Bad Things
They?re happening to the Huskers a lot this season
by Mike Babcock
The question for quarterback Sam Keller following Nebraska?s 45-14 loss against Oklahoma State three Saturdays ago: Where does the team go from here?
His answer, spoken with characteristic, never-give-up optimism, was more involved. But a brief section seems appropriate here.
?Bad things have happened to good people before,? he said. ?It happens every day. Things don?t [always] go your way in life.?
Near the end of the Cornhuskers? 28-25 loss at Texas, with 2:37 remaining to be exact, something bad happened to a good person, something really bad. Keller was slammed to the turf.
Texas defensive end Eddie Jones beat offensive right tackle Jaivorio Burkes, a true freshman playing in his first collegiate game, on a second-and-10 at the Longhorns? 24-yard line.
Keller released the pass just before Jones reached him. It was incomplete. Keller left the field, favoring his left shoulder. It turned out his collarbone was broken.
With that play, his Cornhusker career ended.
Football is violent. And bad things can happen to good people.
?He?s a real good kid,? coach Bill Callahan said of the senior from Danville, Calif., during the Big 12 coaches? teleconference Monday. ?He?s a classy individual.?
The record will show that he completed 205-of-325 passes for 2,422 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions during his three-fourths-of-a-season career.
The yardage ranks third in school history. Zac Taylor?s two seasons rank first and second.
Beyond the numbers, however, ?he was a real leader for us during some real troubled times here this season, so I?ve got great respect and admiration for him as a person and as a competitor,? Callahan said.
Keller held things together when they could have fallen apart. Despite his brief time at Nebraska, he was a leader when few others seemed willing to step up and take that responsibility.
He showed up on Tuesdays, without fail. And he met with reporters after every game, except his last, taking blame when things went wrong but never claiming credit when they went right.
Bad things can happen to good people.
One person?s misfortune can be another?s opportunity, and that is the case here.
Junior Joe Ganz replaced Keller against Texas and responded with a touchdown pass and a two-point conversion pass. The starting job he didn?t win in the spring and training camp is now his.
Ganz is like Keller in a significant way. He has remained upbeat, despite being a backup with no hope of playing except for what has happened ? an injury to Keller. He is a leader, although his leadership has been largely overlooked because of his position on the second team.
Reporters usually don?t ask questions of backups.
?I?m always prepared to go in, but you never think Sam?s going to get hurt, really, so you can?t prepare for it,? Ganz said following the game. ?But once I saw him down, I just wanted to help the team.?
At that point, the extent of Keller?s injury was unclear.
?You don?t want somebody to be injured on the team that you care about,? Ganz said. ?So you hope he?s all right. If he?s not, then it?s my job to win the next three games and get us to a bowl game. Hopefully we can end the season on the right foot. I?ll do anything for my team.?
Ganz?s attitude was the same four days earlier. If doing anything for the team meant signaling in plays to Keller from the sideline, then that?s what he would do, without complaint.
?I don?t want any division on the team. I want them [players] to have faith in Sam. That?s Coach Callahan?s guy. I try to do my best and not divide the team,? Ganz said.
Now he is Callahan?s guy. And if the team is to break from its 4-5 malaise ? though a bowl bid is a significant stretch at this point ? he will have to produce. On the Tuesday before the Texas game, he was asked, hypothetically, if he could provide the team a spark.
?I would hope if I got a shot I would,? he replied. ?That?s what I would want to do for the team. But obviously, Sam is still the starter and you?ve got to back him 100 percent and back Coach?s decision. He knows what?s best for the team. You?ve got to have faith in that.?
Callahan has faith in Ganz, who completed 2-of-3 passes against the Longhorns.
He was 1-for-1 passing this season, against Nevada, and has thrown only 17 passes during his career, completing 10 for 158 yards and four touchdowns, without an interception.
He will start for the first time Saturday at undefeated and No. 8-ranked Kansas.
?I?ve got all the confidence in the world in his abilities,? Callahan said. ?There?s not a problem whatsoever in his readiness. He will be competitive. He will give it his all. We lose a good player, but we feel confident that we?ve got another player stepping up and stepping in.?
So bad things can be good things for good people, too. ,
