Nebraska Football: Reviewing the big questions after the loss to Illinois

Nebraska football lost to Illinois on Saturday, and there are now quite a few more questions than answers for Mickey Joseph and company. Right at the top of the list is whether or not the Husker coaching staff is going to come up with those answers before the end of the season. Because they’re bound to pop up again. Like next week.

While there was a brief period of time when the Nebraska football team had all the momentum and even looked like they might be able to pull of the upset, the vast majority of the game shed light on everything that’s wrong with this program.

That includes a coaching staff that still seems very much over its head. Granted, when you consider that Mickey Joseph just finished his fifth-ever game as a head coach, he might get a pass for being in over his head. The rest of his staff, however, including Mark Whipple, are veterans in their position. They get less of a pass for sure.

Why doesn’t the Nebraska football team have a backup QB?

Obviously, the Huskers do have a backup quarterback. We’ve seen a second QB come into almost every game this year. For the most part, the reason Logan Smothers and Chubba Purdy have played so often is that Casey Thompson has taken some real shots. He’s left the game for a play or two quite often. On Saturday, he was done for the game before the first half was over.

So why did it feel like Joseph, Whipple, and the rest of the offensive coaches were totally unprepared for the eventuality that Thompson would have to leave again?

When the starter first went down, Husker faithful collectively raised their eyebrows when Logan Smothers entered the game. He finished out the first half and then was replaced by Purdy, who played about as poorly as a quarterback could play in the second half.

Yes, Illinois is one of the best defenses in the Big Ten and the country. It still looked like Purdy came into the game without much of a plan. The playcalling didn’t seem to be aimed at getting him acclimated.

So far, there’s no word on whether Casey Thompson will be able to go against Minnesota. Even if he does, if he gets hurt again, can the Nebraska football coaches come up with a better plan for Purdy? If they can’t, then what’s going on?