Lee expected to play key role in battle against Tigers
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By BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
We’ve seen the Zac Lee who’s completed 76 percent of his passes in three home games against Sun Belt Conference teams.
And we’ve seen the Zac Lee who threw more incompletions (19) than completions (11) in a narrow loss at Virginia Tech, a team now ranked in the Top 10.
Guess which Zac Lee is the hot media topic as No. 21 Nebraska prepares for Thursday night’s clash at No. 24 Missouri?
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Yes, Lee said he’s learned from his Virginia Tech experience. Coaches say Nebraska’s first-year starting quarterback is continuing to grow, that he’ll be better prepared for his second hostile road environment.
But can Lee and the Nebraska offense do something the Huskers haven’t been able to do recently against Missouri — score points?
Of Nebraska’s two touchdowns in last year’s 52-17 debacle, one came on the game’s final play. Nebraska scored no touchdowns in its last visit to Columbia, a 41-6 loss in 2007.
And now, a quarterback whose only road game resulted in an 11-of-30, two-interception stat line is a key figure in changing Nebraska’s offensive fortunes against the Tigers.
“All we ever ask Zac to do is manage our offense,” Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “Be efficient like he was this last game. I just want to see him continue to grow.”
Lee rebounded from the Virginia Tech loss by completing 15 of 18 passes for 238 yards against Louisiana-Lafayette. A bigger test, though, will come against another ranked opponent on the road.
“It’s just about learning from the whole thing, learning to slow myself down, not getting necessarily too excited about it,” Lee said of the Virginia Tech game.
“It wasn’t necessarily a nervous thing. I was just jacked. Just make sure I slow myself down and make sure we focus on what we need to do.”
As for Missouri, Lee talked about the Tigers’ strong front seven, in particular a defensive line with speed.
Zac Lee discusses the Missouri defense
Lee didn’t play in last year’s game but remembers well the lesson Nebraska learned. He called it “a growing game for the offense,” recalling how Watson began spreading the field and utilizing more one-back sets.
Those changes revamped Nebraska’s offense for the remainder of the season. The Huskers, who had 369 yards against Missouri, averaged 492 over their final seven regular-season games.
“That’s something that Coach Watson does really well,” Lee said. “He makes the offense fit the people that we have. That style of offense (fewer heavy sets) more fits the style we have. That’s a credit to him, realizing, ‘Hey, this is the way we need to go.’
“It worked well, and it’s been working well.”
Nebraska is averaging 440 yards per game and faces a Missouri defense that’s allowing 352 yards per game. No team, though, has scored more than 21 points on the Tigers.
“They’re kind of a bend-don’t-break,” Nebraska tight end Mike McNeill said. “They do give up the yards but they keep you from scoring and try to hold you to field goals. They just mix up coverages, they have a lot of pressure, slanting the fronts a lot and try to throw you off.”
Watson said both Nebraska’s offense and Missouri’s defense have changed greatly since last season. What won’t change is Nebraska’s rule of wanting to establish the run — something the Huskers had little opportunity to do in falling behind quickly against Missouri in the last two years.
“But we’re going to take what they give us,” Watson said, noting how Louisiana-Lafayette loaded to stop the run, and Lee took advantage.
“We try to build ourselves that way and be multiple and not be hard-headed, not be persistent about trying to create something that’s not there.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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