Zac Taylor
Zac Taylor (born May 10, 1983) was the starting quarterback for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2005 to 2006. He was recruited late in the 2004-2005 off-season by the Huskers, being a described "lucky break" due to the Huskers lack of quarterbacks at the time. He led Nebraska to an 8-4 record during his inaugural year, 2005, as a starter at quarterback. Ironically, Taylor hails from Norman, Oklahoma, hometown of the rival University of Oklahoma Sooners.
Early career
After Taylor's record-setting career at Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, he looked at few possible college schools. Taylor didn't receive much notice from any major colleges, not even from his hometown school the Oklahoma Sooners, so in 2002 he signed with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. This would prove to be an uneventful and tough 2 years, red-shirting his first year, and filling in the back-up position the next, completing the only pass he attempted in those 2 years. It was from there that he transferred to Butler Community College (Kansas) where he passed for nearly 3,000 yards with 29 touchdowns. In his breakout season, Taylor led Butler to the NJCAA championship game, and earned second-team NJCAA All-American honors.
Play at Nebraska
After his 2004 season Taylor looked at multiple NCAA Division 1 schools, including Memphis, Marshall and Nebraska. Nebraska had abandoned their century-long running/option offense for an entirely new, west coast offense led by newly appointed coach Bill Callahan. The Huskers had a rebuilding season in '04, going 5-6 and missing a bowl bid for the first time since 1962. Taylor had a rough start, statistically speaking, in his '05 year at Nebraska, completing 39 of 89 passes for 399 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions in his first three games. In his fourth game however, Taylor had a breakout day against Iowa State, throwing for a school-record 431 yards on 36 of 55 passing with two touchdowns. He steadily improved throughout the season, ending in a 30-3 win against Colorado where he threw 392 yards, and a come-from-behind 32-28 win against the Michigan Wolverines in the Mastercard Alamo Bowl, where he threw a Nebraska bowl record 3 touchdown passes. Taylor broke the school record for passing yards in a season with 2,653 yards on 55.1% of his passes being complete.
In his 2006 opener against Louisiana Tech, Taylor showed significant improvement over his season-opener the previous year, completing 22 of 33 attempts for 287 yards with 3 touchdowns and one interception. The game after, against Nicholls State Taylor once again showed his precision in passing the ball, finishing 19 of 23 for 202 yards and a new career-best in 4 touchdown passes.
Taylor led the Nebraska Cornhuskers to a record of 9-3 with an appearance in the 2006 Big 12 Championship Game, facing off against against the Oklahoma Sooners. Taylor passed for 2789 yards and 24 touchdown passes during the regular season and earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
Statistics
2005
| Passing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Team | Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | INT | |||
| Maine | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 15 | 36 | 41.7 | 192 | 0 | 2 | |||
| Wake Forest | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 14 | 33 | 42.4 | 114 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Pittsburgh | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 10 | 20 | 50.0 | 93 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Iowa State | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 36 | 55 | 65.5 | 431 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Texas Tech | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 21 | 35 | 60.0 | 229 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Baylor | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 18 | 32 | 56.3 | 168 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Missouri | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 22 | 43 | 51.2 | 281 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Oklahoma | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 25 | 45 | 55.6 | 249 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Kansas | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 14 | 26 | 53.8 | 117 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Kansas State | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 21 | 31 | 67.7 | 220 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Colorado | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 27 | 43 | 62.8 | 392 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Michigan | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 14 | 31 | 45.2 | 167 | 3 | 2 | |||
| Totals | 237 | 430 | 55.1 | 2653 | ||||||
2006
| Passing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Team | Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | INT | |||
| Louisiana Tech | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 22 | 33 | 66.7 | 287 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Nicholls State | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 19 | 23 | 82.7 | 202 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Southern California | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 8 | 16 | 50.0 | 115 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Troy | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 14 | 17 | 82.3 | 268 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Kansas | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 15 | 33 | 45.5 | 395 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Iowa State | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 17 | 21 | 81.0 | 131 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Kansas State | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 12 | 21 | 57.1 | 149 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Texas | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 15 | 28 | 53.6 | 277 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Oklahoma State | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 21 | 39 | 53.8 | 241 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Missouri | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 13 | 21 | 61.8 | 208 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Texas A&M | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 21 | 35 | 60 | 267 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Colorado | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 28 | 28 | 100 | 654 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship) | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 23 | 50 | 46 | 282 | 1 | 3 | |||