Mike Grant got hurt, some kind of shoulder injury I believe. That's why Tommie Frazier was able to step in. And, if I recall correctly TO had Coach Gill lobbying for Frazier-which never hurts.
Did Frazier threaten to transfer? Don't know and don't care.
The part in green...players do not run the team. The coaches do. And, the fastest way for a coach to lose control of his team is to let the players make the decisions.
The way Mike Grant threw the ball, it wouldn't surprise me if he was injured his entire Husker career. After the 3rd game of the season, Frazier went to TO and said play me or I'm transferring. I think we know the rest of the story.
The discussion here has nothing to do with players running the team. The discussion here is about a players right to decide whether or not they redshirt. Coaches sometimes have to make a difficult decision to pull a redshirt because of an injury. Coaches sometimes also have to make a difficult decision with regards to playing time when a player decides they do not want to redshirt. TO didn't redshirt Bobby Newcombe. Newcombe wasn't even a huge contributor as a true freshman, but TO had to find a way to get him on the field so that it wasn't just a wasted year of eligibility.
Frasier took over QB at half time because the fans were booing the huskers at half time.