The gas tank on Nebraska's quarterback position, filled to the brim with scholarship talent just a few months ago, now appears closer to empty after multiple reports that junior Cody Green asked for his release Friday and will look to transfer.
Reached Saturday through a spokesman, NU head coach Bo Pelini had no comment. Messages left at phone numbers belonging to Green and his high school football coach were not immediately returned. Green's mother, Chandra, also declined to comment.
If Green transfers, the only current remaining scholarship quarterbacks would be:
• Sophomore Taylor Martinez, who started 12 games in 2010. Martinez’s redshirt freshman year started spectacularly, but cooled after he injured an ankle at the season’s midpoint.
• Redshirt freshman Brion Carnes. The cousin of NU great Tommie Frazier ran the scout team in 2010 and made his mark in the 2011 spring game with 173 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Of the two most recent quarterback recruits, Jamal Turner switched to wide receiver-kick returner in the spring and Bubba Starling must still choose between college football and professional baseball.
Two in-state walk-ons — Omaha Westside sophomore Ron Kellogg III and Aurora freshman Tyson Broekemeier — are options, too.
Combined, all six players have exactly one year of on-field college football experience. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Green has two years by himself.
In those two years, Green completed 66 of 122 passes for 657 yards and five touchdowns, with three interceptions. He rushed for 254 yards and three touchdowns. The longest run of his career was his very first carry — a 49-yarder vs. Florida Atlantic.
Off the field, Green’s big smile, firm handshake and fan-friendly demeanor are trademarks. As Martinez stayed silent for much of the 2010 season, Green often appeared in front of the news media, speaking for the position, stumping for former NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and supporting teammates.
Throughout spring camp, Green remained upbeat about his role at NU. In interviews, he showed no hint of leaving and even suggested he would consider changing positions to help the team.
Green has a redshirt year to burn, which could widen the pool of interested schools if he should make his transfer official. Out of high school in his native Texas, Baylor, Houston and Texas A&M vigorously sought him. Also, Big 12 programs such as Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State lack proven quarterbacks. Louisville, where Watson is now the quarterbacks coach, could be a possibility.
Green came to Nebraska after a spectacular senior year at Dayton (Texas) High School, when he amassed nearly 5,000 total yards, accounted for 62 total touchdowns and led his team to the Class 4A Division II state title game.
In January 2009, Green enrolled early to get a head start on the competition, and it seemed as if every door swung open to stardom.
Patrick Witt transferred. Kody Spano suffered two knee injuries. Martinez didn’t arrive until summer and practiced some at wide receiver once he did. Zac Lee won the starting job, but midway through the 2009 season with the offense sputtering, the calls to start Green grew louder.
He got his first start in his home state of Texas at Baylor.
In the first quarter, Green scrambled for a first down to set up a field goal. In the second, he threw a 47-yard pass to Niles Paul to set up a touchdown. But in the third, he threw an interception for a touchdown. And in the fourth, on a draw play, he inexplicably leaped in a tackle and fumbled. The game served as a microcosm of Green’s career: Steady play offset by untimely errors.
One week later against Oklahoma, Pelini pulled Green in the second quarter and reinserted Lee, who started the next five games as Nebraska relied on its top-shelf defense to nearly deliver a Big 12 title.
Lee sat out the 2010 spring camp after elbow surgery, but Green was unable to shake Martinez in a quarterback race. Martinez eventually won the job in the fall. Green was his backup until the Texas game, when Lee, having held a clipboard for a month, suddenly replaced an ineffective Martinez midway through the third quarter. When Martinez wrenched his ankle two weeks later vs. Missouri, Lee again entered the game. Then Lee got hurt, too.
And so it was Green who started NU’s 31-30 overtime win over Iowa State and a 45-17 win over Colorado. In a loss at Texas A&M, Green briefly played when center Mike Caputo stepped on Martinez’s foot, but Green threw an interception and was again replaced by a hobbled Martinez in the second half. When Martinez got hurt for a third time in the Holiday Bowl, Green got the nod, but he was unable to lead a scoring drive.
In the 2011 spring game in April, Green completed 4 of 11 passes for 63 yards and lost 6 yards rushing. Martinez didn’t play much better, but Pelini still said that if the inaugural season in the Big Ten had begun right then, Martinez would be the starter. Meanwhile, Carnes threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns, prompting some to wonder if he wasn’t in line to surpass Green for the No. 2 job.
Carnes’ further development — if Green’s transfer materializes — will be on a list of items Husker fans will be watching and pondering as summer turns to fall camp. Others: Will Starling turn down pro baseball? Can a healthy Martinez continue to develop on and off the field? Will Turner return to the quarterback position? Can Kellogg put a charge into the race with his passing? Can Broekemeier make a move?
Contact the writer:
402-202-9766, sam.mckewon@owh.com, twitter.com/swmckewonOWH
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