The 3-2-1: What to make of Ted Carter's comments on Scott Frost

We react to Nebraska President Ted Carter's comments and more in this week's 3-2-1 column.

1 - What should we make of Ted Carter's comments this week?

Nebraska President Ted Carter spoke twice about Scott Frost and the Nebraska football program this week.

Speaking at halftime with NU up 17-14 against Purdue on the Husker Sports Network, Carter had this to say:

"Some of these have been real heartbreakers. What has changed though over the last couple of years is we are competitive. We are competitive with every team we play with whether they are No. 2 in the nation or No. 9 in the nation. Yeah, we've had some tough ones, but I have a feeling we are going to turn this around. We have been that close. Let's just keep the faith and rooting for our team."

Then on Wednesday, speaking to Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald, Carter had this say following Nebraska's loss to Purdue on Saturday:

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of our skis right now. I don’t think it will be too, too far down the road that you’re going to know which direction the program is going to go.

“I can tell you this: No decision has been made.”

Carter's comments at halftime of the Purdue game and then on Wednesday are a microcosm of just about how every Husker fan feels. There have been moments where it feels this is working and then moments where it feels like things remain stuck in neutral.

People can see some of the improvements that have been made, and at halftime of the game on Saturday it felt pretty good where things were heading.

Then NU fell apart in the second half and his comments from Wednesday reflect how people feel right now. Nobody knows where this is heading.

Carter has entrusted Atletic Director Trev Alberts, though, to ultimately make that call.

“I’ve followed Scott for a long time, knew him when he was at UCF. I pull for him," Carter told the World-Herald. "I know Nebraskans love the guy. We just want to see Scott do well. That’s the bottom line.

“They (Nebraska) play tough to the team they’re playing. They just need to cut down on the mistakes and get into the win column.”

2 - Huskers will continue to ride Martinez down the stretch

If we have learned one thing through 9 games season, it's Nebraska will continue to ride quarterback Adrian Martinez come hell or high water.

Martinez has played through ankle and jaw injuries, and a four-interception performance last week.

Frost has said they have not considered playing back-up Logan Smothers at this point, and they will continue to ride Martinez out.

It's clear that he's a step slower than normal, and when you take away the threat of a long run from Martinez, he's a completely different quarterback.

I also wonder just how much this has grinded on him. 2021 has been tough. Nobody is happy about this season and I can't think the chorus of boos in Memorial Stadium after his third interception did anything to help his confidence.

3 - 2023 is shaping up to be a sneaky good in-state year

The in-state class of 2023 is shaping up to be a very good year in recruiting, and we are still early in the process.

In all, there are seven prospects with Power Five offers already, with Nebraska offering five of those players - OL Gunnar Gottula, TE Ben Brahmer, OLB Teitum Tuioti, OLB Maverick Noonan and ATH Malcahi Coleman.

WR Beni Ngoyi and OL Brock Knutson also have Power Five offers, and OL Sam Sledge has a Group of Five offer.

Then you have guys like Gretna quarterback Zane Flores who easily could play their way into that discussion once people see him live and in person.

This bodes well for the Huskers class of 2024, as you have to like their chances with really all five of the guys they have offered at this point, and it's only a matter of time before Ngoyi gets an offer. I also think Sledge needs to be highly considered as well as a guard or center prospect.

1 - Will Nebraska take a transfer portal quarterback in 2022?

The discussion on if Nebraska should take a transfer portal quarterback is only going to ramp up, especially if Martinez struggles down the stretch.

Should the Huskers take a portal quarterback? I think if Martinez moves on from NU, they almost certainly have to add a portal quarterback.

The more interesting discussion is if Martinez were to come back in 2022, would Frost look to add a portal quarterback? The better question is would a quality portal quarterback come to NU if Martinez returned in 2022?

I believe the Huskers kicked the tires on the portal to find a logical option at quarterback in 2021, and nothing made sense; mainly because when you have a four-year starter still on the roster, that scares away any legitimate options. If Martinez came back in 2022, it would be the same thing all over again.

The decision is really not portal or no portal QB, but Martinez or no Martinez in 2022. I just don't see a quality portal QB and Martinez co-existing in 2022.

2 - Can anything salvage this season for Nebraska?

Only one coach in history has ever returned at Nebraska after four-straight losing seasons - Bill Jennings.

Do you want to know how Jennings was able to come back? He had a signature win by beating Oklahoma, which sold promise for the future.

If you are Scott Frost, who's staring at his fourth-straight losing season at Nebraska, he too needs that signature win moment. Well, guess what, he's got three opportunities here down the stretch vs. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Iowa.

And nobody is saying a losing record four straight years is acceptable at Nebraska, but a win would go a long way to calm the waters.

Nebraska's best chance to have a player named All-Big Ten is tight end Austin Allen, who has the highest receiving grade on PFF for all Big Ten players at his position at 86.6.

Indiana's Peyton Hendershot (82.4), Wisconsin's Jake Ferguson (79.4) and Michigan's Eric All (77.0) are right behind him.

With that said, I predict a big day out of Allen on Saturday. He's been getting around 5 to 7 targets most weeks by Martinez. I predict he'll have over 100 yards receiving on Saturday. NU's tight ends on Ohio State's LB's and safeties is a match-up I really like in this game for the Huskers.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Tuesday's at 7 pm.