The Morning After: In A Search For Answers, Scott Frost Continues To Go Back To The Same Well

I wrote on Friday that even if Nebraska were to lose to Purdue that the season is not lost. I stand by that statement, but the way things went yesterday the season might not only be lost but the Scott Frost tenure could be over as well.

That is, unless Frost finds a way to win one or two of the final three games. Those games, as everybody knows, are against Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa. You don’t even need a hand to count the amount of wins Frost has against those three schools.

We are all waiting for this Nebraska squad to get over the hump. Well that opportunity to show they can get over the hump is right in front of them.

That waiting for the other person to get over the hump is exactly what has plagued Scott Frost during this four years at Nebraska. We can see the good to great that is possible for this football team, we are still waiting for them to stop stubbing their toe or to finally start executing at a competent level.

Just like Frost can see the good to great that Adrian Martinez is capable of, he is waiting for Martinez to get over the hump and not make those mental mistakes and to make winning plays.

In the second half it was clear the offense had no spark. Frost said after the game that Martinez was the best option for success.

How is it that in year four that an obviously hobbled Adrian Martinez is still the best option for this football team? How is there not somebody behind him who can provide a spark at this point?

Throughout this league we have teams who appear to have multiple options at quarterback while Nebraska has none.

When Adrian Martinez is healthy he is looks like the best quarterback in the conference. The problem is that he has not been consistently healthy since his junior year in high school.

If Logan Smothers or Heinrich Haarberg are not better options than a hobbled Martinez then it says two things. First, the quarterback development has not been good over the past four years. Second, it shows that it appears it was a mistake to not go into the transfer portal for a quarterback during the off-season.

The Nebraska coaches like to say that the quarterback is only one cog in their offensive system. Smothers has been in the program for two years. How can he not be a competent cog in the offensive system at this point? Heinrich Haarberg is a true freshman so it may make sense he might not be ready.

When Frost is searching for answers, one wonders why Logan Smothers cannot be one of them.

We keep waiting for Martinez, and this program, to stop making the mental mistakes that continue to happen. Like Martinez, when the Huskers stop making those mistakes that is when we will see this team finally get over the hump.

Frost is waiting for Martinez to get over the hump. We are waiting for this football program to get over the hump.

It is looking more and more likely that it is never going to happen.

The Morning After

Here are the final takes and grades from Nebraska’s 28-23 loss to Purdue on Saturday.
Nobody thought we’d be here, nobody wanted to be here, but the reality is we are here.

Nebraska sits at 3-6 in Scott Frost’s fourth season with games against Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa remaining. NU hasn’t beaten OSU since 2011, the Badgers since 2012 and the Hawkeyes since 2014.

Chatelain: After four years of hope for Scott Frost, only despair remains for Husker football | Football | omaha.com
You can not spin the devastation. On a spirit-shaking, confidence-breaking afternoon, the Scott Frost era crashed. In such a way that almost certainly can’t be salvaged, writes Dirk Chatelain.

McKewon: Another Husker loss prompts Scott Frost’s state-of-the-union style presser | Football | omaha.com
High inflation in the loss category — 26 in four years under Scott Frost — is a major problem, and it may cost the Husker coach and his staff an

Shatel: It didn’t happen. Scott Frost, Huskers showed true identity in loss to Purdue | Football | omaha.com
By now all the early bravado and promises have given way to Saturday’s horror scene resembling 2003 or 2007 or 2017. Scott Frost was supposed to be the antidote to

Frustration hits ‘all-time high’ for Huskers after demoralizing home loss to Purdue | Football | journalstar.com
Scott Frost said “magic speeches” weren’t going to save his reeling team this year and turned the postgame message over to his captains.

Steven M. Sipple: The sad story of the end of Frost’s tenure at NU may now be writing itself | Football | journalstar.com
It seems increasingly possible that when this regular season ends, Nebraska A.D. Trev Alberts will be left with a decision that isn’t all that difficult.

They Said It: Nebraska Players Discuss 28-23 Loss to Purdue – Nebraska Football – Hail Varsity
We heard from a few players on Saturday night after the Huskers’ 28-23 loss to Purdue. Adrian Martinez, JoJo Domann and Austin Allen all met with the media.

Here are selected questions and answers from the player’s time with the media.

Momentum-changing play escapes Huskers by a fingertip
With less than a minute to go before halftime, Nebraska’s defense got a key fourth down stop with 20 seconds remaining on the clock and three timeouts to use.

The Huskers took over at their own 48, and on first down, quarterback Adrian Martinez rolled to his right and saw wide receiver Samori Toure with a step on a defender.

Christopherson: The records, at some point, do all the loud talking
Amid the disheartened critiques about Husker football with your neighbor over the fence line, there is that question that even those who disagree often just shake their heads at and ponder together: How does something that seemed so right when it came together four years ago, how does it get sideways like this?

Chatelain: After four years of hope for Scott Frost, only despair remains for Husker football | Football | omaha.com
You can not spin the devastation. On a spirit-shaking, confidence-breaking afternoon, the Scott Frost era crashed. In such a way that almost certainly can’t be salvaged, writes Dirk Chatelain.