LINCOLN — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini is unsure when the team's returning starter at quarterback will be healthy enough to start throwing again.
Senior Zac Lee had offseason surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right arm and consequently could not take part in the 15 spring practices.
As a result, sophomore Cody Green and redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez took advantage of the extra repetitions, both making their own cases during Saturday's spring game to be viewed as legitimate contenders to start. Lee watched it all from the sidelines.
Pelini doesn't know when Lee will be physically ready to join once again the quarterback race, but it's clear that the position battle's presumed front-runner had better hurry. Injuries don't have too many benefits, Pelini said.
“Anytime you're out, hopefully you progress mentally,” Pelini said Tuesday during the Big 12 football coaches' telephone conference call. “There's no substitute for actually doing it yourself.
“Obviously he wasn't in a position where he could do that. So you've got to try to make yourself better in other ways.”
Then again, Lee will get a fair shot to compete for the top spot, Pelini said. The coaching staff isn't placing a timetable on the quarterback race.
It could last until September, Pelini said. And maybe, if it's still unsettled, the Huskers would even consider using a combination at that spot.
“Competition will hopefully bring out the best in everybody,” Pelini said. “I'm looking forward to the race. Let the best man win.”
Pelini says Huskers should be confident
When Pelini grabbed the microphone after the Holiday Bowl win four months ago and told a celebrating Husker crowd that “Nebraska's back,” he wasn't just trying to fire up the fan base.
Pelini reiterated Tuesday that he really meant it.
The third-year coach said he thinks that the NU program has reached the point where it's realistic to think that it can compete with any other team on the football field. That doesn't mean that the Huskers will win them all, Pelini said, but they shouldn't shortchange themselves by thinking that they can't.
“Week in and week out, there's not anybody that you could throw at us that we don't have the opportunity to beat,” Pelini said. “I felt good about the point where our program was there at the end of the year.”
Big 12 title loss motivates players
Pelini doesn't mind if his players use last season's heartbreaking loss to Texas in the Big 12 championship game as a motivator.
He won't be doing it, though.
The Huskers lost 13-12 on a last-second field goal last December, prompting an offseason full of player-to-player, locker-room conversations about working harder to avoid similar situations. Pelini said he didn't take part, but he can tell that his players are pushing themselves to get better.
“It's whatever guys choose to use as their motivation,” Pelini said. “Obviously we were close. I think guys are just hungry. People are anxious because they came here to win championships, and it hasn't happened yet.”
— Jon Nyatawa
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