Scott Frost met with media following the team's 38-17 win over North Dakota. He spoke about Nebraska’s adjustments at halftime, the team still needing to find its groove with so many new pieces, Anthony Grant’s breakout performance and more.
Here is the full transcript of everything he said at the podium.
Opening Statement
“I’m proud of the team for coming away with a win. It certainly didn't look like what I thought it would look like or what I think the team planned for it to look like. I told the team that we have a bunch of winners in that locker room. They found a way to win. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad frankly in that game. It’s always better to learn those lessons in a win than a loss. There was a ton of good I thought. At times we looked really explosive on offense and at times we looked completely out of joint. Little mistakes here and there on offense cost us a couple of drives. They did a good job keeping the ball away from us. Defensively, it’s kind of the same thing. I told the team after the game, they played really well, really well, really well, and gave up a chunk play. Overall, I thought the defense hung in there, but we can be better. There were some dumb plays on special teams that I know are getting coached because I'm in the meetings and listening to them. Those things need to get better.
"My message to the team I don't mind sharing with you. It's been an interesting camp in that we have a lot of new guys on the team and on the staff. Those guys see our team and the talent on our team, and they're really, really confident in who we are. We’ve got some old guys that have battled through a lot of adversity and been a good team before and haven't won. As a head coach you have to balance telling them they're a great team and to keep the confidence up with being honest with them and making sure we're continuing to get better. This team can be a great team. It's not right now. And that was my message to them. So that puts us in a perfect position to have the potential to be good but know that we have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to fix.”
On the locker room at halftime:
“Part of that was deserved and part wasn't. We only had four possessions on offense in the first half. I didn't realize that until after the game. And we had the ball down there again and took a strip sack. Can’t do it. When we get to league play, when you get the ball past the other team’s 40, you have to be aggressive but careful to not ever give up points. Those types of plays that give up points can be back breakers in close games. I’m glad it wasn't today. We're still finding our way a little bit. I love the guys that I have in my office and staff. They're great. They're doing a great job coaching. I think you can see the improvement by position. We're still figuring it out together and the team is still figuring it out together and the players are still figuring it out together. In some ways, I thought we made some big strides from last week. But there's still a lot to fix.”
On Trey Palmer’s catch:
“I mean the team did a great job of keeping its composure, but, it was way closer than we wanted it to be at a couple points. And in those moments, you have to have players step up sometimes and we haven't always gotten that. Trey stepped up. Garrett (Nelson) stepped up and made a big play for us. Tommi (Hill) stepped up and made a big play for us. Obviously the running backs did. I thought the offensive line blocked really well down the stretch. We've been in that situation a lot where we've been in a close game that can go either way and sometimes you just need the guys to do what they've been trained to do.”
On if Anthony Grant is better than he originally thought:
“We'll see. I don't want to crown him yet. I know how Nebraska is. There's no need to clear space to retire his number or anything right now. But he had a good day.”
On the combination of (Anthony) Grant and (Ajay) Allen:
“I thought both of those two ran great. Gabe Ervin is a fine football player and he deserves to play too. Rahmir Johnson was one of our workhorses last year, and he's still getting caught a little bit in between. We have to make sure there's packages for him because I love that kid and what he's poured into this program, and he's a really good football player. We're running that skill position. We're running into a little bit of a problem. We have a lot of guys that deserve to play. But I'm really proud of Anthony and Ajay today. Both of those guys are going to be good players around here. We have to make sure we’re using all of them.”
On the squib kick: “Thanks for calling it a squib kick. I meant to open with a joke about that. We have the smartest football fans in America, and I want them all to know that was not an onside. We practice that all the time. If we get a 15-yard penalty on the PAT, rather than kick it out of the end zone and give them the ball. We try to squib it and bury them inside the 20. Our aim has been off on a couple of those, and we hit somebody. I’m glad that it wasn't a penalty kick in a soccer game to win the game where he’d have hit the goalie in the face.”
On the feeling of winning a game
“I hadn't ever even thought about that, and I know that's the reality, but this is a different team and we’ve got to make this team a team. It doesn’t have a lot to do with losing close games down the stretch last year. It doesn't really have much to do with that other than in the scope of my career. I love Ted Lasso, everyone that’s around football loves Ted Lasso. We need to be goldfish. I think they did a good job of that this week and just come in ready to go. We have a lot we can get better at. I think the team is in a great place because I think they're confident and they see the talent, but they know we can be a lot better than we were today.”
On Casey Thompson’s interception:
“In the second half we moved the pocket a little bit and I think that helps him sometimes. We’ve got some taller linemen and I would guess that maybe he just didn't see the guy. They dropped aid on that play. They dropped into coverage and he had time and I was watching the route develop and that's where the ball was supposed to go. He could have put it in a window and I don't know if he was trying to throw over him or didn't see the guy but I get that's a big play. Coach Osborne told us every single week we got to be a more physical team. We’ve got to play better than the other team on special teams. We've got to win the turnover battle. We're 0-2 in trying to win the turnover battle and that's one of the major things that needs to get fixed.”
On the team adjusting after traveling:
“The kids still came in and gave effort at practice but you could see they were just a little off. I think that's natural. We had a couple of our leaders down this week. I think we'll get them back real soon. We had some sickness going through the team. It was just a weird week. Please don't take that as an excuse, but it was just a weird week. I think you guys have all flown overseas and been kind of run down. That's just what it felt like, but the effort at practice was great. I don't know if that had to do with why it took us a little while to get started on offense. We’ve got more of a normal week now, so we'll be back on schedule.”
On how the team felt during halftime:
“I give them a lot of credit. I had a great talk with their coach, Coach Schweigert after the game and before the game. What a great guy. I think he does an unbelievable job with what they have. They're going to have a chance in every game like we do. I think they're really well coached. Our kids did a great job. You probably didn't notice a lot of the gadgets and things because our kids did a great job keeping their eyes and being disciplined and not giving up one of those. We knew we needed to get ahead so they couldn't milk the clock and we didn't. We kind of played right into their hands. I don't think they could ask for a better situation than tied at halftime. Luckily, we came out and did what we were supposed to do in the third quarter. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had very many snaps at all.”
On how the team performed differently than anticipated:
“I hoped that we would do what we did in the second half in the first half. I hoped we'd get some more guys in at the end of the game. I hoped we’d make fewer dumb plays and give up less plays but the other team practices too. Some of what happened is credited to them. Some are things that we can fix.”
