Nebraska Football Press Conference - August 30

As always, this is my best attempt to capture what is being said in real time. It isn’t exact, but I can look up a transcript if you need something clarified - let me know in the comments.

Head Coach Scott Frost

When you watched film, did your opinion change much?

It was what we thought. I thought the effort was outstanding, you can’t find anybody loafing. You can’t fault the effort, the guys played hard. We had a few catastrophic plays that changed the game.

On the sack - did you like how quick Adrian was getting the ball out? Size it up

It was a little bit of a lot of things. We didn’t protect well enough. That’s one thing we drilled down and talked to the guys about. In general, we have to have more time for our quarterback to throw.

Punting - Cerni’s first game

Both punters have been doing exceptionally well in practice. His first effort (Daniel Cerni), I expected to be alot better. Probably some nerves and other things there. There was a lot of hidden yardage, they pinned us. We had chances but didn’t do it. I thought the coverage units did a really good job. Made the one critical error on a return. We’ve got to punt better. We missed two extra points. Those are mistakes we can’t have.

Offensive line - game vs what you saw in camp. What the deal there?

I give them credit. We watched a lot of tape on them and tried to guess what they would do. They played an entire spring game in odd and than came out and played in an even front with wide 9s and 5s and we didn’t have many reps at that.

Penalty (roughing the passer that negated an interception). Could Caleb have done something differently?

All I saw during the game was the bang bang play. He has to be smart and not bury him in the turf, which is what I assume they called. Caleb Tannor has played great all fall. His level of play in that game was good. That was the critical play of the game. We can’t do that. Mistakes really cost us.

Who called plays

I was calling the plays.

Did you reconsider that?

We collaborate. the whole staff collaborates. About half our game plan was out the window when they came up and lined up the way they did. We scrambled and adjusted but not enough.

Not getting young guys in - was it because you had to throw out part of the plan?

If they are going to play a lot of snaps, they need to practice well all week. There were guys we planned to play more and I wish we had. There are other guys that have to step up and be more consistent to earn the playing time.

How often has that that happened in your career - where half the game plan is gone?

Not often. We turned our attention to these guys (Illinois) earlier than normal to get dialed into a game plan. We took a day in the middle of that and prepared for contingencies. The guys knew what they were doing and were preprared, but some of the schematic things that we hadn’t planned for them weren’t there.

Gave Ervin - How close is the competition?

He’s done a good job coming in and acting like a veteran. He and Stepp had the best week and a half of preparation and they deserved to play. Rahmir Johnson has done great too. We got into two minute mode and needed someone to come in and be a threat in the pass game. Every week there is competition at some positions and guys know they need to practice well to play.

Casey Rodgers and Ty Robinson

They’re close. They’re getting close (to playing).

Different feeling for home opener?

There’s a different feeling for me. We miss the fans. Last year, being in Memorial Stadium with an empty house, it was almost depressing. There’s so much passion here. We can’t wait to see them.

Wyatt and Oliver earned playing time - how

We have multiple receivers that can go in and make plays. Many did Saturday. We need to rotate even more. Those guys (Wyatt Liewer and Oliver Martin) have been consistent, they haven’t missed time. It was consistency that put them ahead.

QB trusting receiver - does Adrian’s trust affect how much they play

You have to earn trust in anything you do. I think there are a lot of guys that Adrian trusts now. Consistency helps. We got enough guys to keep fresh guys on the field. We should be able to have receivers with juice out there all the time.

The plan for Zavier was to play more. I expect his reps will go up.

What held back his reps?

He is a super talented kid. He’s been improving. Consistency has to matter. You have to do it all week and give teammates and coaches confidence.

Saturday isn’t sold out yet - thoughts

I hope nobody lost excitement after Saturday. This team has a chance to be real good. If there are tickets out there, buy them and come watch this team.

Grade offensive line

I’ll let Coach Austin answer that. I watched the tape five times, but I didn’t go play by play.

What advantage to have Matt Lubick was on the field with you?

Better communication. Having him down there. Having Coach Held in the box gives us eyes to see things differently. That worked well.

Will Oliver be the punt returner?

Cam Taylor is one of our best players. I love him like a son. He’s a Blackshirt and captain. You can’t try to make a play when you’ve beeen trained to do something else. He’ll learn from it.