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TwitterZac Lee
Age: 22
Class: Junior
Height, weight: 6-2, 215
Hometown: San Francisco
2009 stats
Passing: 98-of-160 (61.2 percent), 1,213 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Rushing: 37 rushes for 68 yards and no touchdowns.
Strengths
Lee still has a strong arm, though he's not shown it lately, and good mobility. He also has the experience and moxie to rebound from a bad situation. He knows the NU offense and has worked with the veteran offensive players since 2007.
Weaknesses
Confidence looks like an issue after back-to-back poor outings. His running ability, as the Huskers use him, does not pose a major threat. And Lee's apparent unwillingness to make a mistake has affected his big-play ability and turned the NU offense into a predictable unit.
He might start if
The Huskers refuse to present the image of a panicked team, based primarily on one bad game by Lee, and believe that his investment at NU warrants at least another chance to fix the recent problems.
Cody Green
Age: 18
Class: Freshman
Height, weight: 6-4, 220
Hometown: Dayton, Texas
2009 stats
Passing: 19-of-33 (57.6 percent) 185 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Rushing: 10 rushes for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Strengths
Green possesses superior running ability and a live arm. He's shown impressive poise, considering his lack of experience. And Green would figure to provide a spark simply because of the excitement that would accompany the first start by a true freshman NU quarterback since Tommie Frazier in 1992.
Weaknesses
With inexperience comes the tendency to make more mistakes. Green has yet to master the NU offense, and he appears to have some difficulty recognizing coverages. Regardless of his skills, the Huskers would have to simplify some aspects of the offense and expect a few rough moments with Green in control.
He might start if
Nebraska senses the urgency to jolt its offense with a big change, choosing the quarterback with a higher ceiling who could usher in the future sooner than originally expected.
Bo Pelini
Bo Pelini is getting plenty of coaching advice this week about the Nebraska quarterbacks. It started Saturday as fans at Memorial Stadium booed the NU offense and chanted for Cody Green to play as Zac Lee took snaps in the second half.
“Fans can say anything they want,” Pelini said Monday. “When they're under the title of head coach, then they can make the decisions. Until then, I'll make the decisions around here, along with coach (Shawn) Watson and the rest of this coaching staff.
“They can boo me. They can say whatever the heck they want. ... But we're going to do what we feel is necessary to win football games. Period. End of story. I don't get influenced by what the fans, or the media, or what anybody else thinks.
“When they want to come in here and watch the film, and they earn the title, earn the respect of being a head coach, then they can start making decisions. Until then, the buck stops here.”
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11 Comments
Posted by: SDHusker on 10/20/09 @ 9:30 am:
I have to say, I am becoming a little turned off by some of the latest comments by Bo. He may carry the title of head coach, but us fans are a big reason for the success of the team, and his position. The quotes about blackshirts and the buck stops here, I feel are a little disrespectful to the fans and the tradition of Husker football. Understand this Bo, we fans support you and the team but we have expectations for our loyalty. Respect us, our traditions, and the Nebraska culture; we've been around a lot longer and deserve better. Take a lesson from Coach Osborne, handle yourself with class and humility, show a little self discipline and you may see that reflect in your team Head Coach.
Posted by: njhusker on 10/20/09 @ 10:24 am:
SDHusker - I have to disagree with your comments. Bo is the coach, and he owns the decisions. I commend him for not swaying with the winds of public opinion. there's an old adage that everyone's favorite player is the backup quarterback. The QB is an easy target for change when the team is not firing on all cylinders. It's not Lee's fault that the O-Line is not performing well. It's not Lee's fault that the play calling seems schizophrenic and the team doesn't have an identity (where's the running game?) It's not Lee's fault that Niles Paul not only dropped the lateral, but then stood there like an idiot as Tech scooped it up and ran for a touchdown. Yes, he needs to improve his decision making and get rid of the ball sooner, but that can be coached. Cheers for Bo in sticking with his decision, because when he does change, it's the end of Zac's college career.
Posted by: bryfanyskers on 10/20/09 @ 10:32 am:
first of all the fans were booing the referees off the field. the comments about how fans dont influence him i think are accurate and he is right in saying that fans shouldn't influence how the team is run on the field. Tom Osborne didn't ever let the fans influence him. In 1996, nebraska fans booed scott frost off the field because it was that bad of a performance. What did frost do in his nebraska career? Two orange bowl victories with one resulting in a national championship. I'm not saying that this is what will happen, but I'm saying bo is accurate in what he says. As far as the blackshirts, after the performance on Saturday they still don't need to be handed out in my opinion. Obviously they still need a lot of work if their letting a team get 40 and 50 yard plays and then nickel and diming them to get to the end zone. Suh can't do it all on defense. He needs a good supporting cast, such as a secondary that doesn't give up such big plays. It should be a spirited week of practice by Bo and Co. and I expect to see some change vs. Iowa State
Posted by: 1auidofile on 10/20/09 @ 10:33 am:
Coach Bo... Do not be a hardhead. The fans are an important part of NU football. It was primarily their support and belief in you that allowed your return as head coach. don't get me wrong, you deserved the job. That said, we knew that you were strong on defense. Offense is another story. We knew you would work through the issue. Sometimes teams get stuck in one mode. as in, this is our guy, he earned the starting position and that is it we are sticking with him. Some coaches do it differently. They have a quarterback controversy all the time. Steve Spurier, and coach Leach of Texas Tech to name a few. The best QB starts...each week. Call each the qb situation co-starters. One starts in one quarter and the other starts the next. UNless one is going gangbusters... leave him in. Just a thought from a fan that you do not listen to.
Posted by: Hoskins on 10/20/09 @ 10:54 am:
I don't have a problem at all with what Bo is saying... I don't feel disrespected... he's right on the money. Telling like it is, which is what we should want our head coach to do. Bo understands the tradition, culture, and the fan loyalty... but we musn't overstep our bounds. I think you're putting way too much stock in some sort of made-believe power that being a fan has.
"Us fans" ARE NOT a big reasong for the success of the head coach & this team... fans are only a small part. We dont put in the hard work everyday, year around...we're not watching & breaking down film in detail and analyzing strengths and weakness of an opponent every week... there is so much work that we don't even realize that those guys have to do, we can't even wrap our heads around it. We get to sit on our collective asses and throw boos and directions toward the team like we know what the hell is actually going on, when none of us could even begin to understand what it's like to be inside of a program with the stature like Nebraska's.
I don't think there has been any lack of class or humility on Bo's part. If you feel offended by Bo's remarks then maybe you should ******* your high horse of thinking.
Posted by: DCJ on 10/20/09 @ 11:22 am:
HARD FACT FOLKS: Fans (and the media) of a college football team are largely a pain in the coach's BUTT! Think about your job. Think about 85,000 people WATCHING you do your job live and a million watching you on TV. Think about a large contingent of those people BOOING you when you use red paper clips as opposed to blue paper clips. THEN on your worse day of work, think about a room of 50 people asking you STUPID questions with the sole purpose of grabbing a sound bite for all those few that were BOOING. Bo Pellini has done much to restore the proud tradition. There is obviously more to be done. Maybe it is time that US FANS do our part at restoring the coolest tradition Nebraska Football had. We USED TO be known as the greatest fans in college football. Right now we are not acting like anything special.
P.S. Zac & Cody. Some of us know that it takes an awful lot of heart & class to be in the situation you are in. And we are proud of both of you for how you are handling it. Whoever starts.
Posted by: HuskerinTexas on 10/20/09 @ 11:54 am:
Hey, you could be A&M fans right now. I was for Bo when Peterson brougt in Callahan and Cosgrove and I definitely am happier now than I was two years ago. You know what you are getting with Bo, and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to morph into the second coming of TO. It shows how far the program has already come under his leadership that we now boo a team that underperfroms because the expectations are back. He'll never be TO, he'll never be Devaney. Let Bo be Bo. Unless, of course, you would prefer the previous regime to return.
The only things I am disapointed in right now are weak O-Line play and a general lack of discipline, which I didn't expect from a team coached by Bo. It may be that he's still dealing with some of the residue from the Callahan era. I suspect Helu is hurt worse they are letting on - I don't see just abandoning the run when it worked reasonably well against a team like Va Tech - lack of depth at IB is killing us with Helu at 70%.
Posted by: TRUE Husker on 10/20/09 @ 11:54 am:
GO Bo.... More fans are totally behind you than are not. Face it folks, we have some talent issues with maybe one or two glaring exceptions. Bo is only in his second year. His recruits are only Freshmen and Redshirt Freshman. Back off the coaches and the team. If you boo'd, I don't care if you boo'd the coaches, team or refs, it isn't very classy. We sure are not looking like the "best fans in college football".
Posted by: Beav at Gburg on 10/20/09 @ 12:09 pm:
Bo has brought back a passionate attitude with the defense.....no question there. However, a head coach spending most of his time screaming obscenities at, well, eveyone disrupts the offense. These young guys need to be thinking, executing and performing at the highest level. I notice many fans have noticed that Zac Lee is "playing not to make mistakes". Gosh, how could that be? You make a mistake and your head coach goes completely bonkers.....so you try harder NOT TO MAKE A MISTAKE. Dr Tom needs to sit down with Bo again and remind him that he is the Face of Nebraska Football. Bo's intensity is wonderful but the out-of-control temper is not.
Posted by: ABC on 10/20/09 @ 1:13 pm:
DCJ- Great comments! Why do all these arm chair coaches think they know what right? If they are such great football coaches why aren't they coaching major college football for a living!!
Posted by: Rocket on 10/21/09 @ 3:11 pm:
I think Bo has done great in his first 2 years at Nebraska. Football games are decided on the football field not what goes on , on the sideline. Everybody is looking for excuses, and Bo questioning the refs is part of his job. I will take Bo's energy on the sideline over any coach like Bill C. who just stood there.