To my fellow Nebraska fans: Game day is almost upon us. This offseason has been an experience, to say the least. It started off with the departure of Wan’Dale Robinson to Kentucky followed by the Bill Moos “retirement” and ended with the allegations against Scott Frost and the Nebraska football team for improper use of an analyst.
With the offseason now behind us, we’re moving on to what really matters: the season. Before we jump into the Week 0 preview of Nebraska @ Illinois, let’s first jump into why I’m looking forward to this Nebraska team in 2021.
Adrian Martinez: As Adrian Martinez goes, so does this Nebraska team. Whether people like it or not, he’s the solidified QB1 heading into the 2021 season. I’ve been a fan of 2AM ever since he stepped foot in Lincoln in 2018 and became the first-ever true freshman to begin the season as the starting quarterback. Adrian rushed onto the scene with his opening performance, and gathered Heisman talk leading into the 2019 season. Things went sideways in 2019 and Martinez’s performances were inconsistent. Martinez’s 2020 season was a similar story, some of his best performances followed by some of his worst. Martinez should be credited with his maturity during a tumultuous time in 2020. He takes the blame when things aren’t going well and dishes out the credit when the team is producing. He handled getting benched for Luke McCaffrey with grace despite watching McCaffrey turn the ball over 5 times in a two game span. One aspect of the Martinez era at quarterback that needs to be addressed is the lack of talent Frost has been able to place around him. His best weapon was 5’10” Wan’Dale Robinson who they tried to make a jack of all trades. Nebraska tried Wan’Dale between the tackles and this proved to have less than favorable outcomes. The offensive line has been up and down over the course of Adrian’s career and the running back situation during his time has been a revolving door. Lastly, somehow Kade Warner (now at Kansas State) was getting starter reps while needing to also tutor the team in Advanced Accounting class. As much as people want to clown on him, his experience means something. He’s battle-tested and has put a lot of work in this offseason. Everyone has reported on it, but he’s trimmed down and seems to be in a good mental state. Adrian should have a good offensive line this year and arguably the best receiving group in his four-year career. If they can figure out the running back position, Martinez should have a good group of weapons for this season. I bought the 2AM stock when he first became the starting QB and I bought even more stock when it was dropping last year. I plan to sell that stock at an all-time high when his career ends at Nebraska either this year or next year if he decides to return.
The Defense: Call this a cop-out but the defense as a whole is going to be exciting to watch this year. They won’t be Nebraska’s best defenses in the last decade but they should be the best defense in the Frost era and last five years. There’s a lot of things to be excited about with this defense with 9 of 11 starters returning and several more who played a key role last year. The defense is led by corner Cam Taylor-Britt and outside linebacker JoJo Domann, who appear to be the cornerstones heading into 2021. But the Blackshirts also return super seniors in safeties Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismuke along with defensive lineman Ben Stille. The list goes on and on about players to be excited about on this defense. But look out for Ty Robinson (DL) and Luke Reimer (ILB) to have big years. Robinson may very well be the best interior defensive lineman Nebraska has had since Ndamukong Suh.
The First Three Games: It’s no secret in Lincoln, these first three games of Nebraska’s season are extremely important. On the road against Illinois and then two straight home games against Fordham and Buffalo. Nebraska needs to start the season 3-0 to set up for a successful remaining year. The Cornhuskers have never had a 3-game winning streak under Scott Frost but it is imperative they come out of the gate hot. If Nebraska can start 3-0, it allows the team to build confidence, notch a win in the Big10 West and restore some faith into the fan base. A 3-0 start heading into an extremely difficult road game against Oklahoma would let Frost and the team play with house money. Show up in Norman and play competitive football with no worry about what’s down the line. If Nebraska were to lose one game and be 2-1 or heaven forbid two games and be 1-2, you can already chalk 2021 as a failure. Talk amongst the team has been focusing on Illinois and stacking days and building wins. But let’s keep it real, 3-0 needs to be the expectation.
Now let’s turn our attention to Illinois and the match-up with new head coach Bret Bielema.
Bret Bielema was named the new head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini in December 2020 after spending the last three seasons in the NFL. Bielema brings in Tony Petersen as their Offensive Coordinator who was previously at Appalachian State and Ryan Walters as their Defensive Coordinator who most recently served as the DC at Missouri. Although we don’t know exactly what schemes Bielema and his team will run, he has said his offense will be a mix between the spread and power scheme.
On defense, look for Illinois to run a 3-4, which Bielema last ran with the Giants last year. In his first year at the helm, Bielema will return 22 super seniors from Lovie Smith’s former team, which is the most out of any other school. On offense, Illinois will have Brandon Peters return as their starting quarterback as Isaiah Williams moved from quarterback to receiver this past offseason. Top running backs Chase Brown and Mike Epstein return for the 2021 season. In the 2020 COVID riddled season, Brown rushed for 540 yards with 3 TDs and Epstein ran for 367 yards and 4 TDs. On defense, the Illini return their top two tacklers from the 2020 season, but also be mindful this defense finished dead last in total defense during the BIG slate. Under Bielema, expect the Fighting Illini to run the football and make the game all about the trenches.
Every game week, I’ll highlight three things I’m excited about in the upcoming game and three things I’m curious about.
Three Things I’m Excited For:
Samori Toure: Nebraska adds the 6’3” 190-pound wide receiver from Montana. Toure didn’t play in 2020 as a result of no season due to COVID at the FCS level. In 2019, Toure was an FCS 1st Team All-American and also 1st team All-Big Sky while going for 1,495 receiving yards on 87 receptions. He also holds the record for most receiving yards in an FCS playoff game with 303 yards. Currently, Toure is scheduled to play in the slot but don’t be shocked if they use him all across the field. He should prove to be a big upgrade for Martinez at the receiver spot and should have a big impact come Saturday.
Adrian Martinez: As I said above, I am excited for 2AM this season. For the Nebraska offense to function effectively against Illinois, Nebraska will need to make the quarterback run game a priority. Especially, with no proven running back yet. Nebraska also has a new set of weapons at wideout for Martinez with Toure, Oliver Martin, Omar Manning, Wyatt Liewer, and Zavier Betts. Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek should prove to be Adrian’s safety net at tight end this year.
Defensive Line: I’m expecting this defensive line to take a big step in 2021. They return every one from 2020 team and look to build off of last year. Upfront, will consist of Robinson, Stille and Damion Daniels. Also, expect guys like Deontre Thomas and Casey Rogers to contribute as well. Nebraska will rely on the outside linebackers to generate pressure. If Nebraska can clog up the run game with their interior d-line, it should put this secondary in favorable down and distances.
Three Things I’m Curious About:
Who is the starting running back? There’s been a lot of discussion this offseason on Nebraska’s running back situation. Will it be USC transfer Markese Stepp, freshman Sevion Morrison or true freshman Gabe Ervin Jr.? I think it will Morrison who runs out there with the offense first but it will definitely be running back by committee so start the season. As we go on, you hope to see one of these guys take the lead and a majority of the snaps.
What will Nebraska do on special teams? Nebraska was absolutely awful last year on special teams. Heck, they even canned special teams analyst Jonathan Rutledge who is the focal point of the NCAA investigation. In 2020, they didn’t have a kicker who could boot one out of the end zone on kickoffs and their punt team wasn’t much better. Look for Daniel Cerni to make a big impact punting for the team after being hurt for the entire 2020 season. Mike Dawson also took over as the team’s special teams coach this offseason.
How disciplined will Nebraska be? The biggest and most important question heading into 2021 is how has Nebraska improved with the most important stats that lead to wins: turnovers and penalties. Nebraska has been plagued by unforced errors the past few seasons and they need to desperately cut down on turnovers and penalties in order to turn it around.
Prediction: I think Nebraska covers the current spread (-7) and wins the game 31-17. I believe Illinois comes out swinging and makes it a barn burner at first but Nebraska should pull away in the second half.