LINCOLN — Three days remain until Nebraska's season-opening football game against Western Kentucky, and still we know little more about the biggest mystery of the preseason than at this time a month ago.

All signs point to an unveiling of the Huskers' starting quarterback only after Saturday's 6:10 p.m. kickoff, when senior Zac Lee, sophomore Cody Green or redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez will take the field at Memorial Stadium with the rest of the offensive starters.

“You'd have to kill us to get it out of us,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said Tuesday. “We're not going to tell you.”

But why?

Primarily, coach Bo Pelini said he believes this level of secrecy — seemingly unprecedented at Nebraska before a season opener — works best. He's not releasing a depth chart to identify starters at other positions, so he said there is no need to single out the QB.

“It's my philosophy,” Pelini said. “I don't know whether it's right or wrong. I hope people understand.”

Theories abound on why Pelini and Watson have kept quiet.

“We've discussed it every day,” Watson said. “Don't think that we don't talk about it.”

But according to Pelini, a lot can happen before Saturday. He wants the competition to continue.

NU quarterbacks remained off limits to the media this week. Lee and Green answered questions during the early days of camp. Martinez hasn't done an interview since he arrived on campus last year — per Nebraska policy for players who've not participated in a game.

Gaining steam this week: speculation that the job is going to Martinez. Pelini didn't exactly discredit it when asked to explain the benefits of withholding an announcement.

“It'd be a circus,” he said. “That's the last thing you'd want.”

Lee, who started 12 games last year, and even Green, the starter as a true freshman against Baylor and Oklahoma, already have experienced such hoopla.

Still, Watson said, the Huskers never necessarily planned to name a starter before the opener. And Pelini reiterated Tuesday that he hasn't told the Huskers of their tentative plan.

“We're a team,” Pelini said. “And in the end, that's one of 11 guys to walk out on the field.

“At every level, it's like this with the quarterback position, but I'm not going to change our approach. I'm not going to put that position on a pedestal.”

NU players don't seem bothered. Some even embrace the uncertainty.

“It could be just one. It could be all three. It could be anything,” tight end Ben Cotton said. “And I think we're all comfortable with that.”

Rest assured, Pelini said, the quarterbacks will learn of their assignments before Saturday. The coach said he'll give them adequate time to deal with the news. And no, he doesn't envision a contentious situation because of the late decision.

“The way we do things around here is face to face,” Pelini said. “We'll talk about it. Only one guy is going to be able to go out there and start. In the end, the other guys have got to be mature and handle it.

“We'll handle it so we do the right thing by the kids — not only the kid who's going to be the starter, but the kids who aren't going to walk out there.”

Contact the writer:

402-444-1031, mitch.sherman@owh.com