I think Coach Sark is just paying respect to the Huskers. His team motto is "Expect To Win", and it's posted all over the place. I think he expects our dawgs to win, but at the same time he is going to pay the utmost respect to the opponent, especially one as storied as Nebraska.
You are likely correct that in our current offense TM is going to get hit a lot. Good defenses will try to rock his world on every play, just as Carl and Bo would do against a Tyrod or against Shoelace in Ann Arbor next year. When Tm carries the ball he'll get hit, when he hands off the ball and fakes he'll get hit like the ball carrier, and if it's even close, he'll get hit after a pass. He's a tough athlete but having a backup RTG is more important given the physical game TM leads.
And Bo and Wats likely are acutely aware of how last year's pre-season QB play (offense in general) translated once conference season began. If the option offense featuring T Mart rushing gets bogged down in Big 12 play and Cody is the better passer, they want him to have been in meaningful game situations if they have to go to him. I think we'll get a feel Saturday as to how the TM game will go against a mid to lower tier Big 12 defense at Wash. If their defense can shut the run game down and T Mart doesn't execute the passing game to make them pay, expect a switch to Cody and then more emphasis on Cody in our last OOC game.
Bo is not going to trust success against the cupcakes this season on offense translating to league play like with Lee last year. You can bet they will go into the conference with a Plan B this year at QB, in case of injury or ineffectiveness.