Four Questions to Ponder as Nebraska Football Heads Into its Second Bye Week

by T.J. Birkel 

The Nebraska football team is back on track after an exhilarating win over UCLA at the Rose Bowl this past Saturday night. The Huskers are now 7-3, their best record through 10 games since 2016. The Big Red will finish the season by playing at Penn State–a team that is both deeply flawed and immensely talented–and hosting Iowa at home on Black Friday. With optimism buzzing anew after true freshman quarterback TJ Lateef’s strong performance, we look at four questions for the Nebraska football team headed into the bye week.

How high can this offense fly under TJ Lateef?

Against UCLA, Lateef seemed to give the offense a spark they had been missing in recent games. The Huskers scored touchdowns on each of their first four drives against the Bruins, and they sealed the game by getting three 1st downs to allow the final four minutes and forty seven seconds to run off the clock. 

Having a mobile quarterback is an extremely valuable element for any offense in college football, and it allows offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen to dial up some things that opponents haven’t seen Nebraska do in recent years. I would also suggest that losing starting quarterback Dylan Raiola to injury caused Holgorsen to lean more heavily on star running back Emmett Johnson, and EJ just keeps delivering. 

The offense will face two of its stiffest tests of the season over the last two games. Can they do enough to help Nebraska win one or both of them?  

How is John Butler stacking up? 

There was a lot of angst, hand-wringing, and gnashing of teeth when former defensive coordinator Tony White left for Florida State last December–and for good reason. White drastically improved…

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