QB Green taking things easy
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
The announcement came a play late. Cody Green had already taken a snap before the public address announcer told the 85,000 fans that a new Husker quarterback had entered the game.
“All I heard was aaaahhhhh,” said Green, imitating crowd noise just like a kid would in an imaginary game in his backyard. “It kind of sent shivers down my spine.”
Green could feel all the eyes. But there was something that relaxed the true freshman.
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He knew offensive coordinator Shawn Watson wasn’t going to dial up any play he couldn’t handle.
“We have quarterback meetings on Fridays and Coach Watson ... gives us a call sheet of all our plays and says, ‘Mark what you know. Mark what you can actually run with your eyes closed, and that’s what I’m going to call for you,’” Green said.
Green said he marked “maybe 15 out of 320” plays on the sheet. How many did starter Zac Lee mark? Green smiled. “All of them.”
Yes, there is good reason for Husker fans to be excited about Green’s potential. But the above statement should tell you plenty about how much ground remains to be covered for the 18-year-old.
Lee’s the guy, and Green would be the first to tell you Lee’s the guy.
Don’t get it wrong. The true freshman from Dayton, Texas, is excited for any chance to play.
“I also know I won’t be able to get in there as much as I want to,” Green said. “I have to deal with that and help Zac as much as possible. Because I know he’s going to be the No. 1 man and we’re going to have a lot of close games, and he’s going to take all the snaps in those, and I know that.
“So it’s really just sit back, and if I get in, great. But if not, learn as much as possible on the sidelines.”
One thing he’s learned since arriving to Nebraska in January? Take over the huddle, even if you’re the youngest guy in that huddle.
“And I had to learn that really fast with the help of Coach (Barney) Cotton, and (Jacob) Hickman and (Mike) Caputo,” Green said. “They’ve really helped me out, just to say this is how you do it. To get our respect this is what you need to do.”
Off the field, Green prides himself on listening to his elders.
“But on the field, you do have to kind of have a sense of, ‘I’m in charge. All right, now you have to listen to me because I’m the director around here,’” Green said.
After the game Saturday night, which featured a 49-yard run by him that brought the crowd to its feet, Green called home.
He wanted to talk to his high school coach, Jerry Stewart, a man who has known Green since he was learning to tie his shoelaces.
“The only thing Coach Stewart told me was, ‘Well, son, you should have made that kid miss and gotten in the end zone on that (run),” Green said with a laugh.
Stewart also told the quarterback he was proud of him. Those are the kind of postgame comments that really matter.
“I can remember my seventh-grade year ... he told me I’d have enough (scholarship) offers by my senior year that I could cover up his desk with offer letters. My senior year, I actually could,” Green said. “So right now, he could tell me the world’s going to end and I’d probably believe it.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 473-7439.
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