How much will the playbook be altered?

Since Patrick Witt has left the program, the starting job for the quarterback position is there for the taking for Zac Lee.

Now the question is who might be No. 2? In 2007, Bill Callahan constantly said how Sam Keller and Joe Ganz were competing for the starting quarterback job but let’s face it that was lip service. No reason to rehash that. Last season, the job belonged to Ganz. There was not even remotely an illusion of a quarterback competition. With Witt in the equation, we were bracing ourselves for him and Lee to duke it out with a starter being named sometime during the week of the first game.

The Huskers made a lot of strides in head coach Bo Pelini’s first season in going from 5-7 in 2007 to 9-4 in 2008, winning six of their last seven games. There’s every reason to believe that Nebraska will develop the right way under Pelini but inexperience at the quarterback position has made most of our fans hesitant about “the big turn around” coming in 2009.

Nebraska will definitely have to rely on its defense a little more while the offense finds its groove. The Husker defense improved from 112th in 2007 to 55th last season. While the defense has improved, will it be so well upgraded that we can rely on it to win lower scoring games?

Lincoln Journal Star columnist Steve Sipple indicated that Nebraska’s relationship with Witt needed to end now based on Witt’s father supposedly wanting assurance that the coaches name him the starter before the end of spring practice. If that’s the case, who does the Witt family think they are to dictate the race? More to the point, if a player shies away from competition for a starting job now, how is he going to handle hostile environments like Oklahoma or Texas A&M?

That’s the difference between Witt and Ganz, who clearly got hosed out of the starting job before the start of 2007. However, when Ganz got his chance when Keller got hurt, he shined.

Battling for the No. 2 spot are redshirt freshmen Kody Spano and true freshman Cody Green. Regardless, all three are inexperienced with only Lee getting game experience but that was in garbage time. Witt’s departure means that Green, who is a prized recruit, gores from almost certainly redshirting to now having a shot at the No. 2 position.

The question becomes, how much will offensive coordinator Shawn Watson scale down the playbook? There was a lot of talk about the Huskers simplifying their scheme after Callahan’s dismissal. However, since Ganz had been in the program for four years, the coaching staff was still afforded the luxury of keeping a lot of playbook volume.

Watson will likely have to scale down the playbook even if Lee, who enters his junior season in 2009, winds up the starter because he has only been in the program two years. Nonetheless, Watson has shown the ability to adjust according to the talent at his disposal.

While Colorado’s offensive coordinator in 2001, the Buffs were primarily a running team but two years later they were more of a passing team.

Last season, the Huskers tried to get back to being the power running team they were for so long. That approach was not working so Watson junked the heavy sets with multiple tight ends and the Huskers ran more out of the spread formation.