LINCOLN, Neb.—To the rest of the Big 12, Joe Ganz is just another guy.
To Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, he’s the rock on which Pelini’s started to rebuild the Cornhuskers’ program.
Pelini has reserved judgment on most aspects of the project he’s taken on at Nebraska, but he has been unabashed in his praise of Ganz.
Pelini heaped more on Ganz after the fifth-year senior led the Huskers to a 45-35 victory over Kansas on a bum right leg.
“I think he’s flown under the radar some,” Pelini said Monday. “He hasn’t gotten all the credit he deserves. The people who watch him week after week, it’s pretty obvious he’s a heck of a player and he can hold his own against any quarterback in this conference.”
While Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell, Texas’ Colt McCoy and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, among others, have commanded most of the attention in a league brimming with quarterback talent, Ganz has been more than just a steady hand for the Huskers (6-4, 3-3 Big 12).
Ganz’s 283 yards passing a game ranks 11th in the nation, but just fifth in the Big 12, and he’s on track to become the Huskers’ all-time single-season passing leader. With two regular-season games and a bowl still to play, he’s within 364 yards of Zac Taylor’s 3,197 yards in 2006.
Ganz is completing 69 percent of his passes and has thrown for 300 yards or more in four of the last five games.
“Nothing Joe Ganz does surprises me,” Pelini said. “The guy is a competitor to the nth degree. He plays from the heart; he’s a leader. That’s just who he is every single day, and it’s who he’s going to be 20 years from how.”
There have been low points this season. Ganz threw a couple bad interceptions in losses to Virginia Tech and Missouri, and an interception in overtime ended the Huskers’ upset bid at Texas Tech. And he was picked off on two of his first three series at Oklahoma, one on a ball tipped by I-back Marlon Lucky.
But Ganz was at his gritty best while he was ailing against Kansas. His knee was twisted on a sack, and a defender’s helmet banged Ganz’s right Achilles’ tendon. Yet he completed 28 of 37 passes for 324 yards, with two of his three touchdown passes coming in the fourth quarter.
Though Ganz was limping noticeably from the second quarter on, Pelini knew he wouldn’t get Ganz off the field.
“Only if I wanted to fight him on the sideline,” Pelini said. “He would have fought me before he would have left.”
A smiling Pelini paused. “I would have won.”
Said Ganz: “I don’t think so. I’ve got about 113 other guys on my side.”
One of those guys is receiver Nate Swift, who said Ganz has grown in confidence since the start of the season. Swift credits the evolution of the short passing game and Ganz’s reluctance to flee the pocket.
“He’s able to stay in there more and hit his second and third read and go through his progression,” Swift said. “I’d say that the main thing with him is getting more confidence to stick in pocket and not have to run and scramble all the time.”
In 13 career starts, Ganz has thrown for 4,232 yards and 34 touchdowns and helped Nebraska average better than 38 points a game.
He’s had eight 300-yard passing games, five more than Taylor had in 26 career starts. Ganz also owns three of the five 400-yard games in program history, including 510 yards against Kansas State last year.
Pelini’s priority when he took the Nebraska job was to revamp a defense that was among the nation’s worst last year. He said it helps having Ganz lead an offense that averages 448 yards and 34 points a game.
“He’s made play after play all year,” Pelini said. “We’re real fortunate to have him.”
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