Coach Scott Frost met with the media Saturday night following the Huskers’ 42-38 wild win over Illinois. Nebraska racked up 690 total yards in the game despite turning the ball over four times. It was the first road win for the Huskers under Coach Scott Frost.
Here’s the transcript from his question-and-answer session postgame.
On how he processes what just happened:
“It was an emotional game. I’m really happy with overall how we played and how much better we got this week as a team. Coach [Tom] Osborne is up at the university all the time talking about turnovers and ball security drills. We do them and we tell them. We try to do the same things he did but we can’t spot teams advantages like that. We missed a tackle and gave them a long run. He made a nice play and we gave up a long pass. In the meantime, we turn the ball over too many times. We made too many mistakes. We talked all week about finishing when we had a chance to finish. This week it was about everybody staying calm no matter what the situation is. Fall back on your training, doing your job and just executing with speed. Nobody panic or worry. Just go out and play. On the entire sideline I didn’t see anyone panic or worry. I’m really happy for the guys to overcome what they overcame. We just don’t want to put ourselves in that spot.”
On Wan’Dale Robinson having to play running back and receiver:
“We got one there. We got a real guy there. Not just from a talent perspective but from a heart perspective. He wanted the ball. He wanted to take over that game and in a lot of ways he did. I’m glad he’s wearing scarlet and cream.”
On the defensive performance:
“You guys asked me about play-calling last week. I should correct myself. You didn’t ask me but you wrote articles about the play calling last week. I thought we had the guys in the right play almost the entire night tonight. The only call I’d like to have back is we got in I-formation and ran a play on the one-yard line right there at the end. I wish I had called something else right there because we should have put the game away on offense. The flip side of that, it’s great to see our defense go out and get that stop. We’ve been in that situation at least two times and haven’t gotten it done. I’m just happy with them.”
On the way Adrian Martinez played:
“I don’t read too much but I hear the whispers that he’s tentative and not playing well. Those people won’t be saying that after the way he played tonight. Can he still get better? Yeah. Can I get better? Yeah. Can the team? Yeah. The kid is a winner and a great player and he’ll continue to be.”
On Illinois getting worn down on defense:
“Yeah, a little bit. The players told me they were getting a little tired. Their defense had to play a lot of plays like we did a a couple weeks this year. I thought we did a good job of sustaining drives and using tempo when it mattered. Our guys handled the tempo a lot better this week. We had their defense on the field a lot. It’s great to see us be able to run the ball the way we did in the third quarter.”
On the run defense struggles and where to get better:
“I don’t know. I have to go back and watch the tape. Usually when the defense is on the field, I’m talking to the offense to see what we need to get better on the next drive. I know we missed a tackle on the long run. That was a big piece of their rushing yardage. It seemed like stretch or mid-zone was the play they were hitting us with and getting the edge a little bit. That’s not how I want the third quarter to start with the offense sputtering and the defense giving up a touchdown. We just couldn’t get out of our own way a lot of the time. I’m so proud of how the guys fought through it.”
On building off road win:
“We are where we are. We could easily be 4-0 and everyone would be saying how great we are. We’d be a top 15 team. We could be 2-2 and everyone would be talking about how it’s not any better and the sky is falling. We are where we are. We are a lot better than Week 1. We are a lot better than where we were last year after four games for sure. As long as we keep getting better good things will be in the future. We will be the best we can every single week. We’ve got a great team coming in next week. Watching them a little on tape they are as good as any team I’ve seen since I’ve been in the Big Ten. We’ve got a huge challenge.”
On Cam Taylor-Britt’s performance:
“Cam is tough. He’s a great player and a warrior. We had a few guys nicked up a little bit that went out there and fought for their teammates which is great to see.”
On what the coaches said on that last fumble review:
“I told the defense to stay ready. I told the offense to get ready to kneel on it. Sooner or later these breaks and calls are going to go our way. They don’t seem to have gone our way for a long time based on stats, figures and calls. That’s all I’m going to say so I don’t get in any trouble so that’s all I’m going to say.”
On what a win like this says about the players:
“This is what we talked about all week. The fourth quarter we have to be a good team. Our kids didn’t panic but just went out and did their jobs as well and fast as they could. We’re in good shape, the guys finished well. At the end of the game we were in a little better place than they were because of the number of plays they had been playing. I’ll watch the tape to see what else I have to say but I’m just happy for the time being.”
