Witt departure shakes up QB race

Patrick Witt has left the building.

Witt, who figured to battle for Nebraska’s starting quarterback position with Zac Lee, is leaving the program after finishing with spring semester classes in May.

“Patrick has decided that it is in his best interest to continue his college career at another school,” Husker head coach Bo Pelini said in a released statement. “Patrick is a great kid from a great family and I appreciate the contributions he has made to our football program. I wish him nothing but the best in the future and know he will be a success wherever he goes.”

The first thing that comes to mind in hearing of Witt’s departure from the program is should we really be surprised? After all, Witt, who would have entered his sophomore season in 2009, played at two different high schools (Wiley High School in Texas and Parkview High in Lilburn, Ga.).

Rivals.com ranked Witt among the top 20 pro-style quarterbacks in the nation and among the top 100 prospects in Texas. Witt was also a first-team academic all-state selection as a senior. He only visited Nebraska, but also received strong recruiting interest from Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Oklahoma among others.

Not that Witt’s pre-Nebraska history is of any fault of Pelini and his staff because Bill Callahan’s staff recruited Witt, who redshirted the 2007 season before serving as Joe Ganz’s understudy in 2008. With Nebraska having gone to a more Spread-oriented look in 2008, thus slightly deviating from the West Coast Offense, that involves more quarterback running plays, the straight dropback passing Witt might not have been the odd man out for offensive coordinator Shawn Watson’s offense anyway.

So how does Witt’s departure impact the quarterback race? One would think the job belongs to Lee, who is mobile with a strong arm. Plus, he also has experience playing at the college level which includes his time at San Francisco City College.

Kody Spano redshirted last season after throwing more than 5,000 yards and rushing for about 900 his last two years at Stephenville High School in Texas. Incoming freshman Cody Green is loaded with potential and is on campus, which is a plus, but has some catching up to do. Plus, it’s likely going to be very rare that Pelini burns a redshirt on a freshman.

As for potential reasons why Witt transferred since neither he, the Husker coaches or his family are commenting on such reasons, maybe he is reading between the lines and does not think he is going to be the starter. The fact that either Witt or Lee would transfer is not unthinkable given that they were recruited by the previous coaching staff. Plus, the current staff is high on Green and to a lesser degree Spano.

If a starter is not named until fall as Watson indicated may happen a lot of time would be lost if somebody transferred at that point. I would think if Witt felt he had a strong chance of being the starter he would have stayed but it could also be that he feels even if he is the starter this coming season he may lose out to Green the following season.

One other factor could be that he knows the offense is going to evolve more requiring a mobile quarterback and of the candidates he is probably the least mobile.

I’m an alum that gives money but that’s just my two cents.

2009 Nebraska football: Position outlook -- quarterback

One story in a Wine Country Husker series, looking at position breakdowns for the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the 2009 season. Today, we look at quarterback:

Looking back: When you put up the numbers Joe Ganz amassed it’s hard to be underrated but he played in a conference that included Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Colt McCoy (Texas), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech), Zac Robinson (Oklahoma State), Todd Reesing (Kansas) and Robert Griffith (Baylor).

Ganz spent the better part of three seasons behind Joe Dailey, Harrison Beck, Zach Taylor and Sam Keller. However, when replacing an injured Keller in a 28-25 loss to Texas, Ganz made his mark. In that game and 17 subsequent contests, Ganz threw 45 touchdown passes, including two in the Huskers come-from-behind 26-21 Gator Bowl win over Clemson.

Nebraska has certainly had better athletes at quarterback (Tommie Frazier, Turner Gill and Eric Crouch to name a few) but when it comes to toughness, leadership and other intangibles, Ganz has few peers.

Looking ahead: Whether it’s Zac Lee, Patrick Witt, Kody Spano or Cody Green, the stats might be good but replacing Ganz’s leadership will be tough.

Lee and Witt figure to be the two primary combatants. Whoever the quarterback is, however, we will not know anymore in August than we know now. Because Nebraska was seldom in any blowouts in 2008, Lee and Witt did not receive many snaps. The only experience they received was mop-up duty and those situations do not lend themselves to getting a true picture of what a player is like.

Lee has experience from the Junior College level, much like Zac Taylor when entering the program in 2005. He also has the mobility necessary for Nebraska’s offense, which took on concepts of the Spread combined with the West Coast Offense.

Witt, however, might have the edge as far as size (6-4 to Lee’s 6-2) and experience within the system but is more of a pure drop back passer.

As far as the measurable talent, Green might have the edge on all three and while he is already on campus taking courses, it’s hard to imagine a true freshman not redshirting his first season under Bo Pelini much less playing significantly.

Time will tell but because of his mobility and playing experience beyond high school, my early money is on Zac Lee.