Sun Devil QB Keller may be headed to NU
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Senior quarterback Sam Keller is leaving Arizona State, and signs indicate he could be headed to Nebraska to complete his final year of eligibility in 2007.
Two sources close to the Nebraska program said Monday night that Nebraska offensive coordinator Jay Norvell had phoned Nebraska quarterbacks to inform them of the coaches’ intent to bring Keller aboard. One of the sources, however, said “it’s not a done deal.”
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Keller, a native of Danville, Calif., would join the program for the 2006 season and sit out a required year, per NCAA transfer rules, using his available redshirt. He would have one season of eligibility remaining in 2007.
Reached Monday afternoon, Mike Keller, Sam’s father, said his son had been granted his scholarship release and that Nebraska was on a list of about 10 schools to whom the Kellers had sent information. He also mentioned the possibility of his son remaining at ASU, because it’s so late in the year and options may be scarce.
The elder Keller, who said he’s been involved with professional football on multiple levels for more than 30 years, knows Nebraska coach Bill Callahan and had flattering things to say about him and NU’s program.
Nebraska will be looking to replace starter Zac Taylor next season. Among the current candidates are junior college transfer Brian Hildebrand, who has three years of eligibility, and Joe Ganz and Beau Davis, who will be juniors in 2007. The Huskers also have an oral commitment from high school senior Patrick Witt of Wylie, Texas.
Keller, a senior, was named the ASU starter on Friday, then in a bizarre twist, was demoted to second string on Saturday. He was excused from Sunday’s practice to evaluate his options.
Keller last season threw for 2,165 yards and 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions in seven games. He was 35-of-56 for 461 yards and four touchdowns in the Sun Devils’ second game, against LSU. He also threw five interceptions against USC, when he went 26-of-45 with 347 yards.
His season ended after he tore a ligament in his thumb while trying to stiff-arm Oregon defender Haloti Ngata. He played the following week against Stanford but threw for only 98 yards.
Backup Rudy Carpenter, then a redshirt freshman, finished the season for ASU, throwing for 2,273 yards and 17 touchdowns in five-plus games. That was more than enough to create a heated battle for the starting position this season — a battle Keller thought he’d won when ASU coach Dirk Koetter named him the starter on Friday.
Less than 24 hours later, Koetter changed his mind, saying he made a mistake, and tabbed Carpenter as the starter. The decision came after Koetter talked to several people, including a group of players in a Saturday meeting, the East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune reported Monday.
“I feel horrible about the way all this came down on Sam,” Koetter told the Tribune. “I apologized to Sam and Rudy, and I apologized to the team. I screwed it up, so I have to fix it.”
The addition of Keller would mark the third significant personnel move with Nebraska’s quarterback spot in the past three weeks.
Sophomore Harrison Beck, a highly touted recruit in Callahan’s 2005 recruiting class, disappeared from fall camp on Aug. 5 and formally left the program two days later. He transferred to North Carolina State.
Less than a week later, Nebraska suddenly welcomed Hildebrand, a junior college transfer who’d redshirted a year at Oregon State and played a season at Mount San Antonio (Calif.) College.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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