QB Lee adapts to new position with panache

A sweat-drenched Zac Lee stood in the corridor of the Hawks Championship Center after a fall camp practice.

While the rest of his teammates stood in line waiting for their post-practice meal, he posed for a portrait. He shifted his weight, trying to give the photographer what he wanted for each pose.

When he was asked to hold a deflated football in his hands and make it look like he was crushing it, he became curious.

"Who came up with this?" Lee asked.

"I did," the photographer replied.

"Oh," Lee said and went back to crushing the ball.

Perhaps Lee looked uneasy during the photo shoot because he's a team player. The junior from San Francisco is always quick to credit other players during post-practice media sessions.

But more likely, he's still adjusting to his new role as the face of the Husker offense.

Gone is Joe Ganz, the diminutive player who led the Huskers to a respectable 9-4 season last year. Ganz threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns and helped the offense average 35.4 points-per-game.

For the third time in three years, Nebraska has a new starting quarterback during fall camp.

There are few questions about Lee's athletic ability, which head coach Bo Pelini praised in Dallas during the Big 12 Conference media days.

"He's very talented," Pelini said. "He can make all the throws. He's a very athletic young man."

But questions arise about how he'll perform under the bright lights of Memorial Stadium. Lee is entering his third year with the program but has seen little-to-no game action.
He enrolled in the winter of 2007 and redshirted during that fall. He earned honors as 2007 Offensive Scout Team MVP.

This past year he was the third-string QB behind Ganz and Patrick Witt. He saw the field in two games and completed one pass for five yards.

This past spring was supposed to field a competition between Lee and Witt to determine who would take the reins of the offense this fall. No competition ever materialized as Witt elected to transfer to Yale.

Overnight, Lee became the de facto starter — even though the last meaningful playing time he had was for his junior college team in 2006.

There he put up 3,400 yards and 35 touchdowns. He led City College of San Francisco to a 10-2 record.

To smooth the transition, Lee has worked to develop relationships with the receivers in hopes of improving the passing game.

"I grew a lot with the receivers, and we developed a lot of chemistry," Lee said. "We're even farther than we were during spring ball."

But Lee's biggest weapon?

His confidence, coaches say.

Despite his inexperience, Lee said he feels as if he belongs. He knows his time has come.

 "I've been here two and a half years now," Lee said. "This is something I've always wanted and always prepared myself for."

Lee has a swagger about him and the other players gravitate toward it.

Pelini has called him a natural leader. When it comes to leadership, wide receiver Menelik Holt sees a difference already between Lee and Ganz in the huddle.

"Zac's a guy who can do words and actions at the same time," Holt said. "Joe wasn't too vocal, but Zac is definitely a funny guy and he'll get on you and make you laugh at the same time."

Holt is comfortable with Lee and thinks most of the team feels the same because of Lee's attitude.

"He's competitive, but one thing Zac can do is he puts errors on his shoulder," Holt said. "He'll make it a point that he needs to fix it."

Holt appreciates Lee's actions. He said the quarterback has embraced the role right away and his actions have shown it.

"Zac is always someone who holds himself accountable," Holt said. "He was never late to anything, was always on time. He fixes his errors really fast."

Lee said he considers himself ready to be a leader, but he'd stop short of saying that it's a natural thing.

"I really just try and be me. I don't try and be someone I'm not, and I don't force myself onto people," Lee said. "If me just being me ends up being a good leader, that's obviously what we want."

But Lee's swagger has gotten him into trouble. He admitted that sometimes he has a little too much faith in his ability to thread a pass in between defenders.

"You're never really just throwing it up for grabs," Lee said. "But, you know, sometimes it's just fun to try and put it there."

Don't mistake him for a gunslinger, though. Lee knows what his primary job is.

"Hopefully, I'm a bit of a manager," Lee said.

Lee said he could be a caretaker and check the ball down on his route progression, but he knows he can get outside the box and make plays as well, if the offense needs it.

A recent knee injury to Lee's backup, Kody Spano, hasn't changed the quarterback's style at all. Lee said he won't think twice about scaling back the running.

"I don't know if you can ever play football like that," Lee said. "I mean, I'm just going out to play football and have fun."

Very little seems to faze Lee. Not even the prospect of harsh Nebraska winters scared off the California kid when he was recruited here.

Lee enrolled in January and was on crutches because of knee surgery. That's when he saw snow for the first time.

Lee has adjusted to becoming the starting quarterback and a team leader and even to the elements. But there's one thing that he can't quite take to.

"The snow doesn't really bother me much anymore, just the wind," Lee said.

michaelschafer@dailynebraskan.com