College football’s Week 0 is quickly approaching, and that means Nebraska’s season-opener in Champaign against Illinois is just around the corner. One day away, in fact.

There’s a lot to like about the 2021 version of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Let’s quickly go through some of them:

  • Adrian Martinez has all the experience you’d want in a starting quarterback, a position with no drama like there was in 2020 when current Rice Owl, Luke McCaffrey, was in Lincoln.
  • The offensive line, albeit young and still needing reps to get better, has 4 of the 5 starters back.
  • The wideout room added FCS All-American Samori Toure, a transfer from Montana.
  • The giant tight end duo of Austin Allen (6-foot-9, 255 pounds) and Travis Vokolek (6-6, 260) has the potential to be one of the best in the Big Ten.
  • Erik Chinander’s super senior-filled defense that held Big Ten offenses to 4.17 yards per rush — which is the best since 2015’s 3.77 — brings back all but 3 starters in corner Dicaprio Bootle, who’s currently camping with the Kansas City Chiefs, and linebackers Collin Miller, who medically retired, and Will Honas, who may not be healthy enough to play this season after an injury suffered in spring ball.

Those are all positives to be excited about for Husker Nation. But what about concerns? There are plenty for a team searching for its first winning season and bowl appearance since 2016.

Here are 5 of the biggest concerns heading into the season:

The backup quarterback situation

As much as Martinez is respected and liked among the team and fanbase, no one can deny he’s prone to injury. He knows it, the coaches know it, the fans know it. It would help if he didn’t lead the team in rushing attempts for a third straight year, but Scott Frost loves the QB run, which does have benefits, like adding an extra blocker that the defense may not account for.

Martinez’s injury history makes the backup situation very important. The ones who will likely take the backup snaps should the situation call for it are both freshmen with no experience playing in a college football game — Logan Smothers and Heinrich Haarberg.

The money should be on Smothers — he’s been in the program longer and would likely hand the ball off or run it himself if Martinez needs a play or two on the sideline.

The running back room

There are 6 scholarship running backs at Nebraska and none of them has emerged as the go-to guy. It’d be smart to lean on 1 or 2 of them during the season, which will help preserve Martinez. But the Huskers need to find who they will be.

Generally, when there’s no clear cut No. 1 option, fans want to see the high-profile transfer first whenever a program gets one. That seems to be the case with sophomore Markese Stepp, a 6-1, 230-pounder who didn’t really fit Graham Harrell’s air raid offense at USC.

The issue with Stepp is his health. He battled a foot injury while at USC and didn’t participate in Nebraska’s spring game because of it. Recent reports suggest the injury might be healed enough to where he’d be able to contribute against Illinois.

A group of freshmen — Gabe Ervin Jr., Sevion Morrison, Jaquez Yant, Marvin Scott and Rahmir Johnson — are all in the running for this job, too. Getting this position figured out will do the Huskers — and Martinez — good.

The red zone offense

The Huskers offense got to the opponent’s 20-yard line 35 times last season. Compared to others in the Big Ten, that’s a good amount — it tied for 4th with Indiana and Minnesota. But Nebraska scored 18 touchdowns during those 35 red-zone trips, or just 51.4 percent of the time. Minnesota scored 24 touchdowns. Indiana found the end zone 23 times.

Nebraska needs to be better at scoring touchdowns when it gets to the opponent’s 20-yard line. A concerted effort to run the ball when the goal line gets closer would put smiles on fans’ faces. But that’s not always the easiest thing to do as the field shrinks for defenses. That’s where the bigger receiving options the Huskers have could come into play.

Allen is a power forward playing tight end at 6-9. Vokolek is 6-6. Chris Hickman is 6-5. Omar Manning and Wyatt Liewer are 6-4. Toure is 6-3.

Nebraska has a large receiving corps. It needs to be utilized, and Frost is smart enough to scheme ways to get them in 1-on-1 situations.

The passing attack

Big Ten defenses clearly weren’t afraid of Nebraska’s passing game in 2020. Whatever the reason was, whether it be Martinez not being confident enough in what he was seeing or his young receivers not running the correct routes, Nebraska’s offense needs to have a semblance of a threat to stretch the field vertically this season. If it doesn’t, defenses will continue to add bodies to the box and make life difficult for the run game.

Too many times the Huskers threw horizontal and short completions last season, relying on perimeter blocking from wideouts. Defenses quickly caught on. The result was Nebraska ranking 12th in the Big Ten in average passing yards per game (190.1) and 9th in yards per attempt (6.6). The Huskers were tied for 12th in the conference in completions of at least 20 yards (18) and 30 yards (4).

Will things change with offensive coordinator Matt Lubick taking on more of the play-calling duties? Time will tell.

The pass rush

This area of the defense needs to be better, and Chinander knows it. Nebraska ranked 9th in the Big Ten in sacks with 13, just 1.63 per game.

Honas, who led the team with 3 sacks last year, enters the season injured and likely won’t see the field. Linebackers Luke Reimer and Caleb Tannor each had 2 while outside ’backer Garrett Nelson and defensive end Ben Sille each recorded 1.5.

Pheldarius Payne is a player who was brought to Lincoln to do specifically that — rush the passer. Let’s see what the junior college transfer can do with full offseason and a better understanding of his role than last season.