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Heisman Trophy Winner
OWH
NU Football: Ganz finally good enough for Huskers
BY DIRK CHATELAIN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — He eludes pass rushers like a lifelong criminal and severs secondaries like a freshly sharpened saw.
He thrills a crowd, then returns to the huddle and cracks wise with his 330-pound bodyguards. Only his contempt for record books exceeds his irreverence for defensive coordinators. Joe Ganz, in just two starts for Nebraska, has redefined the program's standards of quarterback brilliance.
Yet until he broke through with 915 passing yards and 11 touchdowns against Kansas and Kansas State, Ganz felt fear: that he'd spend five years at Nebraska and never start one game; that he'd always be good, but never good enough.
What changed? For one thing, the grading scale.
Look around the country. Mobile, precise, often undersized quarterbacks like Missouri's Chase Daniel and Kansas' Todd Reesing are altering the face of the position.
"The best college football quarterback is the type like Joe," Nebraska safety Ben Eisenhart said. "You can run, you can pass.
"When you're playing a guy who's no threat of running, you can bring the house on them . . .. When you've got a guy like Daniel and Reesing and now Joe, you send everybody and he takes off running. That just adds another guy to their offense."
Thanks to an influx of spread offenses, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound dart-thrower is no longer the perceived key to producing points. Of the top eight offenses in Division I-A, not one has a prototypical NFL quarterback.
Troy Smith, shifty but short, won the Heisman last year at Ohio State. Dual-threat Dennis Dixon was the front-runner before an injury sidelined him for the year. Nebraska, too, has discovered that mobility trumps size and arm strength.
No knock on Sam Keller, said NU defensive end Zach Potter, but Ganz, at 6-1, 200 pounds, brings a lot more to an offense. Even when he doesn't run, he scrambles a few seconds, buying time for receivers to flash open.
Keller often checked down to receivers in the flat, Potter said. Ganz doesn't have to fall back on the short, safe option.
"He's the type of quarterback we've seen all year that we've had trouble with," Potter said.
His choppy strides don't suggest Vince Young-like athleticism. He can't throw the ball with JaMarcus Russell or Brian Brohm. And maybe that's why Ganz got the reputation as a career backup.
Good, but not good enough.
Ganz recognized that people around Nebraska didn't think that he belonged in the same meeting room with Keller during fall camp.
"It's tough when you work hard and people rag on you," Ganz said.
He lost the job, which wasn't anything new.
In 2003, defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove tried to recruit Ganz to Wisconsin, but the Badgers took a 6-foot-7 passer down the road from Ganz — Sean Lewis is now a Wisconsin tight end.
Northwestern pursued Ganz, too — but the Wildcats opted instead for current starter C.J. Bacher. He caught a break when Bill Callahan — on the advice of Cosgrove — called needing quarterbacks for his new West Coast offense.
That moment was the high point of Ganz's career until Nov. 3 at Kansas. His first three years at NU, he threw 13 passes.
He was a firsthand spectator for all sorts of interesting happenings: Joe Dailey's maddening struggles, the Beau Davis debacle at Texas Tech, Harrison Beck's triumphant entrance and abrupt exit, Zac Taylor's rise from nowhere, Sam Keller's dramatic transfer and season-ending injury.
Ganz could tell you about disappointment, especially after hearing Keller was coming to Lincoln:
"Tough on a kid's psyche," Ganz said.
He could tell you about persistence:
"I think all the recruiting — five stars, four stars — is overrated. I think a lot of times when you get a four or five star, they expect things instead of working for it."
About that moment when you know that you're good enough, and the moment everyone else knows, too:
"I don't have the strongest arm in the world, but strong enough to make all the throws."
Last summer, Ganz's teammates put together a recreational softball team in Lincoln. Ganz had gone home to Chicago for a few weeks and missed the start of the season. First game, they stuck him in right field.
First inning, he throws out a runner at home plate.
This shouldn't have been all that surprising. Had Callahan not called with that scholarship offer, Ganz would probably be playing shortstop for Illinois-Chicago or some Big Ten school.
On this team, shortstop belonged to Husker long snapper T.J. O'Leary. Ganz watched from right field as "about six balls hit off his face."
"I was like, I'm moving."
Ganz played shortstop the rest of the summer.
The crowns may not be his forever, though. This game of persistence may not be over. If Tom Osborne fires Bill Callahan, a new coach would likely change offenses for 2008. Ganz would lose a valuable advantage over other Husker quarterbacks.
His 510 yards passing against Kansas State might mean nothing. His good will built up during four arduous years might be lost.
He may be good, but not good enough.
We'll see what happens, Ganz said. "Hopefully now I'll be the front-runner for once."
NU Football: Ganz finally good enough for Huskers
BY DIRK CHATELAIN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — He eludes pass rushers like a lifelong criminal and severs secondaries like a freshly sharpened saw.
He thrills a crowd, then returns to the huddle and cracks wise with his 330-pound bodyguards. Only his contempt for record books exceeds his irreverence for defensive coordinators. Joe Ganz, in just two starts for Nebraska, has redefined the program's standards of quarterback brilliance.
Yet until he broke through with 915 passing yards and 11 touchdowns against Kansas and Kansas State, Ganz felt fear: that he'd spend five years at Nebraska and never start one game; that he'd always be good, but never good enough.
What changed? For one thing, the grading scale.
Look around the country. Mobile, precise, often undersized quarterbacks like Missouri's Chase Daniel and Kansas' Todd Reesing are altering the face of the position.
"The best college football quarterback is the type like Joe," Nebraska safety Ben Eisenhart said. "You can run, you can pass.
"When you're playing a guy who's no threat of running, you can bring the house on them . . .. When you've got a guy like Daniel and Reesing and now Joe, you send everybody and he takes off running. That just adds another guy to their offense."
Thanks to an influx of spread offenses, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound dart-thrower is no longer the perceived key to producing points. Of the top eight offenses in Division I-A, not one has a prototypical NFL quarterback.
Troy Smith, shifty but short, won the Heisman last year at Ohio State. Dual-threat Dennis Dixon was the front-runner before an injury sidelined him for the year. Nebraska, too, has discovered that mobility trumps size and arm strength.
No knock on Sam Keller, said NU defensive end Zach Potter, but Ganz, at 6-1, 200 pounds, brings a lot more to an offense. Even when he doesn't run, he scrambles a few seconds, buying time for receivers to flash open.
Keller often checked down to receivers in the flat, Potter said. Ganz doesn't have to fall back on the short, safe option.
"He's the type of quarterback we've seen all year that we've had trouble with," Potter said.
His choppy strides don't suggest Vince Young-like athleticism. He can't throw the ball with JaMarcus Russell or Brian Brohm. And maybe that's why Ganz got the reputation as a career backup.
Good, but not good enough.
Ganz recognized that people around Nebraska didn't think that he belonged in the same meeting room with Keller during fall camp.
"It's tough when you work hard and people rag on you," Ganz said.
He lost the job, which wasn't anything new.
In 2003, defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove tried to recruit Ganz to Wisconsin, but the Badgers took a 6-foot-7 passer down the road from Ganz — Sean Lewis is now a Wisconsin tight end.
Northwestern pursued Ganz, too — but the Wildcats opted instead for current starter C.J. Bacher. He caught a break when Bill Callahan — on the advice of Cosgrove — called needing quarterbacks for his new West Coast offense.
That moment was the high point of Ganz's career until Nov. 3 at Kansas. His first three years at NU, he threw 13 passes.
He was a firsthand spectator for all sorts of interesting happenings: Joe Dailey's maddening struggles, the Beau Davis debacle at Texas Tech, Harrison Beck's triumphant entrance and abrupt exit, Zac Taylor's rise from nowhere, Sam Keller's dramatic transfer and season-ending injury.
Ganz could tell you about disappointment, especially after hearing Keller was coming to Lincoln:
"Tough on a kid's psyche," Ganz said.
He could tell you about persistence:
"I think all the recruiting — five stars, four stars — is overrated. I think a lot of times when you get a four or five star, they expect things instead of working for it."
About that moment when you know that you're good enough, and the moment everyone else knows, too:
"I don't have the strongest arm in the world, but strong enough to make all the throws."
Last summer, Ganz's teammates put together a recreational softball team in Lincoln. Ganz had gone home to Chicago for a few weeks and missed the start of the season. First game, they stuck him in right field.
First inning, he throws out a runner at home plate.
This shouldn't have been all that surprising. Had Callahan not called with that scholarship offer, Ganz would probably be playing shortstop for Illinois-Chicago or some Big Ten school.
On this team, shortstop belonged to Husker long snapper T.J. O'Leary. Ganz watched from right field as "about six balls hit off his face."
"I was like, I'm moving."
Ganz played shortstop the rest of the summer.
The crowns may not be his forever, though. This game of persistence may not be over. If Tom Osborne fires Bill Callahan, a new coach would likely change offenses for 2008. Ganz would lose a valuable advantage over other Husker quarterbacks.
His 510 yards passing against Kansas State might mean nothing. His good will built up during four arduous years might be lost.
He may be good, but not good enough.
We'll see what happens, Ganz said. "Hopefully now I'll be the front-runner for once."
