Nebraska Football: 8 Nightmare Scenarios for the Cornhuskers

We’ve lived the dream for Nebraska earlier this week. But for every yin there’s a yang, for every flip there’s a flop, and for every dream there is a nightmare. So, lest you fear that we are all cupcakes and unicorns around here, let’s delve into the darkness a little bit and take a look at some nightmare scenarios for the Cornhuskers.

Don’t worry, I’ll be right here to hold your hand.

It's Not Just the Ankle

It’s all about the ankle, we’ve been told. Once he gets healthy, he’ll be great, and we’ll be back to seeing him in all his glory.

That’s been the company line about Taylor Martinez. His well-documented struggles at the end of 2010 were the result of nagging injuries and, once those are healed, we can expect the best.

Well, maybe not. After all, he wasn’t injured against South Dakota State or Texas, and he struggled mightily in those games. Sure, Nebraska hopes to see the T-Magic of regular season Washington, Kansas State, or Oklahoma State. But those defenses were pretty terrible. Against better defenses, or defenses who learned from South Dakota State and Texas, Martinez was average at best. Heck, even a defense like Washington that Martinez torched in September was able to contain Martinez in the Holiday Bowl when employing defensive schemes used by other teams.

It’s pretty clear that Martinez is Bo Pelini’s guy going forward. But if his offensive output is more like the end of 2010 than the beginning, things could get ugly for NU in a hurry.

On-the-Job Training

As someone whose hair is bearing a disturbing resemblance to the grey-streaked Mr. Fantastic, it is comforting to know that experience is important. And Nebraska will be lacking experience in a number of key areas. NU only has one running back (Rex Burkhead) and one wide receiver (Brandon Kinnie) with any kind of serious game experience. There is no quarterback behind Taylor Martinez with any experience, and Martinez missed significant time in 2010 with injuries. And, even more concerning, Nebraska is breaking in a rookie offensive coordinator in Tim Beck.

Sure, there’s plenty of potential. But a lack of experience can lead to mistakes at crucial times. If those mistakes pile up, and if they happen at the wrong time in competitive games, things could spiral downward for Nebraska.

The Ball Bounces Badly

Guess what? In 2010, Nebraska had the highest number in a statistical category of all 120 FBS teams! Exciting, right?

Well, not really. Nebraska had more fumbles per game (2.8) than any other team in the country. Amazingly, NU only lost 1.0 fumbles per game, but those kind of statistics show how much Nebraska was dancing on a razor’s edge with regards to putting the ball on the ground. If Nebraska coughs up the ball at a rate like 2010, and if the law of averages catches up and NU loses more than they did in 2010, that statistic alone could result in huge problems.

The Rumor Mill Starts Churning

Now that the Jim Tressel furor has died down a little, and because we’re still in the college football Dead Zone of June, not a lot of attention has been paid to Bo Pelini as a potential replacement for Tressel in Columbus. But that will change as the season gets closer, and will get even worse if Pelini handles it the way he did when his name was linked with the Miami and LSU jobs earlier.

Particularly if Ohio State struggles under Luke Fickell, the attention on Pelini as the next Vest will only intensify. And we know how well Pelini responds to media attention, particularly about off-the-field topics like his job future. The swirling rumors could grow to tornado intensity in 2011, and create a significant distraction for Pelini and Nebraska throughout the 2011 campaign.

Bucky Finds the Missing Piece

The Badgers have a tremendous amount of talent coming back in 2011 at running back, wide receiver, and on defense. They do have some holes to fill on the offensive line but, come on, this is Wisconsin. The biggest question mark Bucky had for 2011 was their signal-caller.

In steps Russell Wilson, much-hyped transfer from North Carolina State. While there are some questions about whether Wilson will be the instant-impact guy for Wisconsin, he certainly does possess the athletic ability to give opponents trouble. And if he does turn out to be the missing piece, then Wisconsin could become a huge obstacle for Nebraska when the meet in Madison … and perhaps again in Indianapolis.

The Good Ship Michigan Turns on a Dime

The Rich Rodriguez era has not been kind to Michigan. The Wolverines’ fall from grace was eerily reminiscent of Nebraska circa 2007, with perhaps even a sharper fall-off. Most people expect new head Wolverine Brady Hoke to need a year or two for his turnaround of Big Blue to take effect.

But what if it doesn’t? Michigan is still Michigan, after all, and they have arguably the B1G Conference’s most dynamic player in Denard Robinson. If Hoke is able to get the Wolverines off to a running start in year one, Nebraska’s trip to Ann Arbor gets a lot more challenging, and their path through the Legends Division suddenly looks more arduous.

Brutus Circles the Wagons

With the departure of Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor, most people presume that Ohio State will take a significant step back in 2011 from their expected top-five ranking. And that’s not an unreasonable assumption, given all the chaos continuing to swirl around Columbus.

But keep in mind that Ohio State has a ton of talent on the roster, regardless of Pryor’s departure. Interim coach Luke Fickell has been with the team for some time, so he has the advantages of continuity and knowing the system and the players. And with Tressel and Pryor departing in early June, Fickell has an entire summer to get himself ready for his 2011 audition for the full-time job. If the remaining Buckeyes circle the wagon around Fickell, their talent is good enough to make life for Nebraska (and everyone else in the B1G Conference) quite difficult.

A B1G Conspiracy

Nebraska fans got a lot of mileage last year from a collective sense of victimization at the hands of a Big XII Conference they saw as dominated by Texas. And it was true that Nebraska found itself at the wrong end of a lot of 11-1 votes, saw the football conference championship moved to Texas, and was given an “ultimatum” by Texas to make a pledge of allegiance to the conference that Texas itself was not willing to offer in return.

But if Nebraska fans think that Big XII honchos were insufferable, just wait until they meet the folks in the B1G Conference. There is not a set of conference executives in America that are as impressed with themselves as Jim Delaney and the B1G movers and shakers. And given how comfortable and convenient a “the conference is conspiring against us” meme was for Nebraska fans to fall into in 2010, what happens if things go south in 2011? If there’s a few calls that go against Nebraska, particularly given the daunting schedule the B1G gave NU for its’ first two years in the conference, could the conspiracy cries be far behind? Could we be forced to re-live the nonsense of 2010 all over again?

Probably not, in all fairness. Still, keep Fox Mulder on speed dial, just in case. 

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