Nebraska is back on the field this week in its traditional Black Friday matchup with Iowa. The last time the Huskers took the field they lost to Illinois, 41-23. While Nebraska has not provided a travel roster in 2020, deputy editor Erin Sorensen is in Iowa City ahead of the Iowa game.
Here are some observations from warmups:
>> Junior Adrian Martinezis your starting quarterback against Iowa. As pre-game warm-ups indicated, he takes the starting job back after redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey started against Penn State and Illinois.
McCaffrey had four turnovers in Nebraska’s 41-23 loss to Illinois. He finished with 122 rushing yards on 26 carries, but he was only 15-for-26 for 134 yards as a passer.
Martinez’s last game—Nov. 7 in a 21-13 loss to now-No. 8 Northwestern—featured a 12-for-27 performance for 125 yards with 102 yards as a rusher on 13 carries.
Nebraska also brought quarterbacks Logan Smothers and Matt Masker to Iowa City, but that’s not unusual. Both have made all trips so far this season.
>> Nebraska will be without running back Dedrick Mills again this week.
Mills missed the Illinois game with an unspecified injury, and left in the first quarter of the Penn State game on Nov. 14. Mills has 31 carries on the season but has struggled to get going. In his absence, Nebraska has turned to Wan’Dale Robinson at running back.
Frost said Mills had practiced this week, but he remained a game-time decision.
>> Wide receiver Marcus Fleming is also out.
>> Senior inside linebacker Collin Miller was one of the first on the field on Friday. He’s still recovering for a spinal concussion suffered against Illinois, but he was able to get an exception to still travel with the team. Frost confirmed as much earlier in the week, calling Miller “the heart and soul of our team.”
>> Luke Reimer was taking first-team reps at the middle linebacker spot with Will Honas. Nick Henrich and Garrett Snodgrass working with the second group.
>> The weather should hold up nicely through game. It looks like partly cloudy and 43 when kickoff happens. One thing to keep an eye on is the breeze.
As of noon, we have 40 degrees and the sun is out in Iowa City. It's game time!
📸: @erinsorensen from @HailVarsity pic.twitter.com/I4aEMhfmdI
— Husker Weather (@HuskerWeather) November 27, 2020
