Tanner Lee will start against Rutgers as he deals with adversity.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Nebraska's first-year quarterback will be making his first career Big Ten start Saturday, but it will be his second career start against Rutgers.

How's that?

Lee started against Rutgers for Tulane in 2014, but he was knocked out of the game in the second quarter on a sack by Kemoko Turay.

"I remember that entire day," Lee told NJ Advance Media in July. "It was my first Big Ten game. I took a hit, and hit my head back on the ground. They ended up taking me in (to the locker room) and I separated my shoulder. I was pretty upset about that. We had a pretty good first quarter."

Actually, Rutgers led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter en route to a 31-6 victory.

But Lee's memory is correct regarding his own performance: He was 7-of-9 passing for 81 yards and had just led a 12-play drive to the 24-yard line before Turay's sack took Tulane out of field-goal range.

"It was a great opportunity to play against a bigger school," said Lee, who was touted as a "talented passer" by then-Rutgers coach Kyle Flood. "That was a tough day. My first real injury."

And yet it was a harbinger of things to come during Lee's career at Tulane, which ended with his transfer following the 2015 season. Tulane allowed 51 sacks combined in 2014 and 2015.

In addition to the separated shoulder, he suffered a concussion and multiple injuries to his hand including a broken index finger after an entanglement with a helmet and another when his ring fingered needed a pin inserted, according to USA TODAY.

"It's difficult," Lee said of bottling up frustrations in his time at Tulane. "You are an underdog, probably every game. I played with injuries a couple times. A lot of learning experiences. You get beat one week, and you have to prepare, starting the next day, on the next Saturday. Putting things behind you and learning to move forward."

It's a lesson no doubt coming in handy now that Nebraska is looking to avoid its first 1-3 start since 1957.

Lee, who sat out last season under NCAA rules but has two years of eligibility remaining because of an approved waiver, threw two interceptions returned for touchdowns in a 21-17 loss to Northern Illinois that left coach Mike Riley on the hot seat.

"I learned a ton at Tulane just going through different types of adversity," Lee said in July. "There's a lot of good and bad that goes along with playing there, but a lot of positives that made me a better player."

So how much impact will the 2014 game have on Saturday?

Probably not much, though Lee said in the preseason that facing Rutgers again was "going to be a fun game."

Not only is Lee playing with a different cast of teammates, Rutgers has a new coaching staff and only five defensive players -- Turay, Myles Nash, Sebastian Joseph, Darnell Davis and T.J. Taylor (out for the season) -- remaining who appeared in the 2014 matchup. Turay is the only one who had even one tackle.

Still, defensive coordinator Jay Niemann -- who also has ties to Northern Illinois -- might just pick the brains of his redshirt seniors to see what they remember about facing a younger Lee.

"I wouldn't say that's something we wouldn't want to do," Niemann said, "but we're still on the front end of the game plan. That hasn't been a discussion yet. But it's a good thought."

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.