Most intriguing questions heading into the 2019 college football season

How quickly can Scott Frost turn this Nebraska program into a Big 10 contender?

It’s been 24 years since Nebraska won those two peculiar national titles with guys like Ahman Green and Tommy Frazier running the show. Not a lot of people remember that time better than the guy who played quarterback the following two years and led them to their highest end-of-season ranking since, when they finished second nationally – Scott Frost. The now-44 year old returned to his former school last year after finishing a perfect season with UCF. His first season, however, did not go as planned, as they lost their first six games before picking up some steam and winning four of the last six. While there are certainly still question marks, there is even more reason for optimism.

Five of Nebraska’s eight losses last season came by one score, with two of those being against the teams that met in the conference championship game – Northwestern and Ohio State – and the season-finale at Iowa. Plus, two games could have easily gone the other way if quarterback Adrian Martinez didn’t have to leave them. That brings me to the guy, who looked like a rising star as a freshman despite the less-than-ideal situation. Martinez and Frost seem to have a very strong relationship and I think as the young signal-caller develops, he will only improve on those 25 combined touchdowns.

While the Cornhuskers are looking to replace their leading rusher and receiver from 2018, J.D. Spielman looks primed to emerge as a number one option in the passing game and the coaching staff will try to feature their highest recruit in all-purpose back Wan’Dale Robinson heavily, who reportedly is “turning heads” in practice. The defense is expected to take a step forward with proven transfers up front to improve the run defense and pass rush.

Looking at their schedule for 2019, I expect Scott Frost’s troops to win eight or nine games, which could potentially be enough to win the Big Ten West. They should probably start the year 4-0 and they host most of their biggest games – Ohio State, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Iowa. While it definitely wasn’t against the same type of competition, Nebraska did win three of their conference home games last year.