Was Ganz Nebraska's best QB?

Would have loved to see Ferragamo. And Tagge and Humm. Steve Taylor would have been great in today's game. So would Gill.

I liked Ganz but as some say, he wasn't on great teams. Had a bit of Farve in him, some good, some not so good. Zach Taylor threw the ball well, but he moved around like he was in quick sand. He had a lot of check downs and the line wasn't too good.

Wish I could have watched Gdowski. As it was back then, I could only listen to the games on the radio. Was a low frequency AM channel (Christian/Gospel radio station) here in Texas that would cut over to the Husker games 30 minutes before kick off. Think it was sponsored by NTN? I never missed a game. Wasn't anything he couldn't do (as far as listening to a game on the radio and imagining the play as it was called). He scored all the friggin time, pass or running.

But the best true QB IMO, I would have to say Brook. Even though Frazier is my all-time favorite for what he did, Brook could make all the throws, move in the pocket, and run for first downs when needed. Great decision maker with the ball. In today's offense, he would be all B1G first team without a doubt, and one of the best in the nation.

 
Gantz was awesome and I would have liked to have seen him outcompete chase daniel at training camp. I would also like to see him and Danny Kanell in a celebrity death match.

 
Bobby Newcombe was given every chance to be QB, and expectations of him were huge. He wasn't a very good QB at all and didn't fulfill his promise elsewhere, either. A bit of a Jamal Turner story.

Dave Humm was our first "pure" passer, and we made a pretty big deal of it at the time, but he threw 42(!) interceptions and Osborne replaced him at halftime of his last game as a Husker, when Humm threw 4 interceptions in the first half against Florida.

I remember liking Steve Taylor a lot -- the next Turner Gill -- but you can't ignore the 45% completion rate or his throwing nearly as many interceptions as Armstrong in less than half the attempts. Armstrong would do better in Steve Taylor's offense than Steve Taylor would do at today's Nebraska.

Ferragamo, Tagge, Zac Taylor, Ganz, Berringer and Gill would look just fine on this team. Frost was simply a terrible passer, Crouch only slightly better. Nebraska was the only college where those two could have starred as quarterbacks. Same with Lord, Frazier and Martinez.

But seriously, look at Gdowski's numbers. Pure passer and pure runner, and looked every bit as good as his stats. Only given one season but deserves more recognition.

 
Husker John said:
Vitalis Jackson said:
I'd really like to have a Vince Ferragamo type guy in this style of offense. He was a great one, IMHO. Most of you may not remember him, though . . .
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I'm in the minority....I remember Vince..........Brook Berringer would have worked well in MR's offense as well....
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Both of those guys would have rocked this offense. And yeah, I remember watching Vince play. That guy could chuck the rock downfield. All the way down the field.

 
If I can only pick one, it's Gerry Gdowski. That guy could run and unlike guys like Mickey Joseph, Keithen McCant and Mike Grant, he could actually throw the ball really well. This guy could beat you with his arm or his legs. Or both.

 
Elf said:
If I can only pick one, it's Gerry Gdowski. That guy could run and unlike guys like Mickey Joseph, Keithen McCant and Mike Grant, he could actually throw the ball really well. This guy could beat you with his arm or his legs. Or both.
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This made me wonder whether he's still at Vandy. Sure enough, he is. LINK (Great little video of Gdowski in that link.) I wonder why his name never comes up when people discuss coaches we'd want at Nebraska? He has tons of experience.

 
Malth said:
I don't think he's the best, but he was fun to watch play. Other than the INT's, I loved Ganz.
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People constantly forget that he was a pick six machine at times. A healthy Taylor Martinez was better in my opinion and there were many other QBs better than him. Crouch, Frazier, Steve Taylor, Frost, Gill just to name a few.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Bobby Newcombe was given every chance to be QB, and expectations of him were huge. He wasn't a very good QB at all and didn't fulfill his promise elsewhere, either. A bit of a Jamal Turner story.

Dave Humm was our first "pure" passer, and we made a pretty big deal of it at the time, but he threw 42(!) interceptions and Osborne replaced him at halftime of his last game as a Husker, when Humm threw 4 interceptions in the first half against Florida.

I remember liking Steve Taylor a lot -- the next Turner Gill -- but you can't ignore the 45% completion rate or his throwing nearly as many interceptions as Armstrong in less than half the attempts. Armstrong would do better in Steve Taylor's offense than Steve Taylor would do at today's Nebraska.

Ferragamo, Tagge, Zac Taylor, Ganz, Berringer and Gill would look just fine on this team. Frost was simply a terrible passer, Crouch only slightly better. Nebraska was the only college where those two could have starred as quarterbacks. Same with Lord, Frazier and Martinez.

But seriously, look at Gdowski's numbers. Pure passer and pure runner, and looked every bit as good as his stats. Only given one season but deserves more recognition.
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Good analysis. I think the one thing that stands out for Steve Taylor was that I always thought he was a good leader on the field. Wtout sooner magic, he probably would have led us into 2 NCGs.

Gdowski - we hardly knew you - but wished you could have started 2 or 3 years. Very good all around QB - I think he was somewhat of a surprise - didn't have the hype coming in that I recall.

My personal ranking always has Frazier # 1 just because of leadership and what he accomplished as a 4 year starter - a couple of blown calls by the refs against FSU and he would have been the QB of 3 NC teams - as it stood, he was the MVP of those 3 games

Gill as # 2 - could play in any offense - he could run if needed and he was a great passer - should have won the NC 2x. (PSU out of bounds catch spoiled it in 82 and we all know what happened in 83)

Regarding pure QB (not dual threat)- Gdowski, Ferragamo, Tagge, Zac Taylor, Gatz

 
No I am sorry. Joey Ganz while good was far from the best. There can only be one greatest NU QB of all time and that would be Jammal Lord. A close second would be Mike Grant.

 
TylerDurden said:
No I am sorry. Joey Ganz while good was far from the best. There can only be one greatest NU QB of all time and that would be Jammal Lord. A close second would be Mike Grant.
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Real classy to crap on Jammal Lord. While he wasn't the best passing QB, his time at NU is under appreciated. He had bad RB's and WR's and Lord was out there pretty much all by himself.
 
When I am asked what makes a great QB, it's not necessarily be a good passer or be a good runner. I think that the best QB's run the offense they are asked to run. I think that all of the running QB's NU had back in the day aren't appreciated by today's fans because they didn't have great passing stats. But, for the most part NU had good/great QB's for most of the past 45-50 years.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
TylerDurden said:
No I am sorry. Joey Ganz while good was far from the best. There can only be one greatest NU QB of all time and that would be Jammal Lord. A close second would be Mike Grant.
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Real classy to crap on Jammal Lord. While he wasn't the best passing QB, his time at NU is under appreciated. He had bad RB's and WR's and Lord was out there pretty much all by himself.
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Agreed. If Jammal Lord had played at NU five or six years earlier he would be remembered among the all time great Husker QBs. The guy was a heck of an athlete. He just didn't have the surrounding cast.

 
Ganz played in what, roughly 17 games? If he had as many starts as TA, Joey would be way ahead of the pack statistically as far as passing stats go.

 
NUance said:
ColoradoHusk said:
TylerDurden said:
No I am sorry. Joey Ganz while good was far from the best. There can only be one greatest NU QB of all time and that would be Jammal Lord. A close second would be Mike Grant.
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Real classy to crap on Jammal Lord. While he wasn't the best passing QB, his time at NU is under appreciated. He had bad RB's and WR's and Lord was out there pretty much all by himself.
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Agreed. If Jammal Lord had played at NU five or six years earlier he would be remembered among the all time great Husker QBs. The guy was a heck of an athlete. He just didn't have the surrounding cast.
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I agree with this. If people were to go back and watch highlights of him, he is very explosive. I watched a ton of his QB runs and he just had this burst of speed going into second gear and would break away from defenders.

 
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