Nebraska Football: Ohio State postgame nuggets

Here’s a full recap of what head coach Scott Frost and his players had to say following Nebraska’s 26-17 loss to No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday…

***Frost was asked about trying for the 31-yard field goal late in the game, and he said he definitely would have gone for it in retrospect. But at the time, he felt it was the right decision.

***On the special teams errors, Frost said it wasn’t an issue of the teams playing poorly but with the “specialists.”

***Frost praised the play of his defense even with all the yards they gave up. “Man, these guys are fighters.”

***Frost said it was obvious that one area Nebraska was really struggling with was pass protection, and it limited what they could call on Saturday.

“People get on Adrian (Martinez) hard, and sometimes he deserves it,” Frost said. “But we need to be better around him, and that includes protecting him.”

***Frost confirmed that Martinez was dealing with a broken jaw and a sprained ankle. While Martinez has battled through it, he was still limited against Ohio State.

Frost said the ankle injury occurred in the Tuesday practice before the Minnesota game.

***Frost said he had “a ton of confidence” in Logan Smothers, “but you must think I’m crazy if you think I’m not playing the best players.”

***Frost: “I love being the coach here… This is going to pop at Nebraska. It just is. We have too many good players here.”

***Frost said Martinez had “about three decisions” on how to handle his broken jaw. One would have “kept him out for a while,” one that would have ended his season, and the option he chose was to keep playing through it.

***Frost: “I bleed for this. We’re pouring everything we have into this… But there are too many good things happening for us not to get over the hump.”

***Frost: “If we play with that much spirit every game, we have a couple of more wins… That’s the passion I want to see.”

***Frost said linebacker JoJo Domann was playing hurt and decided to play Saturday “because he loves this team,” but would have a decision to make about the rest of the season. “But it won’t be because he’s opting out.”

***Frost said running back Sevion Morrison wasn’t available today because he missed a couple of days of practice due to a “family issue.”

***Of his injuries and deciding to keep playing, Martinez said he’d go more in-depth into his situation after the season but it was a decision he made for his team.

***On the decision to try the field goal instead of going for a fourth-and-four, Frost said he had faith in his coach’s call and in the defense to get the ball back.

***Martinez said the latest close loss to a good team was “tough,” but he was still proud of how his team stuck together and continued to fight.

“Yes, it hurts. Yes, it’s another close game against a top team that we thought we had a chance to win. But we have no choice but to move on.”

***Martinez said “it’s incredibly tough” knowing NU wouldn’t go to a bowl game for the fifth year in a row.

***Nelson summed up the defense’s performance as “getting caught in the act of ourselves.” He said that’s how the Blackshirts always play every game and practice and how they expect to play every time out.

***Nelson said it “speaks volumes to the person he is” when asked about Domann’s commitment to the program and the effort and work he’d put into Nebraska. Nelson started to tear up while talking about what Domann had meant to him over the years.

***Nelson said the two remaining trophy games vs. Wisconsin and Iowa still had a lot of meaning for Nebraska to try and build some momentum going into next season.

“We haven’t had a trophy around here in a while,” Nelson said.