Nebraska Football: Burning Questions for the Holiday Bowl

Nebraska football fans might have forgotten about the upcoming Holiday Bowl amid all of the drama, but there are a number of questions to be answered. After the firing of Bo Pelini, more questions than normal surround Nebraska as the Huskers prepare for their bowl game.

Here are three burning questions that will help define Nebraska’s performance in San Diego.

What Will Nebraska's Motivation Be?

Bowl games are always tricky to forecast because of the motivation question.

How hard will a group of college students, nearly one month removed from the regular season and with the holidays in between, really want to work? Will one team be more willing to pay the price in preparation and have more of a chance to be successful?

That’s for any bowl game. 

Add on top of that a popular head coach being fired. Add on top of that the fired coach having a 9-3 record. And add on top of that a farewell speech from the fired 9-3 coach that further stoked the "us-versus-them" mentality that was one of the defining traits of that coach’s career.

You could imagine almost anything in terms of how Nebraska will show up for the Holiday Bowl.

The players could be razor-sharp and play the game of their life in honor of Pelini. They could be flat and listless, feeling like their season was stolen. They could come out like wild horses, riding an emotional high but falling apart at the first sign of trouble.

Each of those scenarios are plausible. Indeed, over the course of Pelini’s career, we’ve seen each of those Nebraska teams take the field.

Finding out which team comes out of the locker room will be one of the biggest questions of the Holiday Bowl.

What Will the Game Plan Be?

While Pelini is getting comfortable in Youngstown, the rest of his staff will be preparing Nebraska for the Holiday Bowl. That means defensive coordinator John Papuchis will be in charge of the Blackshirts, and offensive coordinator Tim Beck will call the game however he wants.

Throw in a month to prepare—and coaches who will be looking to make a good impression for future employers—and Nebraska could look different than it has at any point this year.

How effective that will be, of course, is anyone’s guess.

How Healthy Will Nebraska Be?

Without the coaching change, this one might have been the biggest question to answer coming into the Holiday Bowl.

Ameer Abdullah’s status will be the biggest question, of course, as it was his injury during the Purdue game that really changed the course of Nebraska’s season. But Kenny Bell has also struggled with injuries all season—as have a number of other Huskers.

With a month to heal, Nebraska will be as healthy as it has been since the start of the season. That will make a significant difference, particularly given the talent level of a team like USC.

For a different look at Nebraska football, check out The Double Extra Point.

You can also use the Twitter machine to follow @DblExtraPoint.