Five burning questions heading into Illinois week

Here are five of the biggest questions still facing Nebraska as it gets ready to open the 2021 season at Illinois on Saturday…

Saturday’s trip to Illinois is the most important season opener of Scott Frost’s career as Nebraska’s head coach, and it isn’t even close.

Taking it even further, it’s hard to argue that it might not also be the biggest game yet of the Frost era.

Opening on the road against a divisional opponent is pressure in itself, but Saturday will dictate the course of the 2021 season in so many ways, for better or worse.

All signs over the offseason indicate that Frost and his staff understand the significance of beating Illinois. The players appear to as well.

But will the Huskers play with everything on the line and be dialed in from start to finish? That answer will likely weigh heavily in determining the fate of this season and potentially much more.

Frost has said that he wants a bell-cow running back to carry the bulk of the load in the run game.

But when fall camp came to a close, Nebraska didn’t appear much closer to finding that workhorse than it did to start the offseason.

Three frontrunners have emerged for the starting job coming out of camp in Markese Stepp, Sevion Morrison, and Gabe Ervin.

All three bring unique skillsets to the table, and each earned his share of praise from coaches and teammates alike throughout the spring and summer.

The problem is that two of those backs, Stepp and Morrison, have already missed significant practice and game time due to injury, while the other, Ervin, has never played a down of college football.

The potential certainly appears to be there in NU’s backfield, but will that role have to be handled via committee once again this season?

Nebraska hasn’t played a game yet, and three of its higher-profile offensive players are already dealing with injury concerns.

Top tight ends Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek and projected starting left tackle Turner Corcoran missed practice time or were limited with undisclosed injuries during fall camp.

Based on vague updates from NU’s staff and a handful of team and player social media posts over the past couple of weeks, it doesn’t appear that Allen or Vokolek are dealing with anything overly serious.

But even if they are both able to suit up at Illinois, it’s unclear how closer either will be to 100 percent.

Corcoran is arguably the bigger concern at the moment in that he was in and out of practice for the majority of fall camp.

Offensive line coach Greg Austin seemed optimistic that the second-year freshman would be good to go on Saturday, but Corcoran is still a young player with just one game of college experience under his belt.

How much will the missed practice reps hurt his development?

There weren’t many notable position battles for Nebraska this offseason, but some of the most important that remain undecided are on special teams.

With the Huskers putting a greater emphasis on the game’s third element going into 2021, they have yet to announce who will be their starting punter, kickoff specialist, and kickoff returners.

At punter, junior William Przystup continues to battle with Australian freshman Daniel Cerni. A transfer from Michigan State, Przystup started the first games of last season before missing the final two due to injury.

Many assumed Cerni would take the reins when he arrived in Lincoln last year, but an injury sidelined him for the season.

Nebraska has the reigning Big Ten Kicker of the Year back in Connor Culp, but it’s still looking to find someone to win the job as the kickoff specialist.

The Huskers brought in three freshmen walk-ons to compete for that role in Kelen Meyer, Josh Jasek, and Brendan Franke. Will any of them be able to put the ball into the end zone consistently?

Cam Taylor-Britt is likely the top option at punt returner, but the kickoff return spots were still unknowns at the end of camp. This fall, Taylor-Britt, Omar Manning, Markese Stepp, Zavier Betts, and Kamonte Grimes were all names mentioned as candidates.

As Frost and Nebraska once again made national headlines for all the wrong reasons with last week’s report on an NCAA investigation into the program, the fourth-year head coach insisted that the news wouldn’t distract his team from being locked in on Illinois.

That may be true, but there’s no denying that having Frost and athletic director Trev Alberts be forced to hold an impromptu press conference to address the allegations 10 days before the most critical season opener in years was hardly ideal.

This is hardly the first time an off-the-field situation has steered the conversation away from football for NU.

But it’s once again something that Frost, his coaches, and his players have to deal with and think about a week before kicking off a program-defining season.

Can the Huskers continue to block out the noise and keep their focus on a must-win opener in Champagne?