Last Stand for Seniors: Five Keys to Kansas State

KSU had talent in Freeman, Nelson, but plays sloppy, too

So tomorrow's Senior Day at Memorial Stadium, the final home game for many Nebraska football players. Last time through the Tunnel Walk, signing autographs outside the home locker room, all that. Usually good times and warm applause, even on those afternoons in 1991 and 1996, when the weather is a combination of sleet and wind.

The 2007 seniors will also get a verbal hug from that Sea of Red on Saturday. For their effort and the hours, they deserve it; those final roars are the Huskers' gold watches, so to speak.

But don't be surprised if a few fans sit on their hands, and a few more sneer.

Fairly or not, these seniors might be remembered as the failed "class" of Coach Bill Callahan's tenure. Even if many of them started their NU careers with Frank Solich, they had a presidential term with Callahan, emerging as the worst team any Husker fan under 45 can remember.

That's what happens when the aroma of poor leadership wafts through the fan message boards like that of burnt toast. When a senior-led defense falls flat on its face. When all three of the senior captains miss significant time during the season because of injuries. When there's no Zac Taylor or Adam Carriker in the bunch. When one of the most visible seniors, linebacker Corey McKeon, gives one self-pitying (albeit honest) press conference, then promptly disappears.

Callahan thanked his seniors in his Tuesday press conference but only mentioned three by name: Linebackers Lance Brandenburgh and Bo Ruud and safety Ben Eisenhart.

Too bad cornerback Cortney Grixby and quarterback Sam Keller didn't get a nod from the coach, too. Both gave maximum effort, and played key roles in Nebraska's few victories. Grixby more or less secured victory with his two interceptions and key pass deflection against Iowa State, while Keller's two-minute heroics won the Wake Forest and Ball State contests.

Senior Days in football, like Homecoming football games, aren't quite what they used to be. There's no war for the "boys" to head off to after one final scrum, few careers in the family business, and rarely a best girl awaiting late spring, post-graduation nuptials. The pageantry of it, and the poetry, has mostly left the building, unless you're Peyton Manning leading the Tennessee band. Football's such a business, and often a joyless, angry pursuit of victory, that it's easy to forget: While this is a home the players can always visit - thanks to Tom Osborne - they can never really "return" to it again. This is it.

If you can't clap for the players - and you should - clap for that: A part of youth many of us wish we had, permanently gone for those who did.

On to the five keys for this Kansas State game:

Heat:KSU's 3-4 defense, like most 3-4 defenses, must attack to survive. The Wildcats are small, fast and fired up. They feed off their big-talking coach, Ron Prince, as well as turnovers and momentum. It's the one group that really frustrated Kansas' offense and KU quarterback Todd Reesing.

The safest bet you could make for Saturday is that Kansas State will try to knock Joe Ganz's head off. Ganz is a gamer, so he's not going to back down. But don't expect the Wildcats to sit in a soft zone and try, as Kansas did, to bait Ganz into errors; while KU eventually got its interceptions, it wasn't until Nebraska had lit up the Jayhawks for 31 legitimate points.

Instead, watch for stunts, crashes, blitzes and all other manners of distraction and destruction. Kansas State's defense has been good against the run, so don't be surprised if the Wildcats put seven in the box and present NU with the opportunity to pound the ball. Will Nebraska take it, or will Callahan and Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson try to exploit KSU's smallish secondary?

One thing to consider: Callahan knows this is probably his last game in Memorial Stadium. If you were in his shoes, at the end of a dreadful season and a failed mission, would you play this game close to the vest?

Josh Freeman:The good-looking, personable kid who spurned Nebraska for Prince and Kansas State isn't quite the Donovan McNabb Husker fans dreamed/feared he would be, and he comes into Saturday much like Ganz: He could win the game or lose it. He's both terrific on the run and susceptible against pressure. He's mobile, yet he gets less of out of his feet than he should.

He's been incredible with 404 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against Oklahoma State. And average with two costly picks against Iowa State.

Freeman is the kind of guy coaches love -Callahan said he could declare for the NFL Draft after his junior season - and fans learn to live with.

"He's got a bazooka for an arm," Callahan said. "It's pure, it's clean, it comes out fast and hard. It's a tight, tight spin on the ball. And it's accurate. That's what everyone is looking for. You can his maturation within the system."

That system - Prince's system - involves a lot of cutback running plays that also allow for outside lanes, shotgun sets that protect Freeman to give him time to look over the top of a defense, and trick plays. It's not nearly as multiple as a spread offense, and it's probably the weakest attack Nebraska has faced since Iowa State.

Jordy and Mo:Buried in Ganz's Tuesday press conference was a single line that's pretty telling about No. 12.

"Maurice is my main target..."

Finally. Finally. Finally.

Purify (40 catches, 570 yards and six touchdowns) is the most talented Nebraska receiver since tight end Johnny Mitchell. His out against Kansas and cornerback Aqib Talib will be noted by NFL scouts, I assure you. And if Sam Keller had remained at quarterback, who's to say whether Purify would have had the chance to make those catches.

The best thing about Ganz is that he wants to make plays, and he appreciates guys who do as well. And Purify clearly likes Ganz and a style that was less about dissecting a defense and more about playmaking.

“We did a lot of different things with Joe in there, than when Sam was in there," Purify said. "We threw downfield more instead the short slants and outs. I think we had a whole different play scheme when Joe was in there.”

The other guy who burned KU for a long touchdown? That'd be KSU receiver Jordy Nelson.

Prince's offense makes no bones about it: Freeman must get the ball to Nelson, who's caught 90 passes for 1,222 yards. Nelson will get two or three deep looks a game, regardless of the coverage. He's also terrific getting off press coverage. Slants, outs, screens...Nelson is, in many ways, the team's workhorse.

The Third Phase:Special teams, that is. Here's where Kansas State makes its hay. The Wildcats are one of the great punt return teams in the country, having returned three of them for touchdowns. Pretty good in kickoff returns, too. Good net punt average. Kicker Brooks Rossman has made 19-of-25 field goal attempts. The kicking game is largely about hustle and intensity, which KSU has in spades.

Nebraska? The Huskers, over the last four years, are more or less the worst return team in Big 12. NU's improved in kickoff returns this year, but it is averaging an anemic 5.7 yards per punt return for, get this, 77 yards all season. You read that right. Kansas State eclipsed that on a single punt return. One of the great failures of Callahan's tenure is NU's sheer inability to flip the field.

That said, Nebraska has very good kick coverage teams. Or did until Kansas, which took a couple of freshman Adi Kunalic's line-drive kicks out of the end zone for big returns.

Kunalic has a unique skill: He boots a ball off a tee farther and more consistently than just about anybody not playing in the mountains. But that's it. He can't directional kick. He can't pop one up. Against KU, he couldn't execute a squib. He also, Callahan said, tried too hard after one of kicks was caught by Marcus Herford in the end zone and returned to midfield.

"He really got competitive and tried to kick it out again and he kind of line-drived it," Callahan said. "So I just told him to relax. You've got to trust your coverage. You're not going to be able to kick every one of the ballpark. We want to be able to put the ball up. We want the hang time to let the coverage get down and let the net get down and make a play."

For most teams, Kunalic's 23 touchbacks would be a godsend. For the Huskers, whose defense is a sieve for 80 yards as much as it is for 50, they unfortunately don't matter much. But Kunalic's warning track boots are a kick returner's dream. Herford had 35 yards of green before he even hit NU defenders, who didn't have time to break down, shed blocks and try to make tackles. This could make for an intriguing subplot Saturday.

Intangibles:Some teams reflect their coach. Kansas State fits that bill.

Prince is competitive guy who gets a lot of out of a little. Ditto for the Wildcats. Prince is a bit of a hothead. Ditto the Wildcats.

Kansas State does just about everything at 100 miles an hour - until it gets to the red zone, anyway - but it is sloppy, too. Try 18 fumbles, although only seven have been lost. Try 76 yards in penalties per game. The Wildcats have fallen apart on the road against Auburn and Iowa State, suffering from brain cramps as much as anything else. KSU blew its game against Kansas by failing to translate turnovers into touchdowns.

In other words, this is a team that might cut the Huskers a couple breaks. Nebraska will take whatever it can get.

Email Samuel McKewon at sam@ne.statepaper.com

 

Dining Guide

• Lincoln
• Omaha
• Greater NE

Calendar

• Lincoln
• Omaha
• Greater NE