The Weekly Rundown: Game week is here for Nebraska
Game week is officially here for Nebraska. We start your Monday off with the Weekly Rundown column.
Sure bets
You have to feel pretty good about these things right now:
Starters on special teams: If there is one thing I am pretty certain of, you're going to see several of Nebraska front-line players at linebacker and defensive back on special teams at Illinois. This is no longer a unit NU can afford to take shortcuts on. Every yard matters.
Kickoffs through the end zone: Sticking to the subject of "every yard matters," I expect to see as many touchbacks at Nebraska this year as we've seen in a while. My guess today is Gretna native Brendan Franke will be the guy handling kickoffs and, barring a stiff wind in his face, he'll put the ball through the end zone pretty routinely.
Cam Taylor-Britt returning punts: The Huskers could go several directions with their special teams play, but today I fully expect fourth-year junior Cam Taylor-Britt to return punts for the Big Red.
Samori Toure is a true No. 1 receiver: Nebraska has not had a true No. 1 wide receiver since 2018 in Stanley Morgan Jr. They will once again have that guy in 2021 Montana transfer Samori Toure. Look for the Huskers to use Toure in the slot to find match-ups that make sense.
Martinez's completion percentage: After completing just 59 percent of his passing in 2019, quarterback Adrian Martinez improved that number to 72 percent in 2020. I fully expect another season where Martinez completes around 70 percent of his passes. The only reason why it might be lower than 72 percent in 2021 is NU will probably take more shots down the field vs. what we saw a year ago.
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
No super senior captains: Maybe this was just a complete misread by me, but color me very surprised that JoJo Domann or Ben Stille were not named a captain. For that matter not one super senior on defense, as both Marquel Dismuke and Deontai Williams were not named captains either.
Just based on what I've seen and heard this off-season, I figured at least Stille or Domann would be one of the Huskers captains in 2021.
I also thought there was enough leadership on this team for head coach Scott Frost to justify having five or six captains. I know Damion Daniels is a well-respected guy in the locker room, but I did not expect him to be named a captain over Domann or Stille.
Vaccination numbers: After being in an uncomfortable position a month ago, it appears the vaccination numbers have taken a big turn in the NU locker room over the last two weeks. It will be interesting if Frost shares any of those numbers on Monday.
Trev stepping out in front on Wednesday: When the Brett McMurphy story hit on Wednesday morning, the Huskers were already on the practice field.
New Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts immediately had a statement out, then, to follow that up, he made an unannounced media appearance next to Frost following practice.
If we have learned one thing about Alberts already, he's not going to be afraid to step out in front of things.
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
The No. 2 quarterback: How will Frost and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco handle their No. 2 quarterback job behind Martinez?
Will they stick a big OR in front of Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg? Or will they step out and name one their No. 2 quarterback? I tend to believe they will leave an OR between them.
Turner Corcoran's availability: Will we see left tackle Turner Corcoran play this week at Illinois? How much has he practiced to this point? That will be something to watch closely heading into game day.
Nicklin Hames status: Nebraska All-American setter Nicklin Hames suffered what appeared to be a bad foot injury on Saturday night in the Red-White scrimmage. How long will Hames be out for John Cook? What will the plan be going forward without Hames?
This has my attention
Moving forward, this has my attention:
Will there be a depth chart release?: The Nebraska news conference will kickoff at 11:30 am on Monday. Scott Frost will take the podium at 12:30 pm. Will we see a depth chart posted? You get the sense Frost could hold back to keep Illinois guessing heading into Saturday.
Travel roster: What will NU's final travel roster be this week at Illinois? At this point of the year, it's very difficult to figure out a 74-man travel roster with a Big Ten game opening up the season.
Brett McMurphy: Does college football national reporter Brett McMurphy have more coming on his Nebraska story? Or was his Wednesday story the only thing he had at this time?
The thing I'm most interested in is the alleged illegal workouts he talked about. There is currently no type of investigation going on about that with the NCAA, and that was an awfully strong thing to put in print if you didn't have evidence to support it.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Tuesday's at 7 pm.