Nebraska fans will be disappointed in the MAJOR decline of offensive production next year. However, their defense will improve in my opinion.
I see this game as being close, with KU forcing Nebraska to turn the ball over. Being in Lawrence will be too much to overcome for the Blackshirts. Reesing and the KU offense are just too much at home.
I don't think Nebraska fans are grasping how bad the loss of Ganz will affect them. Having a proven starter is HUGE. Just ask KU. It took Mangino IONS to finally get Reesing. Now that we have that stability, success has followed. It will be a learning year for the NU QB, especially the fact that he'll be surrounded my other YOUNG skilled players. It will be a long season for the Nebraska offense. They'll have to rely on the defense to win most games. But it won't be enough against KU in Lawrence.
KU 31 NU 17
We are grasping the loss of Ganz just fine. You don't seem to be.
Zac Taylor came into this offense with one spring and did pretty well. Joe Ganz sat for for years and was pretty much great the moment he stepped on the field. Whoever gets the job will have at least one year and likely more in the system (even if we go with the freshman phenom he's already on campus and will be ahead of where Taylor was going into his first game)
Most expect either Zac Lee or Patrick Witt to take the starting job, Both have at least two full years in the system and have worked with their top receiving targets for quite some time.
For example, Zac Lee is a Junior, he has been in the system for three years, he came in to the system and Melenik Holt was already here and Mike McNeill and Niles Paul arrived with him. They aren't exactly strangers to one another and have had plenty of time to get acclimated. The reason Ganz did so well out of the gate is because he worked with his top wide receivers for several years before getting into a game and they were already a well oiled unit... I don't really see this next group being a whole lot different.
Our QB play isn't expected to be at Ganz's level of play but if it's 2005 Taylor or better we win the North and that isn't exactly impossible, let alone improbable. In fact I think we can definitely expect our QB play to be somewhere between 2005 Zac Taylor Production and 2008 Joe Ganz Production. Expecially considering that McNeill is a great saftey valve. And considering that this next QB will have a FAR better situation to come into than our previous two QB's, exceeding what even Ganz did isn't completely out of the question either.
Our line is great, our running game is the best in the division, and our defense is stout. All those tools make it MUCH easier for a QB to get used to game speed without having to carry the team and they won't be expected to be the guy to rebuild a program. - all things Joe Ganz didn't have the luxury of.
Besides, it's not like this game is the first game of the season, it's the 10th game. By this game our QB will have gone to Blacksburg, Gone to Columbia and played Oklahoma at home.. he'll already be a seasoned vet by the time we go to Lawrence. And the Jayhawk defense isn't exactly intimidating - nor is the environment.
Also to the guy who said KU has the best facilities outside of Texas... you were joking right? I've seen your facilities. They are far better than MU, BU, TT, KSU and ISU and slightly better than Colorado's. They are about right on par with Texas A$M in the conference. But they are FAR below Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.