Nebraska Football: 10 Things to Work on over the Summer

Nebraska returns eight starters on both sides of the ball, and that likely made it a much easier decision to cancel the spring game due to severe weather. While most teams said goodbye to the spring with a spring game, the Cornhuskers just participated in practices and won't hit the field again until August.

Spring provides a chance for teams to answer questions and to feel better about themselves heading into fall camp. But not every question can be answered in the short amount of time given, especially when you don't have a spring game to take advantage of. That's why fall camp is held, as it provides each team another opportunity to help answer some questions they may have before the season starts in September.

Here are 10 things Nebraska still has to work on before the 2012 season opener.

True Freshmen

Nebraska may return the majority of last year's squad, but the fall is when the talented youngsters arrive on campus and begin to show the coaches what they have.

Wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp should see playing time due to his great hands and sharp route-running skills. He'll provide this team with another playmaker on the offensive side of the ball.

With linebacker depth an issue, players like Michael Rose and Thomas Brown could make an impact early on as well.

Nebraska didn't put together the most talented 2012 recruiting class, but there are a few players who could help contribute this season.

Replace Lavonte David

The linebacker depth on this team is an issue, and a lot of that comes from the loss of Lavonte David. This is somebody who led the Cornhuskers in tackles the last two years and finished last season with 5.5 sacks, two interceptions and a ridiculous 122 tackles. 

Sean Fisher has received a lot of praise throughout the spring due his solid play. According to head coach Bo Pelini (via Omaha.com):

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He's playing really good football right now. We're real excited about where he is. I think he's going to have a heck of a year. He's a good football player. He had a nasty injury — his ankle bothered him most of last year. And I don't think he ever felt how he feels right now. And you see it. You see it in how he's playing.

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Other players that will need to step up include JUCO transfer Zaire Anderson and senior Alonzo Whaley.

Defensive Leaders

Leadership on both sides of the ball is extremely underrated, especially for teams that are looking to take that next step towards accomplishing their goals. Sure, there's talent—and the Cornhuskers return a majority of their players from last season—but the few that departed were the leaders of this unit. (i.e. Lavonte David and Alfonzo Dennard).

This defense is made up of mostly talented upperclassmen, and I look for some of them to step up and become mentors to some of the younger players. A few that could fill this role include senior safety Daimion Stafford, linebacker Will Compton and defensive lineman Baker Steinkuhler, who was recently named to the Lott IMPACT watch list.

Defense

There are a lot of question marks surrounding this Nebraska defense, but one of the main issues is how this unit will respond this year.

The Cornhuskers defense was ranked seventh in the Big Ten last season, and now they have a new defensive coordinator in John Papuchis, who replaced Carl Pelini after he departed for FAU. Papuchis is the youngest defensive coordinator in the Big Ten, and it'll be interesting to see how the players respond to the energetic coach.

He's been on the Nebraska staff since 2008, and he worked with the defensive ends and special teams before replacing Pelini.

The defensive schemes should remain the same for the most part, but with a new guy calling the shots, it will be something to keep an eye on as the Cornhuskers inch closer to the regular season.

Brion Carnes

Taylor Martinez is the starter for Nebraska, but every team needs a backup, especially one that has a starter who runs as much as the Cornhuskers does. 

Carnes is only a sophomore, and he only threw two passes last season, but was given several reps throughout the spring and has really earned the confidence of the coaches.

"We have a lot more confidence in Brion than people think," head coach Bo Pelini said. "I sometimes get the feeling that people think we don't have confidence in him. That isn't the case."

Carnes is a former 3-Star recruit who is similar to Martinez with his dual-threat abilities. He also has a very strong arm and has been putting in extra work throughout the spring to improve his game. It'll be nice to see more of him in the fall to gauge just how good he is and if he'll be able to eventually replace Martinez in a year or two.

Secondary

The Cornhuskers defense was put to the test throughout the spring, and the secondary in particular should be a battle during the fall camp.

Nebraska lost a couple of key members in the secondary, and as of right now, there is only one starter that we know for sure will be there in September. That, of course, is senior strong safety Daimion Stafford, who finished last season with 80 tackles and 10 passes broken up. As for everybody else, well, the Cornhuskers have a bunch of guys to choose from.

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"Daimion Stafford's made a significant jump," [defensive coordinator John] Papuchis said (Via Omaha.com) "Ciante Evans is doing some good things. Antonio Bell. P.J. Smith. Andrew Green. That first group of secondary guys have made a pretty dramatic jump, in my opinion. And Harvey Jackson's done a nice job in the dime and also at safety.

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If I were a betting man, you'd have to think Stafford, Smith, Green and Bell would be the starting secondary. But players like Braylon Heard, JUCO transfer Mo Seisay, Corey Cooper and Stanley Jean-Baptiste are making a strong push for playing time as well. This is a unit that will take a while to be determined with all of this talent.

More Balanced Offense

Nebraska has a very solid running game, led by quarterback Taylor Martinez and running back Rex Burkhead, but the passing game was ranked 109th in the country last season. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck would like to see a more balanced offense this year (via TheIndependent.com):

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We have to mix it up. I think offensively you need to because it’s going to help our run game. We were very efficient in our play action pass last year. It was high percentage with a very big gain per catch. We feel like we got to do more of that.

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Nebraska returns the majority of the offensive weapons, including wide receiver Kenny Ball, who should have an even bigger season this time around.

Taylor Martinez

Martinez is a fabulous athlete and is great at running the football, but Nebraska can't take that next step if their passing game is ranked 104th in the country. Martinez must improve his completion percentage, make more plays with his arm and improve his touchdown-to-interception numbers (23 touchdowns against 15 interceptions in two seasons).

I have no idea if Martinez has improved as a quarterback, because there's no spring game to judge him off of. I do know that he must improve his completion percentage, as it was below 60 for the second year in a row.

Part of the reason Nebraska has had poor numbers in the passing game is because of the lack of throwing ability Martinez has as a true quarterback. If this offense looks to become more balanced and have more success, the quarterback must improve his game. 

Game-Like Atmosphere

Sure, the spring game is nothing more than a glorified scrimmage, but it does provide players the game-like atmosphere, which will help heading into the year. Now that the Cornhuskers didn't get an opportunity to play in their spring game, how will they find a way to substitute this into fall camp?

With many inexperienced players on the roster and a handful of true freshmen arriving on campus, the fall is crucial to provide them with many reps and try to make things as similar to the actual game as possible.

Get off to a Fast Start

Nebraska was a very inconsistent team last year, and it struggled against some of the better competition in the Big Ten. This year, it's important that the Cornhuskers jump out to a fast start and overcome some of those early tests on the schedule.

The first game against a tough Southern Mississippi team won't be easy, and a West Coast road trip to take on the Bruins could be tricky as well. With a tough middle of the schedule for Nebraska, this is a team that must jump out to a quick start if they would like to improve their second season in the Big Ten Conference.