Who was Nebraska's "toughest" quarterback of the last 25 years?

[knapplc]

I made a jokey-joke in the "worn footballs = fumbles" thread and it got me to thinking...

 

Who was Nebraska's "toughest" quarterback? I'm limiting this to recent memory because, aside from a few of us older guys, not many folks here are going to have vivid memories of Dave Humm, Turner Gill, Steve Taylor, Vince Ferragamo... guys like that.

 

For the vast majority of us, current memory really starts with Tommie Frazier, and Tommie's era is always a great place to start a thread.

 

"Toughest" doesn't necessarily mean "running over other guys," although in the case of someone like Crouch (think Iowa defensive back) or Scott Frost (crack-back block against I think Texas A&M). Running quarterbacks like Frost, Frazier and Crouch delivered blows as well as getting crunched.

 

But our Callahan-era pocket passers took a beating as well. Sam Keller's college career ended behind a Bill Callahan O Line. Zac Taylor got crushed over and over. Heck, Joey Ganz took his share of beatings, both under Callahan and Pelini.

 

And then there's Taylor Martinez, he of the "I'll stand straight up while you put your shoulder pad through my sternum, Mr. Linebacker," and yet Taylor got up time after time. Think what you will of him, but he got mooshed a lot and went right back to the huddle.

 

 

 

I'll tell you who I'm voting for - Zac Taylor. His O Line was crap, he got killed over and over in that pocket, and over and over he got back on his feet, got into that huddle and got the team ready for the next snap. He wasn't a glamorous, punishing runner like Frost or Crouch, but he was brave as hell and kept getting up. I thought that kid was going to get killed so many times.

 

The Callahan Era wasn't all that fun, but it featured some gutty players, guys I'm glad were Huskers. Zac Taylor is probably at the top of that list for me.

 

 

 

Not every QB is represented here because I'm mostly going off my own memory. If I've forgotten someone who deserves to be on here, make a case for him and I'll consider it.

[zoogs]

I'm a big fan of Zac Taylor. Wasn't around to see some of the others play so there's some bias here. That guy was a tough son of a gun.

[PaulCrewe]

Zac Taylor wins for the Oklahoma game alone. Some of the others on that list didn't get crushed that bad in a year when they ran the option.

[skersfan]

I will add I have seen all of them play and quite a few before.

 

Jamal Lord was a warrior playing QB. Never used correctly. Great kid. Frost had a linebacker mentality, so he never shied from getting or delivering a hit. Zac amazed me as stated above, but for me it is Taylor. Took a beating on the field and from the stands, sometimes his head coach. Worked through injuries that others, and I include the group above, in my opinion would not have played through. I think we saw him truly healthy the first part of his freshman year, never after.

 

To take a beating on the field of play is one thing, Taylor and Lord took it from the fans nearly as much. I can not think of anything tougher, than giving your all, physically and mentally on every single play, and then called out by the fans you are doing it for. Never a negative word from ether that I can remember. That is toughness to me.

[deedsker]

Zac Taylor, the dude took shots all the time due to a lacking O-line. He still stood in there and did some pretty amazing things.

 

Brook Berringer gets a close 2nd with the whole playing on a collapsed lung for a quarter. That is pretty badass!

[Landlord]

Zac Taylor wins for the Oklahoma game alone. Some of the others on that list didn't get crushed that bad in a year when they ran the option.

 

^^^^^

 

That Oklahoma game was like a D2 freshman team facing a class B varsity team as far as the offensive line. He could barely even take a three step drop before getting shellacked every single time. Zac is probably my favorite Husker quarterback ever and I just wish we could have had him for longer and given him more success.

 

 

That being said, I don't know that I could pick between Frost, Taylor, or Martinez.

 

 

Scott Frost would make Tim Tebow cry the way he not only took punishment, but gave it out. I mean check out this freaking run -

 

Check these out as well -

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Already talked about Zac, but it really is just incredible how gutsy that guy was. Remember his concussion against K State?

 

And Taylor - a lot of people forget, but I remember his freshman year he wouldn't go down. Even when he would get corralled in the backfield, they couldn't tackle him. He would just stay on his feet with five guys on him until the whistle called the play dead. Not only that, but think about the injuries he played through. If you've never had turf toe or a high ankle sprain, you can't appreciate how much they totally kick your ass. I would be on crutches with the two main injuries that he battled through and played division I football with. And the funniest thing is that not once in his entire career did he ever stay down hurt. Even when he got his ankle obliterated by his own lineman, he still popped right back up.

[NUpolo8]

I thought Zac Taylor was going to not get up on several occasions.

[Count 'Bility]

Zac Taylor. Not even close.

[suh_fan93]

Frost. Hands down. Was never afraid to lower his shoulder and give the defender some.

 

 

[Landlord]

I would really like to get my hands on copies of the games from 2005 and 2006 and put together a Zac Taylor tribute video.

 

 

That is something I would definitely do.

[suh_fan93]

[Ulty]

That's a good list of tough sumbitches, though. I agree with Zac Taylor and the beatings he took. He got hit HARD just about every play of that Alamo Bowl but still led the rally to win. One of the few bright spots of the Callahan era.

 

I know Crouch hasn't gotten any votes yet, but I think most of his senior year (or perhaps his juior year? I forget for sure) he was held out of practices just about every week because he was so banged up, but he would come in on gameday and carry the team on his shoulders. And he was a pretty punishing runner for not being a very big guy.

 

Berringer for playing with that collapsed lung and keeping our hopes alive in that magical season. Even after the collapsed lung, he wore a flak jacket for the rest of the season and still suffered some partial collapses if I recall, yet he continued to run the option like a boss and take some pretty hard hits.

 

Lord and Frost were just beasts.

 

I used to think Martinez was soft, it seemed that early in his career, he would either be gone for the endzone untouched, or he would go down easy with someone barely laying a finger on him. But as his career wore on, he learned to break tackles and as others said kept popping up from hit after hit. Martinez was fun to cheer for because through his career we could actually see his growth and increased toughness.

[skersfan]

Good topic Knapplc, actually pulls us together a bit. Thanks!!! We need to together.

[sd'sker]

in many ways, zac taylor is lucky to be alive. he was remarkably tough.

[zoogs]

I would really like to get my hands on copies of the games from 2005 and 2006 and put together a Zac Taylor tribute video.

 

 

That is something I would definitely do.

 

There's a lot of good stuff on youtube, if you search for it.