Nebraska Football: 11 Things We Need to See in the First Game

College football is a strange passion. It drives otherwise rational adults to obsess over Twitter feeds of high school athletes, purchase and wear face paint and funny clothes and spend thousands of dollars to visit less-than-ideal vacation sites like Happy Valley, PA, Ann Arbor, MI and Laramie, WY.

And only a college football fan would understand spending months anxiously awaiting the ability to say that "it's Chattanooga Week."

Still, September 3 isn't that far off, so let's think about what Nebraska fans should be looking for in that first game for the Cornhuskers, which can be seen at 2:30 p.m. Central on the B1G Network. 

How's the Ankle, Taylor?

Of all the complicated questions big-picture discussions, in many ways, Nebraska’s 2011 success hangs on whether Taylor Martinez has fully recovered from the ankle injury that hampered him in the second half of the 2010 season. Martinez still looked tentative at the spring game in April, but all reports coming out of camp are that the ankle is back to normal and Martinez should be ready to go. We’ll get our first look against Chattanooga on September 3.

How's the New Guy Working Out?

Nebraska’s game against Chattanooga will be the first time new offensive coordinator Tim Beck gets to call a live game against an opponent who will be trying to beat him. Certainly, the Mocs won’t be Nebraska’s toughest challenge in 2011, and it’s likely the offensive playbook will have a big scoop of vanilla. But we will at least get a preview of Beck’s vision of Nebraska’s offense and how effective it will be.

Who's Carrying the Ball?

We know Rex Burkhead will be Nebraska’s primary running back. We’ve got a pretty good idea that Collins Okafor, Austin Jones and the other backs on the roster haven’t really impressed the coaching staff. And we know that NU has three freshman running backs, Aaron Green, Ameer Abdullah and Braylon Heard, ready to take the field. Particularly in a game against Chattanooga that NU should win handily, thus giving the backups time to play, we should learn a lot about Nebraska’s view of the running back pecking order.

Who's on the Pipeline?

The offensive line was an area of primary focus for Nebraska in 2010, with NU signing five linemen. A number of them, including Ryne Reeves and Ryan Klachko, will be vying for significant playing time, if not outright starters’ positions, in 2011. Given that Nebraska expects (or at least hopes) to have the game against Chattanooga in hand early and get a chance to play reserves, we could get a good look at which of the new linemen have already made an impact on the depth chart.

Who's on the Receiving End?

Nebraska comes into 2011 with a number of question marks at wide receiver and tight end. Brandon Kinnie returns as the leader of the receiving corps, while Kyler Reed brings his impressive touchdown total back from the tight end position. But Nebraska will be seeing a lot of new faces catching passes, including Stanley Jean Baptiste, Jamal Turner and Kenny Bell. Game one of the 2011 campaign should give us some good insight as to how the receiving corps for Nebraska will shake out.

Will Competition Bring out the T-Magic?

Taylor Martinez was a lot of fun to watch at times last year, but he was also exhausting. As he (and the Cornhuskers) struggled towards the end of the year, Nebraska fans were mystified when a clearly-injured and clearly-ineffective Martinez was still starting at quarterback, especially against Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship.

Perhaps a lack of legitimate competition for the starting job fueled some of those decisions. If so, redshirt freshman Brion Carnes appears to address those questions. Carnes demonstrated at the spring game the skills that seem to fit in well with Tim Beck’s vision of Nebraska’s new offense. Against Chattanooga, we may get our first glimpse at what competition will do for Nebraska at quarterback.

How Does a Position Switch Work Out?

Eric Martin drew a lot of attention last year at linebacker. Unfortunately, most of it was for the wrong reasons, and Martin was never able to break into the starting positions. With his move to defensive end, Nebraska’s coaches are hopeful that his playmaking ability and hyper-aggressiveness will be put to better use. The Chattanooga offense will be the first guinea pig in the Eric Martin Experiment.

How Does David Handle Incumbency?

Lavonte David was the surprise star of Nebraska’s defense in 2010. Part of what made him a surprise was that he wasn’t intended to be starting at linebacker coming into the season. He got the starting job through injuries, but his standout season in 2010 guarantees that he will be starting at linebacker going into 2011.

Now, with a full offseason of preparation as a starter, we get a chance to see how that preparation will help David increase his production. September 5 will be the first chance we get to see those dividends.

Who Fills in for Prince?

Prince Amukamura was Nebraska’s highest drafted player from the 2010 class, going 20th to the New York Giants. Replacing his talent will be a challenge for the Nebraska coaching staff. Ciante Evans is likely to be the replacement starter, but Antonio Bell, Dijon Washington and true freshman Charles Jackson (if he makes grades) are likely to get a shot as well. The Chattanooga game will be our first chance to see how the race to replace Amukamura pans out.

How Do You Replace a Skinny Legend?

A legitimate argument could be made that Alex Henery was Nebraska’s MVP for the last two years. His field goal prowess shortened the field for Nebraska on offense, which was critical given NU’s offensive struggles. His punting acumen lengthened the field for opposing defenses, putting the Blackshirts in position to make big plays and be successful.

Freshman Mauro Bondi is likely to take over Henery’s role as placekicker, while Brett Maher looks tabbed to be the new punter for Nebraska. How they, as well as Jon Damkroger, handle the duties and the pressures of following a legend, will be critical in determining Nebraska’s success in 2011. We get the first glimpses of that against Chattanooga.

How Does Nebraska Respond to Disappointment?

In last year’s Holiday Bowl, we saw something we never thought we’d see—a Bo Pelini coached team come out uninspired, unmotivated and disinterested. With the conference change, it’s easy to think that the end of 2010 was put behind Nebraska and 2011 is a clean slate.

But a lot of the same players who stunk up Qualcomm Stadium in the Holiday Bowl will be trotting onto the field on September 3 to face Chattanooga. Pelini will have to get his team in the right frame of mine, meaning just about the opposite of their Holiday Bowl mindset, for Nebraska to be successful.

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