Five burning questions heading into Northwestern week

Nebraska was handed a humbling 48-7 beatdown courtesy of Ohio State on Saturday night. Now the Huskers must regroup and get ready for a key Big Ten West showdown vs. Northwestern.

Here are five of the biggest questions still facing NU going into the week...

Adrian Martinez has had flashes this season of looking like the elite quarterback many expected he'd be going into his sophomore campaign.

The problem is that he's had just as many instances - if not more - of looking like he's taken a step back from his breakout freshman year.

Through five games Martinez is completing just 59 percent of his passes and has scored 10 total touchdowns (seven passing, three rushing) compared to nine turnovers (five interceptions, four lost fumbles).

Saturday night was his worst outing yet, completing just 8-of-17 passes for a mere 47 yards and three picks.

For the Huskers to have any chance at rebounding this season, they need Martinez to be the steady hand guiding the way.

Head coach Scott Frost did his best after the Ohio State game to assure that his team wouldn't let doubt and concern creep into their psyche after an embarrassing loss on national television.

The players relayed that message as well during their post-game press conferences, saying they would once again give themselves 24 hours to dwell on the loss and then they'd turn the page to Northwestern on Monday morning.

Nebraska is saying all the right things, but you don't just forget about what happened in a game like Saturday night.

How the team puts the OSU loss aside and locks in on a pesky Wildcat squad will be as important as anything. The Huskers will still be favored, but if they don't come ready to play, this season could really start to unravel.

One of the few bright spots of the Ohio State loss was Nebraska turning the page to the old days and bringing back some power football on offense.

Trailing 14-0 out of the gates, the Huskers acted like it was 1997 again and dialed up some wishbone, I-formation, fullback dives, an I-back toss, and a speed option as its running game.

The playbook wrinkle resulted in six rushes for 38 yards and moved the ball to the OSU 26, forcing the Buckeyes to call timeout after a 12 yard run by Dedrick Mills on a fullback dive out of the I.

Mills especially seemed to benefit from the new role as the fullback in those looks, something he did with success as a freshman at Georgia Tech.

Will those power run looks become a staple of Nebraska's offense going forward? When asked, Frost would only say: "We'll see." But it wouldn't hurt for the Huskers to go old school a little more often.

Nebraska's passing game was a total mess against Ohio State, and it was just Martinez who had a bad night.

The Buckeyes made it a point to rough up NU's wide receivers at the line of scrimmage, shoving them off their routes and disrupting the entire timing of plays.

Pair that with OSU's relentless four-man pass rush, and the Huskers didn't have a wide receiver or tight end make a catch until the final minutes of the third quarter.

Saturday night was the low point of what has been an overall disappointing start for Nebraska's receiving corps.

Outside of JD Spielman, who barely kept his streak of 26 straight games with a catch with one grab for seven yards vs. the Buckeyes, the production just hasn't been there. That needs to change because this offense needs all the help it can get right now.

Nebraska needed to play close to perfect to have a chance at upsetting Ohio State. Instead, the Huskers turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions and took themselves out of the game.

Interceptions and lost fumbles have been major issues all season for NU, as it has now committed 14 total turnovers on the year, which trails only Hawaii (15) for the most in FCS.

It's not just giving the ball up, either.

The Huskers are also averaging nearly seven penalties a game, and their 32 total flags on the year are only ahead of Rutgers (34) and Michigan State (37) in the Big Ten.

Nebraska just isn't good enough right now to constantly overcome its own mistakes.