LAWRENCE, Kan. - Clutch.

Were those words you ever thought you'd use about Zac Lee? Figured he'd slip into the background, interview requests dwindling down to a trickle, while Nebraska's football team – for better or worse – hitched its wagon to the phenom, Cody Green?

Yep. Me too.

“That's just not who I am,” Lee said after Saturday's 31-17 win over Kansas. “I've got personal goals along with team goals. I plan on accomplishing all of them.”

Two weeks ago, when Green looked sharp, tough and athletic in the first half against Baylor, I would have bet two weeks' salary on, barring injury, a long, cold, permanent seat on the bench for Lee.

But then Green threw the Pick Six. Then Green fumbled. Then Lee hustled back in for a 10-3 win over Oklahoma. And now this, easily his best game of the year under the difficult circumstances – on the road, in a tight one – with 249 total yards and a handful of big scrambles and deep throws.

“Considering the last six weeks,” Lee said. “It feels good.”

It looked pretty damn good, too. Good reads. Good control of the game. Only a couple bad passes, easily outweighed by several good scrambles.

Sorry, grinches who give the high hat. If you want hand-wringing and lukewarm water, I'm sure you can find it somewhere today, tomorrow and next week. We're in the stretch run, looking for some glimmer of momentum on a drive to Dallas, and Lee's play was more than a glimmer.

No, Lee wasn't perfect. Yes, Roy Helu bailed him out by recovering a goal-line fumble. And yes, KU committed some dumb penalties.

But, for the last month, the quarterback position was a grease fire waiting to happen. NU won despite Lee or Green. Last week's game vs. Oklahoma was almost an admission of guilt on the Huskers' part. On a Saturday when Kansas played hard and smart for three-and-a-half quarters, Lee needed to be part of the solution from the opening play.

Shawn Watson made sure of it.

Oh, don't kid yourself: The game's first call was the offensive coordinator's shot across the bow of his critics, and a needed injection of belief in his own kids. Receiver Niles Paul wasn't supposed to run a go route, but when KU's corner crept up to meet him, Paul went looking for the home run. And Lee found him for a 35-yard gain.

“We knew it was going to be there,” Watson said. “We wanted to send a statement. I wanted to send a statement to the kids because I talked about it all week: This is how we're made.”

NU can live with this offense. The red zone still needs to be hashed out, and the offensive line has to stop killing its own cause with backside personal fouls for poorly-executed cut blocks. But Watson, between the 20s, delivered balance. He called playaction passes at the right time. He coached Lee into scrambling when the time was right. He tinkered with his power game – a nod to Tom Osborne's influence, perhaps? - using an offset I-formation, a student body toss play and, most crucially, a lead blocker away from the line of scrimmage. Tyler Legate – and, once, tight end Ryan Hill – made one big edge block after another. When Helu busted those plays along the sideline throughout the game, it was Legate and/or the tight end springing it free. That's a nice power touch, and, wherever came from, it shows Watson's willingness to alter plays to make them fit his personnel.

Lee made Watson's life easier by, once again, hitting the deep ball – that's the best thing Lee does – and managing the short throws with more accuracy than he's had since Arkansas State. And, of course, the scrambles. The run element we all thought we'd get from Lee, but haven't – until now.

“What happens to a quarterback, is that they say, all of the sudden, 'OK, now I'm the starter, I got to be a passer,” Watson said. “And one of the attractive things about Zac is his ability to run. We've had a heart-to-heart about that, to pull the ball down and go with it. That's an attribute he brings to the table. He can hurt a defense.”

Lee gave a shrug, essentially, to his newfound running game. The kid is not prone, unlike Green, to explaining every intricacy of his game. That's not a problem, really; the problem was Lee's similar indecision on the field.

Not Saturday. Generally, he checked into the right play. He stood confidently in the pocket. He still runs like he wants it over with, but he ran with a little more force than he did earlier this year. He broke a tackle or two. It's not Jammal Lord – but it's improvement.

Should Green have played Saturday? In a word – yes. On the game's second drive, frankly, after NU had scored a touchdown. Green had done nothing drastic, really, to lose the job. It's like he never won it. Maybe Lee never lost it, either. So the world turns. If Lee's going to play like he did Saturday, then Green's not getting in whether he'd like to or not.

For this one day, Lee sat in front of the media, looked them hard in the eye, and talked like a confident leader. Not grateful for the defense. Not confused for himself. Not in a blue mood.

Was it his best game, he was asked.

“Yeah, probably,” Lee said.

Then he corrected himself.

“For sure.”

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