Nebraska storylines to watch at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago
As we sit less than 24 hours from the start of Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, here are five Nebraska related storylines to watch.
Being the favorite, despite coming off back-to-back 4-8 seasons
As the different preseason magazine began to come out in June, each one of them continued to have Nebraska picked to win the Big Ten West. Three of the four major preseason publications have all picked the Big Red, despite coming off back-to-back 4-8 seasons.
NU is even getting some mention on the Vegas odds board to qualify for the College Football Playoff. They are currently a 30 to 1 pick to make the playoff, which ranks ninth nationally.
Only Michigan (12 to 1) and Ohio State (14 to 1) rank higher from the Big Ten Conference. Both Iowa and Wisconsin have odds of 100 to 1 to qualify for the CFP.
It's quite remarkable how much Nebraska has "won the off-season." But as Iowa and Wisconsin fans will joke, the Huskers have won a lot of off-seasons the previous eight years in the Big Ten, but have just one appearance in the conference title game, four straight losses to the Hawkeyes and only one victory over the Badgers since 2011.
It will be interesting to see how Nebraska's Big Ten peers will perceive the notion the Huskers are the West favorites. Most will continue to take a "wait and see" approach, as the division is truly a grab bag. The Huskers have two things though you can't ignore - a great schedule and an all-league level quarterback.
Frost and the "second-year" factor
The "second-year" factor is going to be storyline beat to death this year when people start to look at Scott Frost's program.
History tells us Frost has a proven formula that has already worked taking 0-12 UCF 6 wins in 2016 and then a 13-0 record after that in 2017.
Nobody is saying it's going to play out quite like that, but the smartest thing Frost probably did in year one is he burnt it all to the ground. He didn't try to blend the old ways with the new. He moved forward with his plan, despite the growing pains it brought with it.
In the end, we saw it pay off with the Huskers 4-2 finish in the regular season that included close losses at both Ohio State and Iowa.
Martinez's first introduction to the national media
Most of the college football world didn't know who Adrian Martinez was a year ago at this time. Now the California native finds his name No. 4 on the Las Vegas odds board for the Heisman Trophy behind names like Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Martinez's rise in the college football world has been well-deserved, but probably quicker than anyone could've imagined. A year ago at this time there was still a legitimate conversation about Tristan Gebbia winning the starting quarterback job. Now he's at Oregon State and Martinez will be just one of two quarterbacks in Chicago this week at Big Ten Media Days.
I think most of the national media are going to be blown away by the maturity and poise of Martinez, despite just being a true sophomore.
Frost also has a proven track record of developing quarterbacks from Marcus Mariota to McKenzie Milton, and many think Martinez is much further ahead than either of those two at this stage of the game.
Can this defense be serviceable
As Nebraska gets ready for the 2019 season, yes we know they have a quarterback and an offense that's going to score a lot of points.
There are going to be Saturday's where this offense racks up over 700 yards and 50+ points. We saw it happen a year ago.
The question is will this defense be serviceable enough to complement the offense and produce the results to match the expectations out there?
Nobody is saying the Huskers need to be an "elite" defense" in 2019. They need to be serviceable enough to win on third down and in red zone situations. This will be a big topic of discussion for the two Husker defensive players in Chicago.
Off the field and miscellaneous things
Because head coach Scott Frost's media appearances are limited during the off-season, Big Ten Media Days will also serve as an opportunity to cover a lot of different nuts and bolt issues.
What is the status of running back Maurice Washington?
Will center Cameron Jurgens be at full go in August?
Will outside linebacker Caleb Tannor be ready to roll for practice?
How have the newcomers looked in workouts?
Will there be any type of suspensions handed down for the off-the-field issues that have happened this summer?
These are all thing Frost will probably be asked, and my guess is we won't get very many answers at this point, especially on the status of Washington.