Taylor struggles against Jayhawks
Saturday’s 39-32 win over Kansas was one of Nebraska’s strangest games.
It was also arguably senior quarterback Zac Taylor’s strangest, too, as the usually steady signal caller had his most inconsistent game as a Husker.
Taylor did throw for 395 yards and four touchdowns, but NU head coach Bill Callahan said Taylor wasn’t at his best.
“I think he could have played better,” Callahan said. “I think we all could have played better.”
In the first four games of the season, Taylor completed 70.8 percent of his passes and was ranked third nationally in passing efficiency.
Against the Jayhawks, Taylor completed only 45 percent of his passes and connected on only 9 of 23 after the first quarter.
The Jayhawks did do a decent job applying pressure on Taylor, but the senior captain said it was his fault that the passing game was inconsistent.
“It was kind of stuff I was doing to myself,” Taylor said. “They were playing solid defense, but it wasn’t anything we didn’t expect. There were plays I was just missing and throwing to the wrong parts of the field.”
Even though Taylor had his lowest completion percentage of the year, he still set some career highs.
Before Saturday, Taylor’s longest career completion was 73 yards.
Against Kansas, Taylor threw three passes over 75 yards, all touchdowns.
The first came on the second play of the game when Taylor connected with junior Terrence Nunn for a 75-yard score.
The career-best didn’t last long. Taylor completed a 78-yard touchdown pass to junior Frantz Hardy right after Kansas fumbled deep in Nebraska territory midway through the second quarter.
Things were going well for Taylor early on as the Huskers lead 24-10 at halftime.
But the third quarter was a struggle for Taylor. He was unable to get the chains moving for the Huskers and completed only 1 of 7 passes in the third quarter.
But after Kansas scored 15 unanswered points to take a 25-24 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Taylor found his rhythm again.
After getting sacked and fumbling a snap early on in the drive, Taylor came through on third-and-long and completed a 75-yard TD pass to Hardy.
Taylor said Hardy did most of the work.
“I just wanted to throw it up and let Frantz make a play,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t a great throw on my part. I just threw it up and left it up to him.”
On the two-point conversion, Taylor hit sophomore Nate Swift, who fought his way into the end zone to put the Huskers ahead by a touchdown.
On the second play in overtime, Taylor again found Swift on a 21-yard strike that set up Cody Glenn’s game-winning, 1-yard touchdown run.
As exhausting and frustrating of a game as it was for Taylor and the Huskers, Taylor said the style of the win is not a concern.
“It’s a cause of celebration,” Taylor said. “We are 1-0 in conference play. If we would have won by 60 or one, it’s all the same at this point.”
It was also arguably senior quarterback Zac Taylor’s strangest, too, as the usually steady signal caller had his most inconsistent game as a Husker.
Taylor did throw for 395 yards and four touchdowns, but NU head coach Bill Callahan said Taylor wasn’t at his best.
“I think he could have played better,” Callahan said. “I think we all could have played better.”
In the first four games of the season, Taylor completed 70.8 percent of his passes and was ranked third nationally in passing efficiency.
Against the Jayhawks, Taylor completed only 45 percent of his passes and connected on only 9 of 23 after the first quarter.
The Jayhawks did do a decent job applying pressure on Taylor, but the senior captain said it was his fault that the passing game was inconsistent.
“It was kind of stuff I was doing to myself,” Taylor said. “They were playing solid defense, but it wasn’t anything we didn’t expect. There were plays I was just missing and throwing to the wrong parts of the field.”
Even though Taylor had his lowest completion percentage of the year, he still set some career highs.
Before Saturday, Taylor’s longest career completion was 73 yards.
Against Kansas, Taylor threw three passes over 75 yards, all touchdowns.
The first came on the second play of the game when Taylor connected with junior Terrence Nunn for a 75-yard score.
The career-best didn’t last long. Taylor completed a 78-yard touchdown pass to junior Frantz Hardy right after Kansas fumbled deep in Nebraska territory midway through the second quarter.
Things were going well for Taylor early on as the Huskers lead 24-10 at halftime.
But the third quarter was a struggle for Taylor. He was unable to get the chains moving for the Huskers and completed only 1 of 7 passes in the third quarter.
But after Kansas scored 15 unanswered points to take a 25-24 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Taylor found his rhythm again.
After getting sacked and fumbling a snap early on in the drive, Taylor came through on third-and-long and completed a 75-yard TD pass to Hardy.
Taylor said Hardy did most of the work.
“I just wanted to throw it up and let Frantz make a play,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t a great throw on my part. I just threw it up and left it up to him.”
On the two-point conversion, Taylor hit sophomore Nate Swift, who fought his way into the end zone to put the Huskers ahead by a touchdown.
On the second play in overtime, Taylor again found Swift on a 21-yard strike that set up Cody Glenn’s game-winning, 1-yard touchdown run.
As exhausting and frustrating of a game as it was for Taylor and the Huskers, Taylor said the style of the win is not a concern.
“It’s a cause of celebration,” Taylor said. “We are 1-0 in conference play. If we would have won by 60 or one, it’s all the same at this point.”
Copyright © 2002-2008 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.