(Photo Courtesy of Huskers.com)





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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