Five burning questions heading into the second bye week

Here are five of the biggest questions facing Nebraska as it heads into its second bye week of the season...

The debate over Scott Frost's future as Nebraska's head football coach reached new levels last week.

It's unlikely that the Ohio State game on its own determined Frost's fate one way or another, but now is the time for the Huskers' administration to make their thoughts clear on his job status for 2022.

If the plan is to keep him, then NU athletic director Trev Alberts, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green, and University of Nebraska president Ted Carter need to put the rumors of a potential coaching change to bed.

Morale within the team is lower than ever after four straight losses and officially being eliminated from bowl contention. Another three weeks of speculation over whether the head coach will be back next year isn't going to help anything.

There's also the recruiting element. Nebraska's coaches will again hit the road this weekend for another round of in-person recruiting, and the NCAA transfer portal is starting to heat up with potential immediate impact additions.

If Nebraska continues to let the uncertainty play out, it will only fuel the fire that a change is legitimately being considered. That can't happen if Frost is coming back.

Regardless of what happens with Frost and his staff, there are several Nebraska players who will be evaluating their own football futures over the next couple of weeks.

Outside linebacker JoJo Domann has been playing with an undisclosed injury, and Frost said the sixth-year senior "made a decision to play (vs. Ohio State) because he loves his team and his coaches."

But Frost added, "I don't know what decision he will make going forward," as to whether Domann would finish out the remaining two games on the schedule.

Domann caught the attention of NFL draft analysts with his strong performance on Saturday. Will that be enough for him to turn the page to the next step in his career and focus on his recovery from injury?

Tight end Austin Allen said he was "50-50" on whether he planned to come back for his additional season of eligibility in 2022. Allen was targeted just once against Ohio State and has had nine passes thrown to him over the past four games.

Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt was also non-committal last week when asked if he planned to return for an additional season. The junior has been playing the best football of his career the past few weeks.

Will games against Wisconsin and Iowa, two of the worst passing teams in the Big Ten, do much to vault his NFL stock?

We saw Brendan Jaimes opt-out before NU's regular-season finale last year to get a head start on his NFL Draft preparations. Will others do the same this season?

For the fifth year in a row and the fourth straight season under Frost, Nebraska will not be going to a bowl game.

With the carrot of postseason play now officially off the table, what is left to motivate the team through the final three weeks and two games of 2021?

A couple of the Huskers talked about wanting to win the upcoming trophy games against division rivals Wisconsin and Iowa.

Nebraska hasn't won the Heroes Game Trophy from the Hawkeyes since 2014, and it's never won the Freedom Trophy over Wisconsin in its seven years of existence.

Trophies aside, there is still value in snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Badgers and its six-game rut vs. Iowa.

Those two programs are the barometer for competing in and winning the Big Ten West, and finding a way to close the season with one or two wins over them would at least give NU something to build upon for next year.

After weeks of hinting that Adrian Martinez was playing through multiple injuries, Frost finally pulled back the curtain on the quarterback's situation after the Ohio State game.

Frost confirmed that Martinez broke his jaw in the loss at Michigan State on Sept. 25. Rather than undergo season-ending surgery, Martinez decided to play through the injury.

On top of that, Frost said Martinez sprained his ankle during the Tuesday practice before the Minnesota game a month ago.

It's a credit to Martinez for playing through the pain. But now with their postseason hopes gone, how much value is there in trotting out a beat-up quarterback against two of the more physical defenses in the Big Ten?

Frost and NU's staff have insisted that they're excited about the quarterback depth behind Martinez with Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg. But the caveat has always been they don't have enough experience.

Well, what better time than now to see what they have in those younger guys, especially with two full weeks before the next game to prepare?

Nebraska has used three different placekickers so far this season, and none have been good.

Connor Culp, the 2020 Big Ten Kicker of the Year, was benched following the Minnesota loss after missing six of his 12 field goal attempts this season.

Chase Contreraz took over for Culp two games ago. After a serviceable debut against Purdue, the walk-on from Iowa Western C.C. missed two of three field-goal tries vs. Ohio State.

Freshman Kelen Meyer has one extra-point attempt on the year, but that was blocked and returned for two points at Oklahoma.

Seeing how much of a liability NU's kicking game has been all year, should Frost essentially abandon field goals (within reason, of course) and take on a more aggressive approach on fourth downs in plus territory?

The alternative has left the Huskers without points on eight missed field goals this year. Going for a few more fourth downs probably wouldn't hurt.