offense. It marked the first time since 2012 that the Huskers had held a conference opponent to under 100 yards both passing (99 yards) and rushing (96).
Newsome is the first Husker since Malcolm Hartzog (Freshman of the Week) on Oct. 3, 2022, to receive any of the Big Ten’s weekly honors. Hartzog earned his honor following his own outstanding special teams performance (a blocked punt returned for a touchdown) and after his first career start at cornerback. Newsome is the first Husker to earn the Big Ten special teams weekly award since Barret Pickering on Nov. 19, 2018.
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