Landlord
Banned
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2007/0...e7333524589.txt
Steven M. Sipple: Is Keller too good to be true?
BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2007 - 09:21:15 am CDT
Sam is awfully smart. Sam is savvy.
In some ways, if you’re a Nebraska football fan, quarterback Sam Keller must seem too good to be true.
Think about it. Keller recently was named Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year. Well, league media overlooked a reasonably significant detail.
Keller hasn’t even won Nebraska’s starting job.
Have we mentioned that Sam is smooth? The savvy Sam tried to impart on reporters Monday how much different it is playing in a game compared to practice. This may have been Sam sending a not-so-subtle signal. Something to this effect: With all due respect to my fellow (and mostly untested) Husker quarterbacks, please check my extensive resume at Arizona State and tell me I’m not the guy for the starting job.
“There’s nothing like a game,” Keller said during Nebraska’s preseason press conference at Memorial Stadium. “I’d be remiss to tell you a practice is anything like a game situation, anything like the games I’ve been in. Like against LSU or USC. That’s what college football is about. Playing the big teams and trying to match up against them.
“That is what I miss, and that is what I’m hungry for.”
Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said he plans to wait to name the starter until a week before the Sept. 1 season opener against Nevada. No question, Keller thinks he’s the man. But make no mistake, so does junior Joe Ganz.
In the court of public opinion, Keller clearly gets the nod.
In the court of public press conferences, Keller once again gets the nod.
Keller once again was impressive in front of reporters. He sparkles and shines every time in this setting. If he wins the job, he’ll make a great “face” for the program.
There were grizzled veteran writers in the room Monday who have seen and heard it all covering Nebraska football. They would be unfazed if Santa Claus walked to the podium. But Keller had those grizzled guys eating out of his hands.
Keller doesn’t work a room; he controls it.
If he controls the huddle like he controlled that room, well, God bless Joe Ganz.
But Keller has to be the starter. Right?
Right?
“I have the game experience,” Keller said. “And now I’ve had all this extra time to fine-tune things — to watch film, to throw to our wideouts, to work out. I’m as big and strong as I’ve ever been.”
Indeed, the 6-foot-4 Keller added 10 pounds of muscle to weigh 240 and now has the build of a linebacker. And, yes, he has big-game experience.
He started seven games in 2005 at Arizona State before a thumb injury ended his season. He torched Louisiana State for 461 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions, in a 35-31 loss. He threw for 347 yards and two TDs, with five picks, in a 38-28 loss to Southern California.
Hmmm. Five picks against USC. Should the Trojans again be licking their chops? Is Keller a gunslinger, a la aging Brett Favre? Well, a reporter threw out the notion Monday, and Keller bristled somewhat, but met the question head-on like, well, a gunslinger.
“That’s a fair assumption,” he said. “Some games I throw a lot of interceptions. But that’s because I play kind of fearless. That’s always how I’ve played. I’m a fearless kind of competitor. But at the same time, one of your best attributes can also be your worst — some erratic throws here and there.
“I can see those perceptions (gunslinger, gambler, etc.). However, I will tell you those aren’t true anymore. Because this offense really forces you to take what the defense gives you and almost kind of slow down. Take a check-down. Take a secondary receiver.”
Yes, the kid is seasoned.
He weathered the storm surrounding his transfer from Arizona State last August without his character being badly impugned. If there’s anything bad being said about him, it’s probably not true, he said.
“I’m just a worker,” he said. “I’m a grinder. That’s all I’ve done since I’ve gotten here.”
Callahan, of course, is wise to wait to name his starter. Let the cream rise to the top naturally, he says. To be sure, there’s no reason for haste. Make it a fair fight or risk creating factions on the team.
“I’ve made the best of it so far,” Keller said of his transfer. “But there’s this one last step — the most important step.”
Yes, of course, he badly wants to win the starting job. You can hear it in his voice cracking with emotion and feel his energy.
If this kid isn’t for real, he will have fooled at least one grizzled reporter.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
Anyone who thinks that Joe Ganz has just as good of a chance as Keller is dreaming. I like Ganz, and I do think that he has a halfway legitimate shot and is better at a few things than Keller, but Joe Ganz could never throw for 400+ yards and 4 touchdowns against LSU. Ever.
Steven M. Sipple: Is Keller too good to be true?
BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2007 - 09:21:15 am CDT
Sam is awfully smart. Sam is savvy.
In some ways, if you’re a Nebraska football fan, quarterback Sam Keller must seem too good to be true.
Think about it. Keller recently was named Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year. Well, league media overlooked a reasonably significant detail.
Keller hasn’t even won Nebraska’s starting job.
Have we mentioned that Sam is smooth? The savvy Sam tried to impart on reporters Monday how much different it is playing in a game compared to practice. This may have been Sam sending a not-so-subtle signal. Something to this effect: With all due respect to my fellow (and mostly untested) Husker quarterbacks, please check my extensive resume at Arizona State and tell me I’m not the guy for the starting job.
“There’s nothing like a game,” Keller said during Nebraska’s preseason press conference at Memorial Stadium. “I’d be remiss to tell you a practice is anything like a game situation, anything like the games I’ve been in. Like against LSU or USC. That’s what college football is about. Playing the big teams and trying to match up against them.
“That is what I miss, and that is what I’m hungry for.”
Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said he plans to wait to name the starter until a week before the Sept. 1 season opener against Nevada. No question, Keller thinks he’s the man. But make no mistake, so does junior Joe Ganz.
In the court of public opinion, Keller clearly gets the nod.
In the court of public press conferences, Keller once again gets the nod.
Keller once again was impressive in front of reporters. He sparkles and shines every time in this setting. If he wins the job, he’ll make a great “face” for the program.
There were grizzled veteran writers in the room Monday who have seen and heard it all covering Nebraska football. They would be unfazed if Santa Claus walked to the podium. But Keller had those grizzled guys eating out of his hands.
Keller doesn’t work a room; he controls it.
If he controls the huddle like he controlled that room, well, God bless Joe Ganz.
But Keller has to be the starter. Right?
Right?
“I have the game experience,” Keller said. “And now I’ve had all this extra time to fine-tune things — to watch film, to throw to our wideouts, to work out. I’m as big and strong as I’ve ever been.”
Indeed, the 6-foot-4 Keller added 10 pounds of muscle to weigh 240 and now has the build of a linebacker. And, yes, he has big-game experience.
He started seven games in 2005 at Arizona State before a thumb injury ended his season. He torched Louisiana State for 461 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions, in a 35-31 loss. He threw for 347 yards and two TDs, with five picks, in a 38-28 loss to Southern California.
Hmmm. Five picks against USC. Should the Trojans again be licking their chops? Is Keller a gunslinger, a la aging Brett Favre? Well, a reporter threw out the notion Monday, and Keller bristled somewhat, but met the question head-on like, well, a gunslinger.
“That’s a fair assumption,” he said. “Some games I throw a lot of interceptions. But that’s because I play kind of fearless. That’s always how I’ve played. I’m a fearless kind of competitor. But at the same time, one of your best attributes can also be your worst — some erratic throws here and there.
“I can see those perceptions (gunslinger, gambler, etc.). However, I will tell you those aren’t true anymore. Because this offense really forces you to take what the defense gives you and almost kind of slow down. Take a check-down. Take a secondary receiver.”
Yes, the kid is seasoned.
He weathered the storm surrounding his transfer from Arizona State last August without his character being badly impugned. If there’s anything bad being said about him, it’s probably not true, he said.
“I’m just a worker,” he said. “I’m a grinder. That’s all I’ve done since I’ve gotten here.”
Callahan, of course, is wise to wait to name his starter. Let the cream rise to the top naturally, he says. To be sure, there’s no reason for haste. Make it a fair fight or risk creating factions on the team.
“I’ve made the best of it so far,” Keller said of his transfer. “But there’s this one last step — the most important step.”
Yes, of course, he badly wants to win the starting job. You can hear it in his voice cracking with emotion and feel his energy.
If this kid isn’t for real, he will have fooled at least one grizzled reporter.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
Anyone who thinks that Joe Ganz has just as good of a chance as Keller is dreaming. I like Ganz, and I do think that he has a halfway legitimate shot and is better at a few things than Keller, but Joe Ganz could never throw for 400+ yards and 4 touchdowns against LSU. Ever.
