BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA
All-American
owh
NU Football: Keller's calls fly too fast
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller sometimes doesn't realize he's going so fast.
Not sprinting out. Not scrambling for the first-down marker.
Calling plays.
"He doesn't slur his words, but they just come all together," NU receiver Maurice Purify said. "It's sometimes that he says it so fast that you don't catch all the necessary stuff. We just have to pay attention a little more when Sam's calling the plays."
That's not unusual, receiver Nate Swift said, for any new quarterback coming into a system like Bill Callahan's, what with all the verbiage necessary to get a play from head coach to huddle to players.
"We always have to tell them to slow down a little bit and pronounce every word, because sometimes they sound the same," Swift said. "You've got to tell them for a week straight before they stop doing it."
Keller also had to be trained by NU teammates to tell them the snap count before calling the play, the opposite of how he had done things before. All those little bugs seemingly have been worked out.
"I've always had a tendency to get up, get on and go really fast," Keller said. "I've got to remember that there are 10 other guys in the huddle who have to hear exactly what I'm saying. When I get a handle on what I'm doing, I have a tendency to go real fast."
For the most part, NU offensive personnel have stayed right with Keller, Joe Ganz and Beau Davis through nine spring practices - the first time the receivers, backs and line have had to work so much with a quarterback other than Zac Taylor in two years.
The quarterbacks have their little nuances, but Swift and Purify said timing and consistency haven't suffered as the Huskers have shuttled them in and out. In fact, they don't need to see which quarterback is in the huddle and then adjust anything in their line of thinking.
"It is hard for them to just jump in and take control right away and get everybody settled," Swift said, "but I think they're on their way to getting everybody's trust and gaining control of the offense."
Purify said timing is pretty much the same no matter who's taking the snap. In the West Coast offense, he said, it has to be.
"They've all got the same drops," he said. "They've got to throw on the same timing, quick three (steps) or quick five. It's pretty much how fast we get off the ball and our timing."
NU tight end Hunter Teafatiller called the quarterback being "on a clock" in the Husker system, pretty much assuring Keller, Ganz and Davis operate in similar rhythms.
"They know they've got to get the ball out at a certain drop point, so timing's not really an issue," Teafatiller said. "If it is, it's on us."
Offensive guard Matt Slauson said Keller might deliver the cadence at the line just a little bit differently, but that's about all the linemen look for as the Huskers rotate quarterbacks.
"Everything else is the same," Slauson said. "We block, they do whatever they've got to do to throw the ball or hand it off."
Swift said both Keller and Ganz "throw a nice ball." Purify called Keller's different than that of Taylor, something he already had gotten used to during winter conditioning when the quarterbacks and receivers would go work on their own.
"His ball doesn't come as hard," said Purify, who caught 34 passes with seven touchdowns last season. "It doesn't spin as fast. I like a ball that's not spinning as fast. It's softer, easier to catch. He throws the ball fast, but it's not a hard ball."
Purify said he can tell Keller likes to throw down the field on vertical and post routes. But Purify said that isn't at the expense of the former Arizona State starter being able to make the short throws.
Teafatiller also notes a minor difference in how passes arrive from Ganz and Keller. Ganz has a traditional, flat style; Keller gets it there with the point down.
"When Sam's in there, the ball's always going to be pointing down when it comes at me," Teafatiller said.
NU Football: Keller's calls fly too fast
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller sometimes doesn't realize he's going so fast.
Not sprinting out. Not scrambling for the first-down marker.
Calling plays.
"He doesn't slur his words, but they just come all together," NU receiver Maurice Purify said. "It's sometimes that he says it so fast that you don't catch all the necessary stuff. We just have to pay attention a little more when Sam's calling the plays."
That's not unusual, receiver Nate Swift said, for any new quarterback coming into a system like Bill Callahan's, what with all the verbiage necessary to get a play from head coach to huddle to players.
"We always have to tell them to slow down a little bit and pronounce every word, because sometimes they sound the same," Swift said. "You've got to tell them for a week straight before they stop doing it."
Keller also had to be trained by NU teammates to tell them the snap count before calling the play, the opposite of how he had done things before. All those little bugs seemingly have been worked out.
"I've always had a tendency to get up, get on and go really fast," Keller said. "I've got to remember that there are 10 other guys in the huddle who have to hear exactly what I'm saying. When I get a handle on what I'm doing, I have a tendency to go real fast."
For the most part, NU offensive personnel have stayed right with Keller, Joe Ganz and Beau Davis through nine spring practices - the first time the receivers, backs and line have had to work so much with a quarterback other than Zac Taylor in two years.
The quarterbacks have their little nuances, but Swift and Purify said timing and consistency haven't suffered as the Huskers have shuttled them in and out. In fact, they don't need to see which quarterback is in the huddle and then adjust anything in their line of thinking.
"It is hard for them to just jump in and take control right away and get everybody settled," Swift said, "but I think they're on their way to getting everybody's trust and gaining control of the offense."
Purify said timing is pretty much the same no matter who's taking the snap. In the West Coast offense, he said, it has to be.
"They've all got the same drops," he said. "They've got to throw on the same timing, quick three (steps) or quick five. It's pretty much how fast we get off the ball and our timing."
NU tight end Hunter Teafatiller called the quarterback being "on a clock" in the Husker system, pretty much assuring Keller, Ganz and Davis operate in similar rhythms.
"They know they've got to get the ball out at a certain drop point, so timing's not really an issue," Teafatiller said. "If it is, it's on us."
Offensive guard Matt Slauson said Keller might deliver the cadence at the line just a little bit differently, but that's about all the linemen look for as the Huskers rotate quarterbacks.
"Everything else is the same," Slauson said. "We block, they do whatever they've got to do to throw the ball or hand it off."
Swift said both Keller and Ganz "throw a nice ball." Purify called Keller's different than that of Taylor, something he already had gotten used to during winter conditioning when the quarterbacks and receivers would go work on their own.
"His ball doesn't come as hard," said Purify, who caught 34 passes with seven touchdowns last season. "It doesn't spin as fast. I like a ball that's not spinning as fast. It's softer, easier to catch. He throws the ball fast, but it's not a hard ball."
Purify said he can tell Keller likes to throw down the field on vertical and post routes. But Purify said that isn't at the expense of the former Arizona State starter being able to make the short throws.
Teafatiller also notes a minor difference in how passes arrive from Ganz and Keller. Ganz has a traditional, flat style; Keller gets it there with the point down.
"When Sam's in there, the ball's always going to be pointing down when it comes at me," Teafatiller said.
