Huskers roll over Wildcats
It was a quick exit, his walk brisk, eyes straight ahead, 20 or so cameramen flanking him as a choir sang the school song in the distance.
Husker players and fans did the singing, the scoreboard finally looking as it’s expected to look around here — Nebraska: A lot, Opponent: A lot less.
On other days, after other wins, Husker coach Bill Callahan stayed around to sing with them, but this time he shook Kansas State coach Ron Prince’s hand, then immediately walked to the locker room.
“I just let the kids celebrate,” Callahan said. “It’s their day.”
In this fickle time where a coach is called an idiot one week and an OK guy the next, voices praised Callahan as he disappeared into the locker room.
“Way to go, Billy!”
“That’s it, Bill!”
You wondered what Callahan was thinking. Keep wondering.
“I just thought about a lot of things,” he said. “I’ll keep that private.”
If this was the last Husker fans were to see of Bill Callahan in this stadium, well, he had gone out with a strong parting shot.
The Huskers took out some serious frustration Saturday. The Kansas State Wildcats were the unfortunate recipients. When the shellacking was over, Nebraska had a 73-31 win and fans had a new idol, a scrambling quarterback named Joe Ganz.
“Sometimes in this game, it gets a little crazy,” Callahan said. “It can go either way, so we’ve been on both sides of the spectrum now. Anything can happen on any given Saturday, that’s for certain.”
The past two weeks are proof enough of that. Just a week ago, it was the Huskers who were embarrassed by Kansas, 76-39.
Seven days later, Nebraska played inspired football on Senior Day at Memorial Stadium, ending a five-game losing streak and actually sparking bowl conversation.
“I mean, five games we’ve lost. Five in a row. To get a win, we thought we forgot how to win. That’s what it was. We just had to remember how to win,” said Husker senior cornerback Cortney Grixby. “We got it back. We basically just remembered how to win a football game, and how to finish a football game.”
Nebraska (5-6) hadn’t won since September. Many think the coaching staff is gone at season’s end. Some wondered if the players had quit.
The answer is no, they haven’t.
“The last month has just been terrible, it really has been,” Husker senior safety Ben Eisenhart said. “But there was nothing you could say, it was just one of those things that happens and we had to bounce back and have this today. It was almost surreal.”
Eisenhart said it was maybe the first time all season the whole team bonded.
“We have talent, there is no question about that,” he said. “It was just nice to have that finally come out for the first time.”
You know what’s also nice? Having a quarterback throw for a school-record 510 yards and seven touchdowns.
Making just his second start and first one in Memorial Stadium, Ganz was, in the words of K-State coach Ron Prince, “spectacular.”
Ganz’s hot hand — he hit 30 of 40 passes — helped Nebraska score 45 unanswered points and accumulate 702 total yards.
Just consider it a little gift to 29 seniors.
“It’s been really tough on these guys and it has been an emotional drain,” Ganz said. “It’s a credit to these guys and the type of character they have. They’re hard-nosed, tough-minded kids. They don’t let a lot of things bother them.”
Several seniors had huge days, starting with Grixby, who returned a first-quarter kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.
Then there was Frantz Hardy. He caught three passes. All touchdowns.
And there was Thomas Rice, who had his very own “Rudy” moment. The fifth-year senior from Lincoln East hadn’t played a down as a Husker before Saturday, but he could be found dropping a Wildcat in his tracks in the first half.
The Nebraska defense played with high energy from the start, continually putting K-State quarterback Josh Freeman on the turf.
When the Huskers left the field at halftime leading 38-10, players raised their helmets to the sky, the home fans saluting them with a standing ovation.
Callahan never took his foot off the pedal from there. With NU leading 52-17, he ran a halfback pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Several plays before that, facing a fourth-and-20 at the KSU 46-yard line, Callahan went for it.
Ganz scrambled for 23 yards. The stadium erupted. So did Prince.
He called a timeout, marched onto the field and screamed at his defense. Didn’t matter. Nebraska scored on the drive anyway.
After the game, Husker senior linebacker Bo Ruud walked into the postgame room limping noticeably.
He had sat out two weeks because of an injury, but he had to play Saturday. He said he couldn’t imagine not playing.
Whatever pain he felt in his body, you would never have known as Ruud raced off the field at game’s end. The Lincoln kid couldn’t get rid of a smile and the fans chanted his name one last time.
“You know, every week we come up here and say, ‘We got talent. We’re just not using it,’” Ruud said. “Well, I think you see we do have talent. This time we used it.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
Husker players and fans did the singing, the scoreboard finally looking as it’s expected to look around here — Nebraska: A lot, Opponent: A lot less.
On other days, after other wins, Husker coach Bill Callahan stayed around to sing with them, but this time he shook Kansas State coach Ron Prince’s hand, then immediately walked to the locker room.
“I just let the kids celebrate,” Callahan said. “It’s their day.”
In this fickle time where a coach is called an idiot one week and an OK guy the next, voices praised Callahan as he disappeared into the locker room.
“Way to go, Billy!”
“That’s it, Bill!”
You wondered what Callahan was thinking. Keep wondering.
“I just thought about a lot of things,” he said. “I’ll keep that private.”
If this was the last Husker fans were to see of Bill Callahan in this stadium, well, he had gone out with a strong parting shot.
The Huskers took out some serious frustration Saturday. The Kansas State Wildcats were the unfortunate recipients. When the shellacking was over, Nebraska had a 73-31 win and fans had a new idol, a scrambling quarterback named Joe Ganz.
“Sometimes in this game, it gets a little crazy,” Callahan said. “It can go either way, so we’ve been on both sides of the spectrum now. Anything can happen on any given Saturday, that’s for certain.”
The past two weeks are proof enough of that. Just a week ago, it was the Huskers who were embarrassed by Kansas, 76-39.
Seven days later, Nebraska played inspired football on Senior Day at Memorial Stadium, ending a five-game losing streak and actually sparking bowl conversation.
“I mean, five games we’ve lost. Five in a row. To get a win, we thought we forgot how to win. That’s what it was. We just had to remember how to win,” said Husker senior cornerback Cortney Grixby. “We got it back. We basically just remembered how to win a football game, and how to finish a football game.”
Nebraska (5-6) hadn’t won since September. Many think the coaching staff is gone at season’s end. Some wondered if the players had quit.
The answer is no, they haven’t.
“The last month has just been terrible, it really has been,” Husker senior safety Ben Eisenhart said. “But there was nothing you could say, it was just one of those things that happens and we had to bounce back and have this today. It was almost surreal.”
Eisenhart said it was maybe the first time all season the whole team bonded.
“We have talent, there is no question about that,” he said. “It was just nice to have that finally come out for the first time.”
You know what’s also nice? Having a quarterback throw for a school-record 510 yards and seven touchdowns.
Making just his second start and first one in Memorial Stadium, Ganz was, in the words of K-State coach Ron Prince, “spectacular.”
Ganz’s hot hand — he hit 30 of 40 passes — helped Nebraska score 45 unanswered points and accumulate 702 total yards.
Just consider it a little gift to 29 seniors.
“It’s been really tough on these guys and it has been an emotional drain,” Ganz said. “It’s a credit to these guys and the type of character they have. They’re hard-nosed, tough-minded kids. They don’t let a lot of things bother them.”
Several seniors had huge days, starting with Grixby, who returned a first-quarter kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.
Then there was Frantz Hardy. He caught three passes. All touchdowns.
And there was Thomas Rice, who had his very own “Rudy” moment. The fifth-year senior from Lincoln East hadn’t played a down as a Husker before Saturday, but he could be found dropping a Wildcat in his tracks in the first half.
The Nebraska defense played with high energy from the start, continually putting K-State quarterback Josh Freeman on the turf.
When the Huskers left the field at halftime leading 38-10, players raised their helmets to the sky, the home fans saluting them with a standing ovation.
Callahan never took his foot off the pedal from there. With NU leading 52-17, he ran a halfback pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Several plays before that, facing a fourth-and-20 at the KSU 46-yard line, Callahan went for it.
Ganz scrambled for 23 yards. The stadium erupted. So did Prince.
He called a timeout, marched onto the field and screamed at his defense. Didn’t matter. Nebraska scored on the drive anyway.
After the game, Husker senior linebacker Bo Ruud walked into the postgame room limping noticeably.
He had sat out two weeks because of an injury, but he had to play Saturday. He said he couldn’t imagine not playing.
Whatever pain he felt in his body, you would never have known as Ruud raced off the field at game’s end. The Lincoln kid couldn’t get rid of a smile and the fans chanted his name one last time.
“You know, every week we come up here and say, ‘We got talent. We’re just not using it,’” Ruud said. “Well, I think you see we do have talent. This time we used it.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
Copyright © 2002-2008 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.