Progress and Results Aren’t Matching Up Yet and The Morning After Nebraska Football News Scott Frost Adrian Martinez Iowa Luke McCaffrey

The defense played well enough for Nebraska to break Iowa’s five game winning streak against the Huskers. The offense and special teams did not.

The dropped punt and continued offensive line issues insured that Iowa would walk away with a win.

Not every game is a referendum on Scott Frost and this Nebraska football program. What has become abundantly clear, however, is that in year three of Scott Frost’s tenure there have been obvious steps forward. Unfortunately, for several reasons there has also been steps back in certain areas.

This wasn’t something we learned in the 26-20 loss to Iowa. This was something we already knew. At least for this season Nebraska is a team that can play and beat almost every team on the schedule (except Ohio State). However, it is not a team that can overcome mistakes at this point.

Especially mistakes like Cam Taylor-Britt’s dropped punt or Cam Jurgens’ faulty snaps. Yet, with those lethal mistakes Nebraska was right there at the end to win the game.

It didn’t.

It is a results driven business. So all of the progress that we can see does not mean a thing until they start finishing off games. This program needs wins and they have been right there for the taking.

While the sun has set on another Nebraska-Iowa game, the sun will come back up and at some point the results are going to be different. It won’t be this year. Those wins are coming though for many it has not come soon enough.

Coach Frost believes it is coming. I believe that as well. One thing for sure is I would not bet against Scott Frost to get this figured out. He knows there are doubters. There have been doubters before and he proved them wrong then. I can’t wait until we see him prove his doubters wrong again.

Until that time comes there has to be constant self evaluation by this coaching staff. What is happening is not good enough. They know it. We know it.

It is not hypocritical to criticize this coaching staff and at the same time believe that good times are coming.

Hopefully they come sooner than later.

The Morning After

‘Woulda-coulda-shoulda’ costs Huskers in another one-score loss to Iowa on Black Friday | Football | journalstar.com
Scott Frost is 45 years old, but he felt older than that on Friday afternoon.

It is not the first time he’s felt and looked and sounded as if the three years (minus one week) since he arrived in Lincoln spry and excited and fresh off a magical 2017 season at Central Florida have taken a toll on him akin to dog years or a presidential term.

Huskers lose sixth straight to Iowa to fall to 1-4 this season | Football | omaha.com
This time an Iowa kicker missed in the clutch. But Nebraska fumbled away its final opportunity and still lost another game to the Hawkeyes in painful, what-if fashion.

Steven M. Sipple: Frost’s resolve evident, as is his pain; NU fans definitely can relate to latter | Football | journalstar.com
The ongoing discussion about the state of the Nebraska football program largely comes down to trust.

It comes down to whether or not Husker fans trust head coach Scott Frost to pull the program out of its tailspin. You’ll get a variety of opinions in that regard, although there are surely plenty of doubters at this point.

Fast Takes after Huskers lose another tight one against Hawkeyes
This won’t make the leftovers taste better, even if the effort this week from Nebraska resembled what needs to be on display every time the Huskers step on the field.

Three thoughts on Nebraska’s defense in tough loss to Iowa
Nebraska’s defense pulled it back together on Friday against Iowa, but it wasn’t enough for the Huskers in a 26-20 loss.

A few more thoughts on Nebraska’s defense

Three thoughts on Nebraska’s offense in Black Friday loss
Nebraska’s offense was once again problematic in a 26-20 loss to Iowa on Black Friday. The Huskers rotated quarterbacks, rotated running backs, found a little success outside the quarterback run game, but largely looked out of answers when needing to drive late in the game.

What stood out on another slow offensive day for Nebraska.

Game Balls: Who stood out against Iowa?
Nebraska battled with Iowa on Friday, but couldn’t pull off the come-from-behind win, after a late fumble and the team failed to score on any of its final three drives of the second half of the 26-20 loss.

Still, several played well and we wanted to highlight a few of the top performers. No game balls are actually in the mail – especially when no one is in the mood to receive them after a tough loss.

Nebraska Drops Sixth Consecutive Game in the Series with 26-20 Loss to Iowa | Hail Varsity – Nebraska Football, Recruiting, News
Nebraska took a second-half lead over Iowa Saturday for the first time in a game between the two cross-state rivals since 2014. The Huskers had momentum.

With a touchdown drive led by junior quarterback Adrian Martinez that tied things at 13-all with 29 seconds to play in the second quarter and the ball coming back its way to begin the third, Nebraska had a rare opportunity to get one of those double-dip opportunities in the middle-eight portion of the game. Iowa took the ball to start.

Iowa 26, Nebraska 20: Stay Frosty – Black Heart Gold Pants
Your Iowa Hawkeyes overcame a bit of a rocky first half to stuff Nebraska’s turkey en route to a 26-20 win, Iowa’s sixth in a row over the Huskers on Black Friday.