Points after: Frost reflects on road win at Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Here is a quick recap of what Nebraska head coach Scott Frost had to say following the Huskers’ 54-7 road victory over Maryland on Saturday...

***Frost said Saturday was probably Nebraska’s most complete performance of the season in terms of all three phases clicking at once.

***Frost admitted aNebraska got a lot of breaks in the win, but added that his team was due for some breaks this season.

***Frost said he was very happy with the level of enthusiasm and support the players had for each other. He said that was a big message all week to try and get guys to encourage each other more.

***Frost said he’d seen this type of performance coming for a long time, but his was the first time it finally came together and resulted in a win. He said winning was the most important thing to breed confidence within a team, and NU hadn’t gotten a win in far too long.

***Frost said Nebraska going 9-10 in the red zone was obviously very encouraging, especially after how much NU struggled in that area last time out vs. Wisconsin.

***Frost said he was “kicking myself” after “going for the jugular” with the pass play near the goal line that got intercepted in the end zone. He was happy that the defense kept that play from becoming a turning point in the game’s momentum.

***Frost said Luke McCaffrey’s move to wide receiver was “certainly a temporary move, not permanent.” Frost joked that NU’s only penalty was a holding call on McCaffrey on the perimeter, “so we’ve got a lot of work to do there.”

***Frost said this was a very tough week in that a number of players got pretty sick, including Dedrick Mills, JD Spielman, and Garrett Nelson. None of those guys practiced until Thursday and NU was “scrambling a bit” to figure out who it would be able to play against Maryland.

***Frost said he was “really uncertain” whether Mills or Spielman would play, and that Spielman was hooked up to an IV on Saturday morning before the game. Spielman apparently had food poisoning earlier in the week and then caught the same illness as Mills.

For those two to fight through and play the way they did really showed what they were made of.

“That’s what tough people do,” Frost said.

***Frost said Nelson was diagnosed with influenza B.

***Frosts said Rahmir Johnson was “really close to popping a couple runs” in his first significant game action and showed signs of a really bright future down the road.

***Frost said kicker Barret Pickering didn’t travel to Maryland because of “health reasons.” Frost said he was really happy for guys like Matt Waldoch and Harrison Martin stepping up the way they did.

***Frost said the difference in Nebraska’s pass rush on Saturday was guys were winning individual matchups and the schemed blitzes they called nearly all got home. Having a consistent pass rush changes everything for the whole defense, he said.

***Frost said he was so proud of the way his team responded with its back against the wall this week, and now the win “gives us a chance” to clinch a bowl berth on Friday.

“This team could’ve shut it down and turned it off...” Frost said. “It says a lot about the character to come at this point in the season and play the way they did.”