There were questions to be answered Monday before the football version of the weekly Huskie Club Luncheon could go into cold storage.

Questions about Nevada-Las Vegas. About the upcoming recruiting season. And about the status of injured Huskie quarterback Marshall Taylor.

Jerry Pettibone, backed by the strength of Saturday’s 34-31 win over the Rebels, had all the answers for the Huskie faithful. The only bad news concerned Taylor’s injury.

“Marshall has a (left ankle) fracture. It’s broken in two places,” Pettibone said. “He’ll have surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) at Rockford Memorial, and they’ll probably have to insert a plate and a couple of screws. He’ll be in a cast eight weeks, followed by probably two to three months of slow, gradual rehabilitation.”

The junior starter went down in the third quarter on what Pettibone described as a “legitimate” tackle, although originally both the coach and Taylor thought the injury was caused by a late hit. Pettibone said film showed otherwise.

Pettibone said Taylor was working the sweep option and had just pitched to the halfback when a Rebel player lunged to disrupt the play and rolled over Taylor’s ankle.

Pettibone added Taylor more than likely will miss spring practice. With Pete Genatempo having completed his eligibility, Pettibone said NIU will be forced to nab “at least two quarterbacks” in the recruiting wars, which begin in earnest this week.

Another Huskie need lies in the kicking game, where punter Darren Monnett graduates and, although John Ivanic won a spot in Huskie history with his field goal kicking, the team still desires a deep kickoff artist.

Otherwise, Pettibone said the departures of Ted Karamanos, Dan Graham and John Sugrue will not deplete the offensive line corps. He said past recruiting seasons have left the program with good depth on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Of course, one of the many tools used in recruiting is the past season’s record. The Huskie mark of 5-5-1, Pettibone said, reflects “a good season of learning. It will certainly affect recruiting and our offseason program.”

With the hard questions out of the way, Pettibone was allowed a little humor, courtesy of his partner in comedy, soccer coach Willy Roy.

First, there was Pettibone describing the exact definition of a “domination block.” The football boss compared it to wrestling, in that you knock an opponent on his back and “make him see the lights.” Roy broke in and asked Pettibone to physically demonstrate such a block.

Roy then made his customary awarding of the victory apple, although this time there was but a quarter of an apple for Pettibone since the Huskies almost lost a three-touchdown lead. “When it was 31-10 it was a complete apple,” Roy said.