5 burning questions heading into Northwestern week

Nebraska has already put itself on the wrong side of history with a program-record nine consecutive losses dating back to last season.

Had it not been for a last-second touchdown pass to Stanley Morgan last year at Purdue, that losing streak could have been all the way up to 12.

But the Huskers are now on the brink of another record they have absolutely no interest in claiming. Should they fall at Northwestern on Saturday, it would drop them to 0-6 to start the season.

No Nebraska team has ever started 0-6. Not one in its 128 years of existence as a program.

The Huskers should already have no shortage of motivation to get back on the winning side, but not being the answer to that awful trivia question could be as much of a driving force than anything.

Nebraska’s running back position has been a revolving door all season, and even after the unexpected departure of Greg Bell last week, there doesn’t seem to be much clarity there after five games.

Last week it was senior Devine Ozigbo who stole the show with a career game vs. Purdue. At Wisconsin, it was freshman Maurice Washington who led the way with his best game as a Husker.

Who will it be this week against a Northwestern defense that is allowing 142.3 rushing yards per game and has only given up four touchdowns on the ground all year?

Head coach Scott Frost had glowing things to say about Washington’s performance on Saturday night, and his ability to be just as dangerous as a receiver as he is a runner could end up earning him more and more of the workload going forward.

Junior Lamar Jackson already lost his starting job last week to junior Eric Lee, but Nebraska could be on its way to another shakeup at cornerback as the season goes on.

True freshman Cam Taylor played a career-high 12 defensive snaps at Wisconsin, the majority of which coming in the second half over both Jackson and Lee.

Taylor shined in his opportunity, too, scoring the highest overall grade of any Husker defender (78.4) according to Pro Football Focus and the second-highest coverage grade (76.2).

Like Washington, Frost praised Taylor’s play after the game, saying he “took a step forward today.” Was that step enough to earn even more playing time, or potentially a starting job, going forward?

Nebraska has been its own worst enemy more often than not all season, and some of the worst of that has come right off the bat to open games.

After trailing 20-3 to Wisconsin at halftime, the Huskers have now been outscored by a whopping 79-10 in their three Big Ten games this season.

The problems have been across the board over that span, but turnovers and penalties have been the primary culprits. On Saturday night, NU committed two penalties on its very first offensive series, including a false start on just the second play of the game.

The Huskers ended up committing six penalties for 60 yards while rushing eight times for 29 yards to fall behind by 17 to Badgers. It goes without saying that Nebraska has to execute better to start games and not constantly have to play from behind.

One of the more unexpected developments during Saturday night’s loss was the in-game benching of starting punter Caleb Lightbourn.

The junior and third-year starter had struggled with the consistency and accuracy of his punts all year, and he opened against Wisconsin with shanked kicks of 36 and 23 yards.

That led Nebraska to demote Lightbourn in favor of junior walk-on Isaac Armstrong, who had previously never punted in a game. The former Lincoln (Neb.) Southwest product responded by booming his two attempts for an impressive 53.5-yard average, including an NU season-best 59-yard bomb.

Given how well Armstrong fared in his first action and how much Lightbourn has struggled all season, could the Huskers be in line for a change at punter this week?