CHICAGO, IL – It’s year two of trust the process as the Huskers look to keep the ball rolling after a successful second half of the 2018 season with Scott Frost at the helm. Frost led his last team, UCF to an undefeated record in his second year there, however, he’s quick to stop the comparison debate before it gets started.
“Well, we coached a lot of really good kids and really good players in Orlando. We’ve got a lot of really good kids and really good players in Lincoln. Those two teams have nothing to do with one another, and I’m never going to make any comparisons.” said Frost the first time the question popped up at B1G Ten Media Day on Thursday.
He turned the focus to his 2019 Nebraska team and the progress they have made.
“We’re concerned about this team. I love the progress this team has made. But you guys get to make all the predictions and prognostications. I get to coach the team, so I don’t know about any results. I don’t think our kids feel pressure. They’re just excited to play. We’re better. We’re better than we were a year ago, and the rest of it we’re going to have to earn.”
Better for Nebraska in 2019, maybe an understatement. After the team’s first game of the year was canceled against Akron, they took six straight losses for the worst start in program history. However, in the second half of the season, they won four of six games, with their only losses coming against 3rd ranked Ohio State and then 25th ranked Iowa by three points in the season finale.
They enter 2019 with a few holes to fill, which Frost hopes to have a recruiting class that ranked 18th best in the country help with those spots. Frost was very particular in stating that there would be very little if any seniors playing on the offensive side of the ball in the 2019 season.
“We’re not going to have any seniors, or very many seniors on offense this year.”
In result, Frost and the coaching staff didn’t bring any seniors to Media Days, which is something he noted to not get used to in the future. The focus of the players that were brought was standout quarterback Adrian Martinez.
“Coaches also kind of think we’ve got to bring a guy that is going to speak well to represent us and say and do the right things, and he’s the poster child for that. He deserves to be in the spotlight. He can handle it, he’s ready for it, and he’s here.”
Martinez played in just five games last season for the Huskers, all a part of the turn around in the second half. He finished the year with 2,617 yards through the air along with 17 TD’s. He did throw eight interceptions, but that can be expected of any young quarterback, especially entering midseason. Frost expects big improvements from Martinez in his second year under center.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t trade our guy for anybody in the country at that position, at the quarterback position. On top of being a great player, he’s just a great individual, exactly what we’re looking for to run our offense. We’re probably going to go as far as he can take us this year.”
Frost continued his praise, even noting that he thought Martinez played the position better than himself.
“I played the position, not as well as he plays it, but I played the position. And from personal experience and coaching experience, I think particularly at that position, your biggest jump comes from your first year of playing to your second year of playing, and I’ve seen that happen with some of the guys that I’ve coached, as well.”
Even if the offense is firing on all cylinders, the Huskers defense will need to step up. They allowed 433 yards of total offense per game last year. Despite the excitement in the second half of the season, the stats don’t sit well with the excitement.
Four of their last six games they allowed 419 or more yards of offense, including three of those games allowing 470+ yards. Their front seven were a huge issue as well, allowing three 150+ yard rushers in three of those games. In their win over Illinois, the allowed 384 yards rushing. A lot of these issues comes with strength, an area Frost was very confident their team was much improved on.
“Probably of all the areas we’ve improved, strength and conditioning across the board on our team has improved the most. It’s fun to go down and watch in the weight room and see what our guys are doing. We were kind of starting from square one when Zach Duval and our strength staff, who are as good as there is out there, got ahold of our guys. We couldn’t even really do the workouts at that point that he wanted them to do because I don’t think they were prepared for that. He didn’t think they were prepared for that. So we were really starting at go a year and a half ago.” explained Frost.
This will have to be proven on the field of play and will certainly be an aspect that will help flip their record. Only time will tell, however, for the team picked to win the West and play in the Big Ten title game. They will get the season started on August 31st at home against South Alabama, before heading on the road to Boulder, Colorado for their rivalry matchup against Colorado September 7th.
Written by Adrian Beecher
Image Credit: Nick Windsor / The SkyBoat
