If you had any doubt – the slightest bit, doubt the size of a single fish egg – about the utter failure of the Bill Callahan era at Nebraska, this weekend should have washed it away like the tide drags abandoned crab shells out to sea.

In 2009 NFL Draft, only three members Callahan’s vaunted recruiting classes were selected. Three. San Jose State had that many. New Mexico and Abliene Christian had two. And no Huskers higher than midway through the fifth round. You might have to go back to the 1969 NFL Draft to find such a meager NU class, although the 2008 bunch is right in there.

And the first of the 2009 picks – linebacker Cody Glenn – was stuck at fourth-string running back for much of the 2007 season, his career resurrected only by Callahan’s firing and the hiring of head coach Bo Pelini and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler, who gave Glenn a good enough crash course to eeld his skills to one of the more difficult positions on the defense.

Meanwhile, Callahan’s preferred back, Marlon Lucky, didn’t even get to be Mr. Irrelevant.

Maybe If Callahan hadn’t wasted Lucky’s first year on campus. Or burned Zach Potter’s redshirt. Or buried Joe Ganz underneath the depth chart rubble, only to be forced into giving him a shot when he was the only one left standing.

If only.

Does that mean Potter, Lucky, Ganz or others won’t play in the NFL? Of course not. There are some advantages, in fact, to becoming a priority free agent instead of a draft pick, and NFL teams sometimes use late-round draft picks on projects who flame out two weeks into training camp. NU has a number of players good enough for the NFL. They need the right fit and the right attitude, but they’ll get their chance.

What the 2009 class means is that Callahan’s pitch - which revolved around his NFL experience, around his ability to recognize talent, recruit it with fierce diligence and organization and turn it into a professional product – was akin to oceanfront property in Grand Island. His “talent” was more upside than finished product, and he and his staff didn’t take enough pains to finish it. Often, they rushed the talent into service before they were ready and snatched a crucial redshirt year away from guys like Glenn, Niles Paul and Prince Amukamara.

Now - had Callahan landed that gilded, magic quarterback he always pined for, like Kansas State’s Josh Freeman, I don’t doubt he would have produced, consequences be damned, the kind of player Freeman became: A big, sturdy stiff with enough intelligence and arm strength to con some poor NFL franchise, like the reeling Tampa Bay Buccaneers, into drafting him.

Ron Prince ran Kansas State into the ground that way, protecting “his” QB to the point where, when KSU’s offensive line seemingly refused to block for Freeman, or Freeman temporarily lost his faculties, Prince pulled Freeman from the Nebraska game. Freeman sat on the bench, staring into dead space, while Ganz pounded the Wildcats’ defense with the zone read. Freeman walks away from Manhattan with a fat contract. Prince got his old job back at Virginia. KSU fans, meanwhile, must curse their twin presence for the next decade; that’s how quickly they ruined what Bill Snyder had built.

Callahan, forced to work with the chopped ham of Zac Taylor and Ganz, who often performed like the delectable pieces of Spanish jamon, didn’t get the Princely opportunity to sacrifice a whole team for one man.

But he did make sure Lucky got rushed through the system, Potter received dubious coaching from a recruiting mercenary, Andre Jones disappeared into the ether and Matt Slauson, who was selected this year, wasted 2007 at his “Chipotle” weight, far above where he belonged.

You may counter: Isn’t Ndamukong Suh headed for a first-day pick in 2010? Sure. Did Callahan recruit him? Yep. Callahan also left behind guys like Keith Williams, Mike McNeill, Eric Hagg, Roy Helu and Jacob Hickman. I forsee all of them being drafted in the next two years.

But Callahan hardly developed those guys. Indeed, Suh was backsliding in his last year under Kevin Cosgrove. Their draft positions will be small credit to Callahan recruiting them, and large credit to Pelini, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson (who, to be fair, is a Callahan disciple) and position coaches developing them.

Finally, coaches told Nebraska players why they were doing something. Coaches corrected mistakes on the field, instead of in a film session. Finally, players were treated like the kids they still remain, instead of cogs in a wheel. Finally, they developed the down-in, down-out technique that makes good NFL players.

You know, it’s interesting. ESPN’s Tim Griffin reviewed the NFL Draft picks of each Big 12 team since the inception of the league and NU, unbelievably, remains on top in terms of number of players drafted (59 in all), and the relative quality of those players. Although Oklahoma and Texas have dominated the Big 12 over the last seven years, Nebraska is close to both programs when it comes to players selected in the first three rounds of the draft.

It’s now been two years since any Husker was picked in the first four rounds.

Since Callahan took over in 2004, just one of his scholarship recruits, Brandon Jackson, was drafted in the top three rounds. And Jackson left NU after his junior season in 2006, with the legitimate concern that, if he returned, he would have been buried on the depth chart like he had been the beginning of that year, when he was fourth. Behind a guy named Cody Glenn. Who, one year later, was fourth on the depth chart.

You figure it out.

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – The bruises from a physical football game were only starting to hurt for Josh Freeman. So was the pain from his team officially missing out on a bowl game.


The Kansas State quarterback spent much of Saturday afternoon on the turf during the Wildcats’ 56-28 loss to Nebraska. He was sacked a season-high four times and abused plenty more by the Husker defensive line.

By the third quarter, those hits had taken their toll.

With NU leading 35-14 and six minutes remaining in the third period, sophomore quarterback Carson Coffman replaced Freeman in the game.

“Coach (Ron Prince) made a perfectly reasonable decision putting Carson in and Carson played well,” Freeman said. “Ultimately, I’d say the most disdain was from the score and losing, not from being on the sideline.”

Prince and Freeman wouldn’t say why, specifically. NU defensive lineman Zach Potter said Freeman told him after the game he might have suffered a concussion.

“Josh wasn’t his normal self,” Prince said. “He wasn’t doing some of the things that we expect him to be able to do, for whatever reason. I pulled him out of the game for his own benefit and safety, perhaps, even.”


Freeman – a junior who is widely considered to be a solid NFL prospect – wrapped up his afternoon with a season-low in pass attempts (18), pass completions (7) and aerial yards (114). He accounted for just one of the four Wildcat touchdowns, completing a 63-yard bomb to wide receiver Ernie Pierce to tie the game at 14 early in the second quarter.

Pierce said Freeman played up to his normal high level for the most part. Sure, NU’s defensive line put more pressure on him than other teams had, but not enough to justify his removal.

But the hits the team captain was taking did.

“He took a shot and you could just see there was a little something off with him,” Pierce said. “It’s just unfortunate for anyone to take a shot like that, really.”

NU’s Potter was flagged for one in the second quarter, when he crunched helmets with Freeman. The quarterback took another blow when he was spun down by Nebraska safety Rickey Thenarse for a 14-yard loss during K-State’s first second-half possession.

Coffman finished the game 5-of-8 passing for 74 yards and a rushing score. On his first drive, the sophomore guided KSU 92 yards to bring the team to within 35-21.

Of course, the youngster was happy to get on the field. But watching his best friend struggle was ro

“When you’re getting negative plays and things aren’t working smoothly, it’s pretty easy to get frustrated,” Coffman said. “He’s a competitor and he wants to win real bad so I think that’s just the competitor coming out in him.”


When Freeman was out of the game, he spent much of the time by himself on the sideline or visiting with coaches on a headset.

Since reneging on a verbal commitment to play for Nebraska three years ago, the Kansas City native has struggled in starts against the Huskers. After falling to 0-3 in those matchups – during which time his team has been outscored 150-62 – Freeman said he never put extra pressure on himself to play well against NU.

With only next week’s season finale against Iowa State to prepare for, Freeman said he planned on following Prince’s advice about being professional to end the year. After that, he said, who knows.

One thing the quarterback was sure of: there’s plenty of disappointment in losing big again to a division rival.


“I’m always comfortable in the pocket when there’s a pocket,” Freeman said. “We understood that Nebraska had a physically gifted defensive line and they were able to generate a good pass rush.”

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MANHATTAN, Kan – Sometimes the reaction to a question is more telling than the answer.


So when Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz was asked to reflect on the fact that, for the second straight year, he had badly outplayed Kansas State’s Josh Freeman – the kid who, had he stayed committed to NU, would likely have been starting for the last two seasons – he offered a congenial, thoughtful answer.

“Josh is a good kid,” Ganz said. “We talked after the game. You never wish bad on anyone but as a competitor you want to out-play every quarterback you play against.”

But Ganz’s split-second look just after the question said something just a little different: Hell yes, it was satisfying.

Saturday was another lesson in college football. Plain as day, this lesson, although it takes us awhile to learn it.

It’s not always about the arm, the stature, the presence in the pocket. It’s not always about the concept of “mobility.” It’s not always about which guy can run a seven-yard quarterback draw and take three hits.

Usually it’s about savvy, smarts, pluck and toughness. It’s about knowing how avoid the big hit without bailing out of the pocket and running around like a fool ten yards behind the line of scrimmage. It’s about being able to scamper and scramble instead of loping in big strides. It’s about gaining your teammates’ trust in practice instead of letting your coach put it on them for you. It’s about throwing ball on rhythm every century or so.

It’s about being Ganz, and not Freeman. It’s about Nebraska 56, Kansas State 28.

“That’s one bad football team there,” a colleague said of the Wildcats as we waited outside a ridiculously pointless media tent that was big enough for your mom and three of her friends. And it was sorta true. KSU is painfully small all over the field. Their players were beaten up by Nebraska, the evidence of which was found in the number of Cats writhing around on the turf in the second half. I’m pretty sure Quentin Castille will appear in the nightmares of four or five defenders tonight, and he only carried the ball six times.

But here’s the thing: Kansas State made some plays. The effort was there. The defensive scheme was aggressive. The Cats were right there at the beginning of the second quarter, tied up and fired up. A fumbled punt hurt their cause, yes. But Ganz hurt it a lot more.

Over and over, Ganz deftly operated the zone read, checked out of bad plays, and into good option runs. He finally seemed to have it click, and he pitched the ball on rhythm to three different running backs.

“Ever since he got in there, we knew what he could do with his feet,” senior offensive guard Matt Slauson said. “It’s not surprising at all.”

Ganz even cut a speed option play up field, Crouch-style, once. OK, it was a so-so impression of Crouch, but that’ll do, given Ganz’s impressive passing skills.

After an early interception, Ganz was deadly. He was patient while he waited for receivers to pop open, and accurate on all the sideline routes that give any quarterback trouble. When he needed to throw on rhythm, as he did to Nate Swift on two key plays in the third quarter, he connected. When he needed to bust tail for a first down marker, he busted. To the tune of 365 total yards, the old fashioned way: 270 throwing and 95 passing. Ganz will look back on this game with more satisfaction, I’ll bet, than just about any other.

And Freeman? Oh, Freeman.

Who was that guy today? Who is that guy, anyway? Can anybody figure out the most confounding bundle of something this side of Rex Grossman? Does he not know he’s under pursuit in games? Does he think he can outrun those pursuers by running backwards slowly? Was that display the effects of a concussion, or just Josh having a bad Josh day? Kansas State wouldn’t even specifically say why Freeman was pulled in the third quarter, then spent the rest of game standing there, with headsets on, watching Chase Coffman’s brother run the offense with a little snap to it.

“He wasn’t his normal self for whatever reason and because of that I pulled him out of the game,” lame duck KSU Coach Ron Prince said. “We’ll have to have an evaluation to see what’s going on.”

Freeman made one good play in the whole game – an impressive strike to Ernie Pierce for a 63-yard touchdown. Everything else was a borderline disaster. Watching Freeman play Saturday was to witness a guy so insecure in his protection, so unsure of his receivers’ routes, that he seemingly closed his eyes and just winged it.

Is that why Pierce said the team felt more comfortable with Coffman during the week? Have the Cats lost belief in him? The team seemed to, yes. Prince, too. And when your No. 1 defender bails midway through the third quarter of his second-to-last game, well it ought to say something.

And just to think: Freeman could have been putting Nebraska fans through this emotional wringer.

Thankfully, Husker fans get Ganz, a kid who carries more responsibility for his team than he’s willing to admit – Nebraska’s running backs still make some…interesting choices on running plays – and does it with confidence, humility, and just a little grace. He has a knack for the college position, a cleverness. He throws bad interceptions for touchdown and makes the occasional bonehead plays, but Saturday was a hallmark of what doesn’t do: Quit.

“It was a bad throw and it was a bad mistake,” Ganz said, “but I didn’t want it to hurt us down the road so I pretty much forgot about it.”

Et tu, Josh Freeman?

Be glad NU fans don’t have to wait for that answer.

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It’s been ten years – almost to the day - since The Sign. Since the “losers turn here” placard some Kansas State fan placed at the “turn” in Marysville, Kan., as the Nebraska football team headed for home after a 40-30 loss. Since the uncalled facemask penalty so awful that it seemed like a magic trick. Since old, officially impartial men wept in the Kansas State press box. Since KSU celebrated its greatest win in history by tearing down the goalposts and parading them through Aggieville in Manhattan.




Nov. 14, 1998. A dark, dramatic day for Husker fans. A joyous night for Every Man A Wildcat. It looked like a stone cold lock for a blood rivalry. NU didn’t like KSU. KSU didn’t like NU. And both teams were good enough – and similar enough – to make this thing a good ten-year prairie war. I recall a guy on my dorm floor, storming up and down the halls that night, threatening to kill Travis Ochs if he ever met him in person.




What happened in the last decade?




Kansas State fans watched legend Bill Snyder retire. Nebraska fired two coaches. KSU fired one of its own. Missouri and Kansas decided to stop dithering around and get with the times. And Oklahoma put the wheels back on its formidable schooner. Mostly, NU got a little behind the curve and Kansas State found itself where it remains still: scrapping for four-year talent, relying too heavily on small, inexperienced junior college players with bad habits to break.




So no, it’s not the same. Even with Nebraska’s 73-31 win last year, in which then-coach Bill Callahan turned into a mercenary and intended to show a disapproving Memorial Stadium just how lethal his system could be, it isn’t the same.




And yet, this game has a feeling to it. It’s in the late afternoon, in that little pit of a stadium – now named after Snyder - where Nebraska’s won just once in the last five tries. The line in Las Vegas is conspicuously low. NU’s qualified for a bowl game, but wants more. KSU still thinks it can qualify for one by playing for its pride, its seniors and its deposed coach, Ron Prince.




“You’re playing a desperate football team,” Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini said. “You’re playing someone with nothing to lose. We’re gonna get their best shot. I promise you. I know that. The team knows that.”




On with the keys.




Always Be Closing: In the world of Glengarry Glen Ross, coffee was for closers. So, too, should it be when it comes to bowl games. While Nebraska has already qualified for a bowl game, the Insight Bowl, stuck on the NFL Network against some low-grade Big East team is no prize. The Gator Bowl, with its New Year’s Day pedigree, looms. The Sun Bowl, which enjoys a good history and happens to be near the great football teams of West Texas, looms too.




As promising as win over Kansas might have been, a strong follow-up on the road might be even better. And if Colorado gives Oklahoma State fits this weekend (and we think it might) it would set up a pretty terrific showdown two weeks from now, the day after Thanksgiving.




“We need to go out there and make a statement,” NU defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. “We’re not done. Although their team is in tough situation, we’re not going to lay off. We’re going to put our foot on the pedal and go.”




The Specials: It’s a factor again this week, as Nebraska faces a coach and a team as committed to excellence in the third phase as Virginia Tech. The Wildcats haven’t enjoyed the same success this year as the Hokies – KSU is merely average in a lot of the return categories – but their kicker, Brooks Rossman, is serviceable and Deon Murphy is a dangerous returner. While Nebraska’s punt coverage has generally been good, NU has struggled, at times, against speedy kick returners. It’s important that kickoff specialist Adi Kunalic have a good game against a team looking for energy from the special teams unit.




“There’s a heightened awareness of how well they’ve done,” said defensive ends coach John Papuchis, who works closely with the special teams units. “They’re good, on all their units. They make big plays…they execute well, but they’re very fundamentally sound. Everything they do is technique based, and they do it well.”




Prince of the JUCOs: It’s well known that Kansas State left the fate of its awful defense in 2007 in the hands of junior college transfer linebackers in 2008. The results have been even uglier, in fact; most teams can run on Kansas State’s 110th-ranked defense at will. While KSU has a decent secondary, its linebackers just aren’t big enough to handle 60 minutes of punishment from offensive linemen. Laterally, they’re not bad. But if Nebraska plows right at them?




“From the games I’ve seen, Kansas and Oklahoma, it was the backs hitting the holes hard and their offensive lines blocking well and (the running backs) making people miss,” sophomore back Roy Helu, Jr. said. “(The Wildcats) are fast though, so you have to get them going one way and split them the other.”




Freeman Factor: Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman might always be a sore subject with some Husker fans – especially if KSU were to upset NU’s apple cart this weekend. The immensely gifted, slightly aloof giant – he’s six-foot-six and, by the looks of it, well north of the 250 pounds at which he’s listed - gets a bit of a bad rap – from NU fans, and Wildcat fans – for his play; he has no running game to support his rocket arm, and when he overthrows receivers, it’s good to remember that two of them, Deon Murphy and Brandon Banks, are about as tall as your average eighth-grader. Aubrey Quarles isn’t much bigger.




Freeman is no Joe Ganz; you wonder if the kid makes a joke, or even knows how. For two years he’d sit quietly on the bench, talking to almost no one, when the offense wasn’t on the field. He’s graduated to standing on the sidelines, talking to almost no one. If Freeman is a team leader, he’s not a conventional one.




Still, Freeman shows flashes of what caught Bill Callahan’s eyes three years ago. Same stuff catches Pelini’s eye now.




“When he’s hot, he’s pretty good and he’s hot most of the time,” Pelini said. “He’s a good football player. I think he runs the offense well and makes good decisions. He’s got the arm strength to make any throw.”




Freeman’s got just enough mobility, too. Coupled with his size, he makes a tough load to bring down in the open field – although NU did a good job of it in 2007, sacking him six times.




“We’ve faced a lot of mobile quarterbacks this year,” Papuchis said. “He just happens to be a little bigger than some of them…you have to make sure you wrap up and tackle him high.”




A Bolt from the Purple: Last year in Lincoln, some fans held out hope that Nebraska might beat Kansas State in a close game. But no one expected 73-31. No one imagined that NU, having limped through the season, had a performance like that in it – especially from a moribund, unmotivated defense that harassed Freeman all day and forced two interceptions. And no one imagined that Nebraska’s offense, and Ganz, would have a game for the record books. Ganz’s great game - 510 yards and seven touchdowns – was inconceivable. But it happened.




“It was just one of those days where everything came together,” Ganz said. “The play calls we’re perfect for the defenses that they were going to give us. Guys executed well. The protection was amazing. I don’t think we had one drop.”




It provides a lesson for this Saturday. KSU hasn’t played anything near its best game this year. It may not, either, given the turmoil in Manhattan. But NU ought to be prepared for the possibility.


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