We talk Fall Camp and more as we start your Monday off with the HuskerOnline Weekly Rundown.

Nebraska will cross the halfway point of Fall Camp this week. We give some thoughts on that and more as we start your Monday off with the Weekly Rundown column.

You have to feel pretty good about these things right now:

Nebraska volleyball from all angles: Three of the 12 players on Team USA played volleyball for John Cook at Nebraska. Jordan Larson was the captain of Team USA and had the winning point in the gold medal match vs. Brazil on Sunday.

In 2021 Cook’s squad had the nation’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class in which some have called the “best ever assembled” in the sport. In the class of 2023, NU has already gotten a commitment from the nation’s No. 1 ranked recruit Harper Murray. It’s safe to say we are probably going to see more Huskers representing Team USA in the future.

It’s really remarkable the impact Nebraska volleyball has had now on a world stage and the job Cook has done building this program. Volleyball in this state now is to little girls what football used to be in the 90s to young boys. Girls everywhere around Nebraska dream and want to play for the Huskers. Giant club volleyball complexes have been built everywhere from Grand Island to Omaha and Nebraska teams routinely win at the highest levels at these tournaments.

Bobby Bowden: The college football world lost a legend this weekend in former Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden. On top of winning two national championships, Bowden’s teams were ranked in the final AP top 5 for 14-consecutive seasons from 1987 to 2000.

Some of Bowden’s biggest early wins came in Lincoln. He took his Noles to Memorial Stadium four times from 1980 to 1986 and won twice. Tom Osborne was 0-4 vs. Bowden in bowl games.

The wide receiver position: This is going to be the most improved position on Nebraska’s team in 2021. The Huskers are literally nine-deep. The challenge now will be finding the right six to play.

TE’s Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek: Offensive coordinator Matt Lubick has coached multiple NFL tight ends over his career. He said Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek are as good, if not better than any of them.

You will also be hard-pressed to find any team nationally that will have a better one-two combo than Allen and Vokolek in 2021. This is going to be a real strength for the Huskers in 2021.

Defensive line depth: For years the Huskers have had a solid starting group on their defensive line, but they seemingly have never had the depth to build an adequate rotation. That’s going to change in 2021. The Big Red appears to be at least seven to even nine deep at their three defensive line spots.

These were my surprises of the week:

RB Markese Stepp: In January when Markese Stepp announced his transfer to Nebraska he was the favorite to win the starting running back job. Then an injury took him out of everything over the spring.

There were questions on where Stepp would be in the running back race after suffering a foot injury, on top of his previous injuries dating back to high school. Early on in camp, though, Stepp appears to have made himself a factor. It will be interesting to see where he’s at after NU’s second major scrimmage that will most likely take place later this week.

DL Jordon Riley: Defensive linemen Jordon Riley played so few snaps in 2020 that he almost became an afterthought.

However, after getting healthy and spending a full year now in the strength and conditioning program, he appears to have made some major gains. Hopefully, NU can get a quality 20+ snaps a game out of Riley in 2021.

Sean Beckton’s comments on Adrian Martinez: The strongest comments thus far in Fall Camp came from tight ends coach Sean Beckton, who said quarterback Adrian Martinez is playing at another level, and by far the best he’s seen in his time at NU.

I know many still are in the “wait and see” camp, but these were very promising words from Beckton, who I would call a straight shooter.

Questions still surround these things:

The starting five on the OL: We have a pretty good idea that Cameron Jurgens, Ethan Piper, Turner Corcoran and Bryce Benhart will make up four of the five starting spots on the offensive line. However, the right guard spot is still a question between Matt Sichterman and Brant Banks.

Today it feels like Sichterman has the leg up at this point.

OLB Caleb Tannor: This will be Caleb Tannor’s fourth year in the program. Can he finally turn the corner? The reports thus far in camp have been very favorable about Tannor.

OLB Blaise Gunnerson: We saw what type of potential outside linebacker Blaise Gunnerson has as an edge rusher when he blew by Corcoran in the spring game for a sack.

However, injuries continue to hold Gunnerson back. He’s currently out right now in Fall Camp with what appears to be a foot injury. The injury apparently happened over the summer, as he came to fan photo day with a protective boot on. He’s battled injuries on and off since high school

Inside linebacker depth: I like this group right now, but they are still one injury away from having very marginal depth. The good news is Garrett Snodgrass has made a big jump. However, Nick Henrich has already missed some time in camp with some bumps and bruises. Both Henrich and Luke Reimer have battled different injuries the last two seasons. For Barrett Ruud’s rotation to work, they need at least three quality options.

Moving forward, this has my attention:

Back-up quarterback: How will the back-up quarterback race shape up? I think most of us assume we’ll see a big “OR” on the depth chart between Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg.

A full Memorial Stadium for Garth Brooks: This should be a very exciting week in Lincoln. Country music star Garth Brooks will perform at a sold-out Memorial Stadium. The stage and set-up will be constructed all week.

We will also see alcohol sales for the first time in an on-campus Husker sporting venue. Will this week start the ball rolling for future alcohol sales at Memorial Stadium and other NU venues? It sure has that feel. Pinnacle Bank Arena and Haymarket Park seem like logical places to start, along with the suite and club levels at Memorial Stadium.

Lancaster County Health Department: Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez and Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks when it comes to COVID-19 mandates.

I have to think they are not too thrilled about the Brooks concert this weekend, but they also cannot get in the way of a downtown Lincoln economy that has been decimated by the lack of events. As of now, there are no known COVID-19 protocols for Memorial Stadium, but there’s still a lot of time until the first home game on Sept. 4.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET’s Big Red Wrap-Tuesday’s at 7 pm.