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Nebraska’s QB competition under review
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
By Terry Douglass
sports.desk@theindependent.com
LINCOLN — Rumblings about Nebraska’s quarterbacking situation could be building into a roar following the Cornhuskers’ 31-10 home loss to Texas Tech on Saturday.
Nebraska starting quarterback Zac Lee struggled for the second consecutive game and for the third time in six starts this season, prompting the Husker coaching staff to insert true freshman backup Cody Green at two different times in the second half. In fact, Green led Nebraska to its lone touchdown of the day, connecting with Khiry Cooper for a 13-yard scoring pass with 8:40 to play.
In his postgame news conference, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said that the coaching staff is “absolutely” going to re-evaluate the quarterback position.
Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, who opted to stick with Lee in the previous game against Missouri despite the Huskers getting shut out in the first three quarters, also said he’ll be revisiting the situation.
“We’ll take a good look at it and see what we need to do,” Watson said.
Green finished 7-of-16 passing for 87 yards with a TD. He was also intercepted by Texas Tech safety Franklin Mitchem at the Red Raiders’ 4-yard line with 2:03 to play.
“What I liked about what Cody did was he really competed,” Watson said. “I thought he made some nice throws. He had some young things that he did, but he doesn’t have a lot of that.
“He does a nice job with his composure and his poise. I like that.”
Nebraska first put Green into the game for its second series of the third quarter, but went back to Lee after the Huskers went three and out. Green returned for good with 10:03 to play.
“We just wanted to try to get Zac’s feet underneath him a little bit,” Watson said of the first time the quarterback change was made. “When we made the decision to go with Cody, we felt Cody would try to give us a little spark and we would see what he could do for us.”
Green said he was fairly calm about his first appearance that wouldn’t be considered mop-up duty.
“I had Zac in my ear and Coach Watson in my ear just telling me, ‘Heck, you’ve already done this. It’s nothing new. Just go out there and compete,’” Green said. “That’s all you can do.”
Lee was 16-of-22 passing with no interceptions, but had just 128 yards and was sacked four times.
“He didn’t execute the offense well enough,” Pelini said of Lee. “We didn’t help him as coaches well enough.”
Watson said he wasn’t sure why Lee looked hesitant at times against the Red Raiders.
“He’s got to squeeze the trigger,” Watson said. “It’s my job to help him learn from it.”
Take away the 27 fourth-quarter points Nebraska scored on Oct. 8 at Missouri and the Huskers have just three points in seven quarters of Big 12 Conference play with Lee at quarterback. He is a combined 57-of-75 passing (76 percent) for 791 yards passing with seven TDs and one interception against NU’s three Sun Belt Conference foes, but is 41-of-85 (48.2 percent) for 422 yards and three TDs with two interceptions against BCS-conference schools.
With Nebraska struggling offensively, chants for Green could easily be heard in Memorial Stadium.
“That’s part of it,” Lee said. “You can’t let it get to you. You have to just be focused on what’s going on on the field.”
Likewise, Green said he’ll block out any outside talk that he should be the starter. For now, Green insists that Lee is “the guy.”
“Everybody has bumps in the road and today wasn’t Zac’s day,” Green said. “He can go out next week against Iowa State and light the world up. That’s the type of player he is and he’ll bounce back from this.”
Told that both Pelini and Watson indicated that the quarterback job might be open for competition, Green said he’ll be ready to press for a starting spot.
“Coach Watson and Coach Pelini always say, ‘Compete — if you can go take a guy’s job, take a guy’s job, but the main thing is just compete,’” Green said. “That makes you better and it makes the other guy better. That’s the only thing you can do.”
And if Green should win the starting job, will he be ready?
“When that point comes, then I’ll step up,” Green said.
Nebraska starting quarterback Zac Lee struggled for the second consecutive game and for the third time in six starts this season, prompting the Husker coaching staff to insert true freshman backup Cody Green at two different times in the second half. In fact, Green led Nebraska to its lone touchdown of the day, connecting with Khiry Cooper for a 13-yard scoring pass with 8:40 to play.
In his postgame news conference, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said that the coaching staff is “absolutely” going to re-evaluate the quarterback position.
Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, who opted to stick with Lee in the previous game against Missouri despite the Huskers getting shut out in the first three quarters, also said he’ll be revisiting the situation.
Green finished 7-of-16 passing for 87 yards with a TD. He was also intercepted by Texas Tech safety Franklin Mitchem at the Red Raiders’ 4-yard line with 2:03 to play.
“What I liked about what Cody did was he really competed,” Watson said. “I thought he made some nice throws. He had some young things that he did, but he doesn’t have a lot of that.
“He does a nice job with his composure and his poise. I like that.”
Nebraska first put Green into the game for its second series of the third quarter, but went back to Lee after the Huskers went three and out. Green returned for good with 10:03 to play.
“We just wanted to try to get Zac’s feet underneath him a little bit,” Watson said of the first time the quarterback change was made. “When we made the decision to go with Cody, we felt Cody would try to give us a little spark and we would see what he could do for us.”
Green said he was fairly calm about his first appearance that wouldn’t be considered mop-up duty.
“I had Zac in my ear and Coach Watson in my ear just telling me, ‘Heck, you’ve already done this. It’s nothing new. Just go out there and compete,’” Green said. “That’s all you can do.”
Lee was 16-of-22 passing with no interceptions, but had just 128 yards and was sacked four times.
“He didn’t execute the offense well enough,” Pelini said of Lee. “We didn’t help him as coaches well enough.”
Watson said he wasn’t sure why Lee looked hesitant at times against the Red Raiders.
“He’s got to squeeze the trigger,” Watson said. “It’s my job to help him learn from it.”
Take away the 27 fourth-quarter points Nebraska scored on Oct. 8 at Missouri and the Huskers have just three points in seven quarters of Big 12 Conference play with Lee at quarterback. He is a combined 57-of-75 passing (76 percent) for 791 yards passing with seven TDs and one interception against NU’s three Sun Belt Conference foes, but is 41-of-85 (48.2 percent) for 422 yards and three TDs with two interceptions against BCS-conference schools.
With Nebraska struggling offensively, chants for Green could easily be heard in Memorial Stadium.
“That’s part of it,” Lee said. “You can’t let it get to you. You have to just be focused on what’s going on on the field.”
Likewise, Green said he’ll block out any outside talk that he should be the starter. For now, Green insists that Lee is “the guy.”
“Everybody has bumps in the road and today wasn’t Zac’s day,” Green said. “He can go out next week against Iowa State and light the world up. That’s the type of player he is and he’ll bounce back from this.”
Told that both Pelini and Watson indicated that the quarterback job might be open for competition, Green said he’ll be ready to press for a starting spot.
“Coach Watson and Coach Pelini always say, ‘Compete — if you can go take a guy’s job, take a guy’s job, but the main thing is just compete,’” Green said. “That makes you better and it makes the other guy better. That’s the only thing you can do.”
And if Green should win the starting job, will he be ready?
“When that point comes, then I’ll step up,” Green said.
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| NU stumbles against Texas Tech | Blackshirts can’t get it done against Red Raiders |
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