Critical closing stretch begins with a big question: Can the Huskers finally stop Iowa’s ground game? | Football

“It’s important. We’re so much better in so many ways, but we weren’t Saturday and that’s what frustrates me,” Frost said Monday. “We’ve taken steps forward, I feel like we took a step back Saturday. We’ve got more talent in this program than we’ve had the last two years. The talent keeps growing.

“A lot of the good players that are playing for us are young, freshmen playing for the first time. To win in this league you’ve got to not only have the athletes on the field and have the right Xs and Os, you’ve got to execute it really well. That’s easier to do with a veteran team than it is a young team. …

“The progress is evident when you’re inside these walls, but it’s got to show up on the field. We’re playing three games against three good opponents. We’re going to take our swing. There’s no doubt that the improvements are being made. It’s got to show up on the football field and we’ve got to catch some momentum.”

There’s a line to walk, though, between understanding the importance of the moment and putting undue pressure on one game or one thing.

“I don’t think you can ever play or coach, you can’t be pressed all the time,” defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said. “We need wholesale (change). We’ve got to win this one. Coach Frost has put a process in front of us, just like he’s done everywhere we’ve ever been. We have to follow the process and we have to keep chipping away at the process and we have to keep developing these players and we have to keep doing the right thing.