Keller trying to find way to get untracked
The California kid keeps slipping on his bright-red baseball cap and Nebraska polo shirt.
Sam Keller stands in front of the lights as one of the faces of a program he only began to know a year ago. He tries to be everything to everyone. Keller wants to be great for his teammates, the coaches that gave him a second chance, a Husker Nation that gobbled up No. 9 jerseys.
Keller is struggling like the rest of the Huskers, though. On the field, he wishes he could help the Huskers sustain scoring drives they’ve desperately needed.
In front of the cameras, well, even the toughest guys show they’re hurting once in awhile.
“It’s really, really tough,” Keller said. “Extremely tough.”
Through it all, the senior quarterback keeps talking about “being men,” and backs it up. Keller answers questions in the interview room for five minutes, then says most of the same things again for 10 more minutes in a nearby hallway.
But the losses, the dropped balls and being knocked down are visibly wearing on Keller.
Keller twitches as he works through the timetable of when this season started going sour.
He talks about plays being left on the field, and you sense he’s replaying in his mind a pass thrown behind Terrence Nunn, or what might have been another Sean Hill touchdown pass.
Asked to assess his play, Keller stares at a spot on the floor.
“Not good,” Keller said. “When we don’t win, I never feel like I played good. I feel responsible, and like I’m not doing enough.”
On Saturday in Nebraska’s 36-14 loss to Texas A&M, Keller was 26-for-44 passing for 275 yards. His 59 percent completion percentage was below his season average (62.8), even with I-backs Marlon Lucky and Roy Helu combining for 14 completions.
That’s one of those joys of being quarterback at Nebraska. Throw two interceptions, as Keller did against Wake Forest, Southern California and Oklahoma State, and they call you a gunslinger.
Toss it to an I-back too many times, and armchair quarterbacks say you’re not giving the receivers a chance to get open. Armchair quarterbacks, of course, haven’t been hit by 300-pound linemen as many times as Keller has.
“The pass rush is coming, you can feel it,” Keller said. “We wanted to attack downfield lanes, but if you don’t see it you never force it, you never force it. When you don’t force it you drop it down to (Marlon Lucky) so that’s what I was trying to do — just keep the chains moving. I didn’t want to make any mistakes to hurt our team.”
Like the team, Keller had most of his magical moments early this season. He orchestrated an offense that had 625 yards against Nevada. There was the long scoring drive to end the first half against Wake Forest, a school-record 438 yards passing against Ball State, two touchdown passes against Iowa State.
In the past three games, though, Keller hasn’t completed more than 60 percent of his passes. The long plays have been missing. The interceptions and fumbles have, at times, equaled touchdown passes.
Keller was 11-for-20 passing for 97 yards in the second half against Texas A&M, a half when Nebraska failed to score.
“Sam played really well through three quarters, and then I know he had some throws that he and I would both really like to have back,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said.
That meant some folks will contend that junior quarterback Joe Ganz should have been given a chance. But you can’t show your team you’ve given up, Watson said. You don’t take your leader out of the huddle. Not the one who talks about energy, heart and making football fun again.
Yes, the guy who the Nebraska football paparazzi waited for at an Omaha airport last fall is still trying to be everything to everyone.
“Any incomplete pass I’d like to go back and see if I could have completed it, every single one,” Keller said. “I want to complete every single one.
“That’s my job.”
Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.
Sam Keller stands in front of the lights as one of the faces of a program he only began to know a year ago. He tries to be everything to everyone. Keller wants to be great for his teammates, the coaches that gave him a second chance, a Husker Nation that gobbled up No. 9 jerseys.
Keller is struggling like the rest of the Huskers, though. On the field, he wishes he could help the Huskers sustain scoring drives they’ve desperately needed.
In front of the cameras, well, even the toughest guys show they’re hurting once in awhile.
“It’s really, really tough,” Keller said. “Extremely tough.”
Through it all, the senior quarterback keeps talking about “being men,” and backs it up. Keller answers questions in the interview room for five minutes, then says most of the same things again for 10 more minutes in a nearby hallway.
But the losses, the dropped balls and being knocked down are visibly wearing on Keller.
Keller twitches as he works through the timetable of when this season started going sour.
He talks about plays being left on the field, and you sense he’s replaying in his mind a pass thrown behind Terrence Nunn, or what might have been another Sean Hill touchdown pass.
Asked to assess his play, Keller stares at a spot on the floor.
“Not good,” Keller said. “When we don’t win, I never feel like I played good. I feel responsible, and like I’m not doing enough.”
On Saturday in Nebraska’s 36-14 loss to Texas A&M, Keller was 26-for-44 passing for 275 yards. His 59 percent completion percentage was below his season average (62.8), even with I-backs Marlon Lucky and Roy Helu combining for 14 completions.
That’s one of those joys of being quarterback at Nebraska. Throw two interceptions, as Keller did against Wake Forest, Southern California and Oklahoma State, and they call you a gunslinger.
Toss it to an I-back too many times, and armchair quarterbacks say you’re not giving the receivers a chance to get open. Armchair quarterbacks, of course, haven’t been hit by 300-pound linemen as many times as Keller has.
“The pass rush is coming, you can feel it,” Keller said. “We wanted to attack downfield lanes, but if you don’t see it you never force it, you never force it. When you don’t force it you drop it down to (Marlon Lucky) so that’s what I was trying to do — just keep the chains moving. I didn’t want to make any mistakes to hurt our team.”
Like the team, Keller had most of his magical moments early this season. He orchestrated an offense that had 625 yards against Nevada. There was the long scoring drive to end the first half against Wake Forest, a school-record 438 yards passing against Ball State, two touchdown passes against Iowa State.
In the past three games, though, Keller hasn’t completed more than 60 percent of his passes. The long plays have been missing. The interceptions and fumbles have, at times, equaled touchdown passes.
Keller was 11-for-20 passing for 97 yards in the second half against Texas A&M, a half when Nebraska failed to score.
“Sam played really well through three quarters, and then I know he had some throws that he and I would both really like to have back,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said.
That meant some folks will contend that junior quarterback Joe Ganz should have been given a chance. But you can’t show your team you’ve given up, Watson said. You don’t take your leader out of the huddle. Not the one who talks about energy, heart and making football fun again.
Yes, the guy who the Nebraska football paparazzi waited for at an Omaha airport last fall is still trying to be everything to everyone.
“Any incomplete pass I’d like to go back and see if I could have completed it, every single one,” Keller said. “I want to complete every single one.
“That’s my job.”
Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.
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