Ganz, Lucky form dynamic 1-2 punch

LINCOLN -- When Marlon Lucky �” he of five-star fanfare �” said he was coming to play football at Nebraska, it was assumed by some he’d bring a cape along.

The recruiting hype made the running back Superman before he had even taken a college snap, a mighty weight for an 18-year-old to shoulder.

He was admittedly skittish about the attention, especially when it came in the form of TV camera lights and questions from reporters.

But Lucky has learned a lot in his time in Lincoln: about football, about himself, about dealing with being the center of attention.

And he knows he has help.

“I think he’s matured a lot since he’s been here. He’s had to,” Husker senior wide receiver Todd Peterson said. “He was kind of thrown into the limelight even before he even signed to come here. He’s Marlon Lucky, the five-star recruit from North Hollywood. �- I don’t think there’s any way he could have been ready to come into this culture the way we look at our football here.”

The quarterback’s story is far different.

There was little pub that came with Joe Ganz to Nebraska from his hometown in Palos Heights, Ill.

He redshirted his first year, running the scout team, anonymous to most of the Husker fan base. Still, players could see it in Ganz �” the attitude, the glow of a winner. Even as a freshman, even so low on the totem pole, Ganz would chirp in the ear of a senior if he thought it might better the scout offense.

Talk to those in that Husker locker room and they’ll tell you they’re not surprised at where we’re at now �” Ganz and Lucky giving a determined stare back at you from a glossy preseason football magazine on a shelf at the grocery store.

Such different roads traveled, but now Ganz and Lucky are primed for what they envision to be one great season together �” the most recognizable faces of the Husker offense, Big Red’s dynamic duo.

Lucky’s the guy who rushed for 1,019 yards, and caught 75 passes for 705 yards last year. NFL Draft Countdown’s Scott Wright has said he’s probably one of the top three running backs in his class.

Ganz’s the guy who threw for 1,399 yards and 15 touchdowns (seven interceptions, too) in his three starts to end the season, providing a jolt to an offense that averaged 51 points a game in his starts.

Pretty good stuff. Just don’t call him Batman. Ganz knows the quarterback who takes it on himself to be the superhero is the one who fails.

“I don’t think I have to save the day,” he said in early August. “I’ve got 10 other guys on offense, 11 other guys on defense that are going to help me out. Obviously, I think I’m a leader on offense and I’m a leader on this team. So I do feel like I have to take that front-and-center-stage role and really kind of be the spoken leader of this team and really get them going.”

Lucky is much the same, quick to focus the attention on his offensive line.

“I’ve grown with them,” Lucky said. “I know what they know. They know what I know. They’re my eyes. They’re the center of the whole team.”

He could have opted for the NFL after his junior season, but Lucky came back. Graduating was important to him and so was not ending his college football career on a losing note.

Yards are fine, Lucky said. He’d rather have wins.

“Catches and carries don’t really mean anything if you’re losing,” Lucky said.

The 6-foot, 215-pound running back said he never thought of himself as greater than everyone else just because of all the headlines coming his way in high school. He also knows he still has plenty of improving to do.

“As far as me first getting here, I saw myself as an ordinary back,” Lucky said. “Coming in, I had to catch on to the speed of the game. Now, it’s coming to me. I’m still learning, but it’s just normal for me now.”

While Lucky tended toward shyness when he first arrived to Nebraska, Ganz was never that way.

As senior receiver Nate Swift says, Ganz was a backup even when he was deep down on the depth chart.

“All my life growing up, any team I’ve played on, I’ve always thought of myself as the leader of that team,” Ganz said.

It’s become easier over time for Lucky. Even the emergence of Roy Helu, who could take some carries away from Lucky this fall, has not seemed to bother him. Despite the competition, the two can be seen kidding each other.

“Competition. It’s motivating. It motivates all of us,” Lucky said. “It’s another year. We all have to go out and give it our ‘A’ game or we’ll be sitting on the bench.”

Lucky looks completely comfortable standing in front of the camera lights these days.

Asked if he could have taken on the media with any confidence three years ago, he said: “Probably not. Lots of people. Lots of cameras. I’ve grown into it.”