One-Year Wonders
4 comments so far
August 14, 2008 by
Forecasting how Joe Ganz might look as a senior has been difficult, in part because he hasn’t done much to prove one way or the other how good or bad he’ll be. So instead of looking at Ganz' brief on-field resume, it might make sense to look back at past signal callers who had only a single year to get it done on the field to see how they performed.
Sam Keller might technically be in that group since he only started for one year (or would have if he’d avoided injury). His 4-5 record as a starter doesn’t exactly cause one to drool. Given that he’d actually been a starter elsewhere might be a reason to leave him out of any Ganz comparisons, except for the fact that he and Ganz were obviously close competitors going into last season. Keller managed 6.9 yards per pass attempt and a 14 to 10 touchdown to interception ratio. Ganz by contrast managed a gaudy 9.4 yards per pass and a 16 touchdown to 7 interception ratio but lost two of three starts.
Prior to Keller, the last NU quarterback to enter the season as a starter for the first time as a senior was Mike Grant in 1992. Grant lasted five weeks and went 4-1 before giving way to freshman sensation Tommie Frazier. Grant managed only three yards per carry as a rusher and five yards per passing attempt. He threw five interceptions along with five touchdown passes. Frazier was much better in all of those areas even as a true freshman.
Before Grant was Keithen McCant in 1991. McCant was named by the coaches as the Big 8 Offensive Player of the Year and led the Huskers to their first Big 8 title since 1988. He had help though. Guard Will Shields, tight end Johnny Mitchell, and I-back Derek Brown were all named as second or third-team All-Americans and were among eight Huskers (along with McCant) to be named first-team all-conference. That included tackle Brian Boerboom, guard Erik Wiegert, and split end Jon Bostick. Calvin Jones also exploded as the Offensive Newcomer of the year. Not a bad crew to run with. McCant managed a strong 8.7 yards per passing attempt and nearly 6 yards per rush. He had 20 total touchdowns against only 8 interceptions.
Gerry Gdowksi was the senior star in 1989 after he succeeded the two-time all-conference Steve Taylor. Gdowski exploded for 9.8 yards per pass and 19 passing touchdowns against just 2 interceptions in the regular season. He also averaged 7.9 yards per rush and tallied 13 rushing touchdowns. After a close loss to Colorado cost the Huskers a Big 8 title, Gdowski had a bad night against Florida State as he managed just 1 yard rushing on 12 attempts and threw 2 interceptions in the 41-17 Fiesta Bowl bloodbath. Still he was named all-conference and the Big 8 Offensive Player of the Year. In his final home game, a victory over Oklahoma , the scoreboard read “Redshirt Gdowski� as a way of saying Husker fans wished he had another year of eligibility.
If you go back further you find a pedestrian Craig Sundberg in 1984 who ended up seeing Travis Turner take starts (who in turn had to fight off McCathorn Clayton and a young Steve Taylor a year later). Mark Mauer was pretty ordinary before giving way to Turner Gill (he had a nice day leading the Huskers to a big victory over Oklahoma and a bad one in the national championship game against Clemson).
What’s all this tell us? Those who sat and waited were either pretty good (Gdowski, McCant) or pretty mediocre (Grant, Sundberg, Mauer). An all-conference performance isn’t entirely out of reach, but it’s also entirely possible the senior (Ganz) could give way to a promising youngster if he doesn’t get off to a good start. The talent around these guys matters. The 1984 quarterbacking crew as a unit was pretty uninspiring and yet the team won a share of the conference. The talent surrounding a quarterback can make up for mediocre play or as perhaps may have been the case for Keller, make them look helpless. Hopefully, enough goes right around Ganz that he won’t be asked to carry the team, because it may be a coin flip as to whether or not he’ll pan out in a big way this year.
Did you enjoy this article?
Get Husker news by email
Follow us on Twitter
Related Stories: Quarterbacks
Post a comment
Bill in Iowa Aug 14 08
I have a lot of faith in Gantz. He was put in a pressure cooker last year for those last three games, but overall, I think he showed a lot of leadership and athleticism. He brings great leadership, determination, a run threat, and he can also throw a pass. As for the interceptions, I think he said that he was taking some chances he probably shouldn't have, because they were playing from behind. Hopefully, this years defense can keep games close enough we do not have to hit the panic button.
Greg Morrow Aug 14 08
Like Gdowski, Joey has the relatively rare advantage of having a top notch Senior IB lined up behind him. (Or next to him, we'll see how things zone read out.)
Not a great receiving group for him, but highly experienced with the senior wr's. It'd be nice if Holt, Paul or even Brooks breaks out. I wish Teafatiller could've shown some senior leadership and examples. Maybe, he'll still get that chance.
You could say Joey's got a veteran line, 'cept at right tackle, with Burkes and Jones holdin' it down. But, big Javario's hbp isn't a good thing for a kid his size. "Controllable" or no.
Even Joey's Fullback, Lawson, is a 5th year senior walkon, in the finest tradition.
That's a fair support staff for any college quarterback. College teams almost always have a mixed bag of experience and class standing.
It's all there for him. Make the safe throws, run the offense proficiently, be a genuine "point guard" distributor, like Zac was.
I think he'll be fantastic!
NEcity Husker Aug 14 08
As alaways, a very well written and concise article. I just found this site, and I will be checking back throughout the season...especially after we can start critiquing instead of just speculating! Woo Hoo!
I can't wait to see the Ganz offense clicking into the heart of the schedule. Watson has been quoted often in saying how fast Ganz has picked up on everything, and how he has to quiz him to keep him from being "bored". The kid can take a hit and isn't afraid to run (see the last CU game for flashes of THAT possible wrinkle). In fact I remember reading several LJS articles where he told people that he wanted to call 15-20 options or draws every game. A play maker that wants the ball in his hands...I like it. The line that will be his best friend will be the key to this offense. Strong Offense = more cushion and rest for the Defense = more Ws...looks like a winning combination to me!
GBR!
mjm Aug 14 08
Gdowski was always one of my favorite players, and Ganz reminds me so much of him. Ganz is a tough kid who I think will do just fine this year.