NU gears up for Penn State

Nebraska got back to work this week to get ready for Saturday’s home opener against Penn State.

Head coach Scott Frost and several Husker players met with reporters on Monday for their weekly Zoom press conference. Here’s a full recap of what they had to say…

***Frost said the plan at quarterback “is going to have to develop” through the week before they make a final decision on the starter vs. Penn State. He said that quarterback was one of several positions where starting jobs would be up for grabs this week.

***Frost said Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey were both great people, and he had no doubt they would handle the situation well this week and beyond.

***Frost said Martinez needed to make quicker and more efficient decisions and improve his accuracy. “Just eliminating the plays that are killing us on drives,” Frost said.

***Frost said he’d been “impressed and pleased” with how the defense has progressed so far, and that will allow NU to be more aggressive with its offensive tempo going forward.

***Frost said Nebraska’s margin for error wasn’t big enough to overcome all of the mental mistakes with penalties and turnovers. “That’s a focus thing, and that’s a discipline thing. As an entire program, we have to get that fixed.”

***Frost said, “I don’t think there’s any doubt” that Penn State was much better than its 0-3 record. He noted how long and athletic the Nittany Lions were on defense.

***Frost said McCaffrey “came in and did a good job,” but the interception near the goal line was “unfortunate,” and a throw that wasn’t where it needed to be.

***Frost said improving the red zone inefficiency vs. Northwestern was partly due to the Wildcats’ defense, which he thought could be the best in the Big Ten statistically by the end of the season.

***Frost said, “I wish I had the magic answer” for how to handle a quarterback battle. All he can do is treat that position like every other spot on the team and let it play out during practice. He said all fall camp, the first-team reps were 50/50, but they like to give the starter more during game weeks. How that’s divided this week remains TBD.

***Frost said center Cam Jurgens was day-to-day after missing the Northwestern game.

***Frost said Matt Farniok “played one of his best games as a Husker” and “was our best offensive lineman in that game” while filling in for Jurgens at center vs. Northwestern.

***Frost said they would “fast track” the young wide receivers now that they’ve all gotten game experience under their belts. How they responded from here on would determine their roles in games going forward.

***Frost said, “there’s no doubt how much progress we’ve made, but we need to start winning games.” He said that the Northwestern loss was as frustrating of a loss as he’d experienced.

“Once this turns, it’s going to turn in a big way, and we need that to happen soon.”

***Frost said the biggest positives he’d seen from his team so far were the play of the offensive and defensive lines and the speed of the linebackers and secondary in getting to the football.

***Frost said he puts “too much” pressure on himself to turn Nebraska’s program around. “This program is everything. This is my life right now… I haven’t’ for one second lost hope in believing what we’re doing.”

***Frost said, “we need Wan’Dale (Robinson) to be a bigger part of the game plan.” He said Robinson was playing a position that was “a focus of our offense,” and it was “only a matter of time” before he started getting the ball more.

***Frost said the only way Nebraska can start playing with more confidence was by having some success, especially on offense. He said NU needed to create more big plays and be more dynamic on offense.

***Frost said the plan all along was getting Marcus Fleming and Zavier Betts in the game Saturday, but that kind of held the offense back because “they’re not ready to digest and handle the entire game plan right now.”

***Frost said running back Ronald Thompkins missed time last week and wasn’t available at Northwestern. He said Marvin Scott had “probably his best week of practice, and we rewarded him.”

***Dismuke said you “can’t ask for anything more” than how Myles Farmer and Quinton Newsome performed in their first starts last week.

***Dismuke said Cam Taylor-Britt and Deontai Williams kept good attitudes while sitting out the first half at Northwestern, and they had to adjust to the rhythm of the game when they got back on the field in the second half.

***Dismuke said his message to the team has been, ‘as men, we’ve got to keep our heads up… We’ve got five games left, so we can’t go half-assed.”

***Dismuke said this week’s game vs. Penn State was “very important” for several reasons, including the fact that Nebraska finally gets to play at home for the first time this season.

***Dismuke said much of Northwestern’s offensive success had to do with mistakes by Nebraska’s defense. “Those are things that we have to fix.”

***Dismuke said playing in an empty Memorial Stadium would be a lot like practice, as the team has practiced inside the stadium a lot this offseason.

***Miller said he felt the defense played well at Northwestern, creating turnovers and only committing one penalty.

***Miller said everyone else finally got to see what Luke Reimer brings to the defense against Northwestern. He said that having Will Honas, Reimer, and himself all healthy would provide a big boost to the ILB rotation.

***Miller said all of the close losses Nebraska has suffered over the years came down to NU “finding ways to win games… When we have a team down, we have to find ways to keep them down and put our foot on their neck.”

***Even though Saturday will pit two winless teams in an empty stadium, Miller said the motivation to get up for a game like this was that “this could be the movement that we need to get this thing going.”

***Miller said Nebraska had “to get a little bit tougher in some parts of the team.” He said both lines had been very good, but it all came back to the Huskers finding ways to win when times got tough, and the game was on the line.

***Stille said the tackling wasn’t nearly as good in the second half as it was in the first, which was one of the biggest differences he saw on Saturday. He said he’d grade the defense “somewhere in the B range” as a whole for that game.

***Stille said Ty Robinson and Casey Rogers have impressed with their consistency for their age. Stille said he struggled with his consistency as a young player, but those two have brought it on every rep.

***Stille said the versatility on the defensive line and linebacker had been a real asset for the defense being able to give different looks and adjust packages on the fly without having to substitute.

***Stille said, “it’s crucial for us to get a win this week. Winning is contagious, and we need to get one and get on a roll.”

***Stille said he didn’t expect Saturday to be a “huge difference” without fans. “I don’t think it’s been as big of an issue as people thought it would be going into the year.”

***Stille said he’d still definitely miss the atmosphere for a home game in Memorial Stadium, especially with this being his senior year.

***Warner said, “I trust this team… I trust us being able to overcome this adversity.” He said the mindset needed to be that Nebraska had to earn a victory this week and do the same thing every week after.

***Warner said Marcus Fleming “played great” at Northwestern, and it was great to see Fleming, Alante Brown, and Zavier Betts to get on the field and see bigger roles. He said all three had been meeting with him and asking him questions all last week, and they all were striving to get better.

***Warner said the biggest thing Nebraska’s offense needed to improve was eliminating mental mistakes. “That’s on all of us… We need to get better as a team at that.”

***He also said improving their play in the red zone was another priority this week. Warner said the offense needed better “anticipation” and efficiency in the red zone because things happened so much faster so close to the end zone.

***Warner said the belief in the locker room that they can turn this season around was still there despite a frustrating start. He said he met with every position group’s leaders to make sure the team was all delivering the same message.

“You have to believe that the next step is coming, or else you can’t work any harder.”

***Warner said he had “unwavering belief in both of them” when asked about Nebraska’s quarterbacks. “I love both those guys, and I’m blessed to have both of them as my quarterbacks.”

***Warner said he talked with Adrian Martinez during and after the game, and Martinez even came over to his place on Sunday to talk about everything that was going on. “His confidence is unwavering… I trust that he’s still my quarterback and that he’ll get it turned around.”