Five burning questions heading into Wisconsin week

Here are five of the biggest questions still facing Nebraska as it returns to action this week at Wisconsin…

Head coach Scott Frost issued a nearly complete upheaval of Nebraska’s offensive coaching staff last week.

Offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Matt Lubick, offensive line coach Greg Austin, running backs coach Ryan Held, and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco were all let go last Monday.

That news came just hours after NU athletic director Trev Alberts announced that Frost would return for a fifth season in 2022.

With two games still to play, Frost turned those positions over to Ron Brown (RB), Frank Verducci (OL), Steve Cooper (QB), and Mike Cassano (WR) to finish out the season.

It remains to be seen who Frost brings in to fill those roles full-time next year, but it will be interesting if the interim at those spots can bring anything new to the table with their groups to spark the offense.

It’s unlikely that the Huskers will stray too far from what they’ve been doing all season, but sometimes new voices and ideas can lead to an immediate impact.

Aside from all of the coaching staff news, the other major headline over the bye week was sixth-year senior linebacker JoJo Domann announcing he underwent season-ending hand surgery and that his Nebraska career was over.

With 51 games under his belt, Domann finished his NU career with 209 total tackles. His 133 solo tackles rank 11th on NU’s all-time list, just behind Carlos Polk (134), Mike Brown (137), and Broderick Thomas (143).

The Colorado native’s 209 career tackles are 32nd on the all-time list, just 18 shy of cracking the top 20 all-time.

On last week’s “The Beat” podcast, Domann said that he expected Isaac Gifford to take over as the new starter at his hybrid outside linebacker/safety position.

Gifford, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound second-year freshman, has played 26 defensive snaps over three games this season, posting four total tackles.

Domann’s rare skill set will be almost impossible to replicate, but maybe even just as necessary will be finding a way to replace his on-field leadership.

One way to help fill Domann’s void on defense would be to get fellow sixth-year senior safety Deontai Williams back in the mix.

Williams, who suffered an injury in Nebraska’s loss at Minnesota on Oct. 16, has missed the past two games. But Frost said after Williams went down that he expected the Jacksonville, Fla., native to return this season.

Now a month removed from the injury and coming off a bye week, will Williams be ready to rejoin the Blackshirts at Wisconsin?

Despite playing two fewer games, Williams still ranks fifth on the team in tackles (46) and leads the Huskers with four interceptions while playing 480 snaps, the eighth-most of any NU defender.

Myles Farmer has filled in commendably in Williams’ absence, but Nebraska would get a much-needed boost by having one of its most productive players back on the field.

Following Nebraska’s loss to Ohio State, Frost pulled back the curtain on just how banged up starting quarterback Adrian Martinez had been this season.

Along with playing the past three games with a sprained ankle, Frost said Martinez also suffered a broken jaw in NU’s loss at Michigan State back on Sept. 25.

While Martinez showed plenty of toughness grinding through those ailments, the news also brought up a question: if Martinez was that injured, why didn’t the Huskers give backup quarterback Logan Smothers a chance?

Frost and his former assistants clearly felt that even far less than 100 percent, Martinez still gave them the best chance to win. But it’s a much different situation looking ahead to the final two games.

The Huskers are all but officially eliminated from bowl contention, and 2022 has now become a do-or-die season for Frost. If there were ever a chance to see what he has with the rest of his QB room, it would be these next two weeks.

Will Frost give Smothers – or even freshman Heinrich Haarberg – meaningful game snaps to show what they can do? Or will he continue to ride a beaten-up Martinez until the end?

This season has been full of disappointment in a year that was supposed to be a big step forward for Nebraska’s program.

For every close-but-no-cigar loss to a top-10 team, there was an infuriating loss to an equal or lesser opponent, as the Huskers’ wild inconsistency continued to stunt any sustained progress.

So what is still out there for NU to gain over these final two games? It might not be a bowl berth for the first time in five years, but there is still an opportunity to gain some momentum going into the offseason.

Nebraska hasn’t beaten Wisconsin since 2012. It hasn’t defeated Iowa since 2014. Ending either of those extending losing streaks to West Division rivals would mean a lot.

The Huskers will also have two chances to play spoiler. The Badgers and Hawkeyes are currently at the top of the division standings battling for a trip to Indianapolis.

More than anything, though, NU has two more tries to finally get over the hump and taste victory for the first time in nearly two months.

It might seem small in the grand scheme of things, but learning how to finish is the first step in getting this program back on track.