Five burning questions heading into Fordham week

Here are five of the biggest questions still facing Nebraska as it gets ready for its home opener against Fordham this week…

When Nebraska had to restructure its schedule after the original opener in Ireland was moved to Illinois, this week’s game vs. Fordham was added for one reason – to get an easy win.

The hope was that this cupcake victory would be coming on the heels of a big conference road win to start the season and give NU a chance to build some early season momentum that it hadn’t had since 2016.

Instead, morale in and around the program couldn’t be much lower following the debacle in Champaign. No matter what happens, Saturday’s result isn’t going to do much of anything to solve that for Nebraska.

Even if the Huskers win by 50, it won’t do anything to change the narrative that this season was already lost before Labor Day.

The question is, can NU find enough positives by beating up on lowly Fordham to get some positivity back on its side?

Nebraska had a laundry list of issues in its 30-22 loss at Illinois, but one of the most concerning was how poorly the offensive line played.

Much was made of the o-line’s improved talent, depth, and mentality this offseason. Saturday’s performance didn’t back that up at all.

The Huskers couldn’t get anything going with their traditional running game on early downs and couldn’t protect Adrian Martinez for more than three seconds in the pocket.

That left NU looking panicked and discombobulated with the ball all game and raised many red flags about how good the offense could actually be this year.

This is a match-up where the offensive line should dominate in every facet. It needs to show significant improvement against a far inferior opponent to try and ease some glaring concerns after Week 0.

So much for all of that added emphasis on special teams this offseason.

Nebraska was pretty much a disaster in every facet in the game’s third element at Illinois, and it played as much of a factor as anything in the Huskers’ eight-point defeat.

Now the question becomes, how much of all that went wrong on Saturday is fixable?

What made Connor Culp, the reigning Big Ten Kicker of the Year, suddenly miss two extra points after hitting all 20 of his tries a year ago? Is punter Daniel Cerni better than his two shanked punts and sometimes questionable game awareness?

Was Cam Taylor-Britt’s inexplicable decision to field a punt at the one, let alone the disaster that ensued, a reflection of his football IQ as a return man?

Will the kickoff returners ever learn when to run it out and when to fair catch to spot the ball at the 25?

There’s still so much to fix in that area, and after supposedly devoting the offseason to improving special teams more than ever, it’s unknown how much of it can NU actually fix at this point.

Until Nebraska stops being its own worst enemy, it will never be competitive in the Big Ten.

Brutal penalties, game-changing turnovers, baffling decision-making, and odd personnel management have plagued the Huskers for far too long. Saturday proved that little had changed to fix any of those problems.

Nebraska simply isn’t good enough to overcome that much self-inflicted adversity.

The Huskers need to be close to perfect to win in this conference, and time and again, they find one way after another to keep themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

The solution starts with coaching, but it also requires the players to do what they’re supposed to do on the field.

When some of the biggest mistakes are coming from your best players – Martinez’s scoop-and-score fumble, Taylor-Britt’s punt return safety, Culp’s missed PATs, etc. – what can be done in practice to fix it?

After 59 years and 375 consecutive games, it’s hard to imagine Nebraska’s storied sellout streak surviving another week at this point.

Many fans were already on the fence about investing in season tickets because of the recent product on the field and looming concerns with COVID-19.

Saturday’s latest gut-punch likely sealed the deal for many.

Nebraska fans are embarrassed, angry, and tired of devoting so much and getting back so little in return. Now they’re being asked to shell out money for an 11 a.m. kick against an FCS opponent coming off another nationally-televised letdown.

Saturday is going to be strange. The loyalists will still be there like always, but the fanbase’s increasing apathy will likely be more evident than ever.