No quarterback decision yet? No problem.

We'll find out who Nebraska's quarterback is in two weeks, on Sept. 18 to be exact. It will be there, on the shores of Lake Washington and beneath the thunder roaring down from the extended roof of Husky Stadium, when NU faces its first test of 2010 against Jake Locker and Washington, that we'll know who is going to lead this team.

Meanwhile, Bo Pelini has given us a lot to chew on for opening week, Western Kentucky week.

At this press conference on Tuesday, Pelini not only didn't reveal the identity of his starting quarterback, he said he hadn't made the decision yet. On Tuesday of game week? He said it could come later this week.

By the way, Joe Paterno said the same thing on Tuesday at Penn State.

Pelini also added something interesting. He said a part of this quarterback decision was keeping the spotlight off the guy who gets the job. Which begs the question: If it were Zac Lee, who started the majority of the games last year, why would you protect him from the pressure?

Does that mean it's Taylor Martinez?

Or Cody Green?

Who knows? All three are likely to play against an overmatched Hilltopper unit on Saturday night. We'll find out more then. We'll dissect each quarterback's snaps, big plays and bad plays, huddle command, spirals, how he looks in a jersey, etc. And none of it will really mean a thing.

Because those three will do it all over again the following week against Idaho.

The one sign of caution from Tuesday was that, if this is true, nobody has taken hold of the job yet. That's potentially a problem for a team trying to win a bunch of games and a championship. It happened in 1994. But that was a seasoned, multi-talented team, a once-in-a-generation bunch. If this NU team, talented as it is, has to play hot potato with the quarterback each week, it may not bode well.

What The Decision does mean is that whoever starts Saturday night should start at U-Dub in two weeks, barring a meltdown or injury the first two games. So that's a leg up. But then that quarterback will have to prove his mettle, all over again and in a much hotter environment. If he can, he's the guy. If he can't, here we go.

We'll see. What Pelini has done is give us all something to talk about on an otherwise mundane Western Kentucky week. And for that, I thank him.

« Blog - Tom Shatel

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