Quarterback Competition

Spring practice is still over a month away from getting started, but it's never too early to spark a debate on who will be taking the snaps come August 30th. Last season it was mostly a two horse race between Arizona State transfer Sam Keller and junior Joe Ganz. It's up in the air as to how close the race actually was. I for one tend to believe that Ganz was actually closer to Keller than you think.

My theory is that when you look back at the '07 season you can't help but notice that the offense responded positively to Ganz and reacted so poorly to Keller as the season drug on. Player support doesn't count for much when the head coach is feeling the pressure of staring a quarterback who transferred to play for one year and seemingly had the tools to help us contend for the Big 12. Ganz may not have had the NFL-type physical tools as Keller, but as you saw in the last few games in '07 he does possess a better than average understanding of offensive coordinator Shawn Watson's offense.

This year may be a tad more complicated when coming to naming a starter. The popular choice from the fans will no doubt be the incumbent Ganz, however he will be facing strong competition from players that will hopefully be able to step up and give him a healthy run for his money.

Leading the charge will be Zac Lee. Lee is a junior college (JUCO) transfer from San Francisco City College and was the top rated JUCO QB player on 2007's signing day. Lee has three years of eligibility after sitting last year with an injury and picking up a red shirt. Lee is a bit more of your prototypical quarterback. He stands 6'2" and at 210 pounds he has a cannon for an arm but it is tempered with accuracy. He also has the ability to go mobile if it is needed or even called for by Watson. If he can't wrestle the starting job away from Ganz, I personally expect him to be the starter for the 2009 squad.

Next in line would be sophomore (next year) Patrick Witt. Witt played his high school football under the bright lights of Wylie (Texas) High School. Witt is also your typical QB in stature standing 6'4" and weighing in at 220 pounds. Witt was signed by the Callahan staff as their first true attempt at having a four year quarterback in their mold of what a player at that position should be. Well, other than players like Harrison Beck who flamed out and transferred to North Carolina State. But I digress. He has a big arm but last season did show great all-around ability to distribute the ball and make quick decisions. He's probably still a little raw, but keep an eye out for him in the next year or two.

Two names you can't rule out is Beau Davis and incoming freshmen Kody Spano who is already on campus and will be practicing with the team come springtime. Spano may red shirt which would prevent him from seeing any playing time in '08, but his presence will add to the amount of competition among would be signal callers.

Falling Into Spring

Hopefully by now you’ve taken a little bit of time to get to know some of the players that have signed with Nebraska nearly ten days ago. Winter conditioning is in full swing and the word out of Lincoln is fairly nil on what exactly is going on. In the past several years the old coaching staff was more than willing to post stats and measurable improvements from the participating players.

Pelini and staff are content to keep things under wraps for the most part as the returning players run through their conditioning. The one thing I can say is that some players are still adjusting to the early morning workouts as mandated by the staff and new strength and conditioning Coach James Dobson. At this point, there will be only a few nuggets of information coming out of the Nebraska training facility until spring practice beings on March 26^th.

Speaking of spring practice, the team under the Pelini coaching staff has chosen to concentrate their schedule as opposed to spreading their practices out like most of the other teams in the Big 12. For example, Oklahoma starts their spring practice on March 5^th and ends on April 12^th with their spring game. The NCAA only allows a certain amount of practices and it’s just all a matter of how the respective staffs decide how to set up their plan for the spring.

For those that are curious the Nebraska Red – White Spring Game is on pace to break the previous record for attendance. As of right now I’ve heard anywhere between 55,000 and 68,000 tickets have been sold already. Reserved seating was sold out by the end of the first day of ticket sales. Hopefully with a strong group of gameday walk-ups it can be the biggest spring game in Nebraska history. I’m sure there will be much anticipation to see if the Blackshirts are on their way back along with various other question marks. Pelini has also stated that to start the game the first string offense and defense will square off against one another. This is an obvious contrast to the Callahan way of running the spring game where the first team would play the second team and so on. The game is at 1pm on April 19^th.

I’m going to cover this a little more in depth and maybe even list the names of players that are grey shirting (having to pay for college and obtaining a scholarship in the near future), preferred walk-ons or just plain walking-on. The walk-on program itself, for you long-time Husker fans, will remember it as sort of a state and program identity. It was a way for kids from the state and surrounding areas to come to Lincoln and prove themselves worthy on a team that they grew up loving and respecting. The return of the program is a bit of misnomer as it was still under operation while Callahan was in Lincoln. However, the emphasis on the program itself and the general scope of players acquired through it is decidedly different.

The philosophy behind it was, in my opinion, to create a passion throughout the locker room and on the field from the All-American players to the practice squad regarding the Nebraska Cornhuskers. All players will be treated the same, just like under Osborne and not “second class citizens” as it was reported to be under Callahan. How will the coaching staff and the two graduate assistants be able to facilitate practices with a roster of over 120 kids? It’s hard to say at the moment, but Osborne was able to do it, and if Pelini can find a way to duplicate that success, the Huskers may find themselves with not only a motivating force and groundswell of player support, but some hidden talent that otherwise would have left the state to another Division I-A school or Division II.

These kids are giving up money, and a lot of it, to go to school and play in places like my alma mater Northwest Missouri State which is a perennial D-II football power. These guys wouldn't have just played, they most likely would have started. But they are giving up playing time and success on a lower level for just the chance to strap on the pads and that iconic red 'N' helmet. You can't do anything but respect that.

Just a little note to add to this… Remember the Makovicka brothers? Of course you do. Well, their youngest brother Jordan, has decided to walk-on for coach Pelini. Will this signal as a prophetic and symbolic return to form on the back of a name that embodied and represented the hard working attitude that once was in every corner of Memorial Stadium? One can only hope.

Go Big Red!!

Dust Settled

Baring any last minute surprises, the 2008 Nebraska Cornhusker Football signing class is now in the books. I put up a list in the sidebar and each name is linked to the players profile on Huskers.com (similar to last year). There weren't a lot of earth shattering commits or de-commits today which is a good thing considering how Nebraska has been burned in the past with last minute defections. I'm looking at you, Josh Freeman. According to several recruiting service websites the Huskers finished in the range of top 25 to top 30. A bit of a drop from the previous years, but still solid considering the circumstances.

There are some holes on the team due to graduation from last years team, most notably at linebacker, so there is a good chance that you could see some true freshmen or redshirt freshmen out on the field in 2008. In today's press conference, head coach Bo Pelini stated that no one on the team or coming in has been promised anything. Reading between the lines, it looks like it's all up in the air and each and every player has to earn their spot.

Speaking of the press conference, Pelini was reluctant to mention any player who signed this morning by name, which is different than the previous staff. He also referred to his players as "gentlemen" rather than "kids." You had to read between the lines a little bit with Bo today, but you can tell the climate in Lincoln is going to be considerably different than the previous four years under Callahan. For most fans, it will be a welcome change.

Just to get you to come back and check any updates. There is a player out of Alabama that some fans have been clamoring for that will soon officially be a Husker.

Signing Day Countdown

Okay, okay so I didn't deliver on recruits. What I'm going to do after signing day (Thursday) and for the rest of the month is do a run down of every kid that signs with Nebraska and give you a little background, some stats and some performance numbers along with my take on them. I'll even try to give you what I know on winter conditioning. For now, I'm going to start a video series by posting part one in a series of videos known as "Project Husker." They are put on by a fan within the Rivals.com community (I believe, their YouTube handle is DTsker) and they are fantastic. Enjoy.