Nebraska Coach Scott Frost Postgame Quotes
Nebraska vs. Minnesota
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018
Nebraska Coach Scott Frost
On how the win feels
“It’s long overdue. This feels great. This is what it’s supposed to feel like.”
On trying to incorporate Stanley Morgan Jr. into the game plan more
“In our offense the ball is going to go where it’s supposed to go based on what they give you a lot of times and then we try to sprinkle some things intentionally to try and get people the ball, and I was kind of disappointed the ball didn’t find Stanley (Morgan) a lot last week and you see what kind of player he is. He’s been a great player for a while.”
On gaining the momentum back after the 67-yard touchdown to Morgan
“It did until we gave up another one (touchdown). That’s how this whole year has been, it’s going to continue to be like that. We’re going to have to play well for four quarters. We’re getting better every day. We’re still not so good that you can sleep on a lead or not play your best. I’m so proud of this team. They could have quit a long time ago, they could have shut it down. This team, every week does more of what we ask them, does it better, keeps getting better. That was a pretty good show out there today.”
On if there was doubt after Minnesota scored 22 unanswered
“I even thought it myself (about thinking back to last week), I’ve seen this movie before. A couple things hurt us again. We didn’t need to get the 15-yard penalty. I don’t know what it was for, but after we scored to make it 28 to nothing, that gave them a shorter field. Gave up a touchdown before half, they came out and got another score. It’s getting tighter, we made a couple mistakes again on offense and they score again. You start to get worried. Listen, the team last week was in a similar situation last week. One of the things we talked about is when you’re in that situation, what are you thinking? I asked each one of them what were you thinking. Were you thinking we were going to get this done? Let’s go end this or were you thinking ‘oh no what might happen?’ We want our guys to play with a desire to excel and no fear of failure all the time. We can’t be worried about that. I think our team responded to that situation better today than it has since I’ve been here.”
On if he confronts players to get the right mindset when you’re in those situations
“Listen, coaches sometimes think that some magical words I say is going to get them going. We motivate them as much as we can. At some point it’s got to come from inside them to finish it. To go out to make the play, to finish it. I saw it today. I saw guys fight back and not worry about them scoring a couple times. I saw guys go out and take the game over. We made the plays at the end to really run away from it.”
On how big Adrian Martinez played
“I just really like him as a person. I had no idea he was 25 of 29. Those are senior numbers, those aren’t 18-year-old numbers. I’m glad he’s here.”
On players stepping up
“I thought Stanley (Morgan) stepped up all day, Mo (Washington) has grown up every day. Devine (Ozigbo) was in a three-way battle at running back. He wasn’t a starter at the beginning of the season. He has been a really good player and workhorse for us. He is a Sunday guy. I think our strength and conditioning staff has helped him. He is a step faster and he has been making big plays for us. He has become a leader.”
“Jerald (Foster) and Tanner (Farmer) do a good job leading the line up front. Matt Farniok is playing like a warrior. (Brenden) Jaimes keeps getting better every week. He had a really good one today. Boe Wilson is giving us a spark. I love (Jack) Stoll’s mentality right now. JD (Spielman) shows up every weekend. There are some guys on offense that instead of “oh no,” it’s “let’s go!” and that’s how you have to play.”
On momentum going into Bethune-Cookman instead of a bye week
“We have to prepare and get ready. It would be nice to try and get two in a row if we play well. We are missing out on a bye week and resting our guys. We are beat up a little bit and tired. We will keep on adjusting as much as we can. I would love to see that stadium full again, that is what it is supposed to feel like out there. I can’t thank the fans enough. Those guys stayed right until the end of that one to see that. Our fans have been supportive this whole way and that is one of the main reasons why I wanted to be back here.”
If someone told him it would take this long to get a win, would he have believed them
“I wouldn’t have believed it. We are a good enough team to have won several that we lost. That’s not the way it went and that doesn’t matter now. Now we have to just keep going forward and getting better. I think our team understands that and especially the last few weeks I think everyone has committed themselves to that.”
On when he felt the game was over
“Even after Stanley’s [Morgan Jr.] touchdown, I think we were up 24, so it was still three scores and three two-point conversions, when Mo [Washington] scored, I knew it was done. That’s what I want our guys to do, is have a killer instinct when we got somebody on the ropes to finish.”
On the Gatorade shower
“That’s an inappropriate Gatorade shower. First of all, it was cold. I took it like a man, I saw it coming, but I’m glad the guys are so excited. They deserve to be excited. There’s going to be a day around here when we’re not celebrating one win, and we’ll keep working toward that.”
On if his feelings of walking out with a win were as expected
“I just didn’t expect it to be in October, but we got as good fans as there is in the country. They’re loyal, they’re supportive, our kids are pretty appreciate them. They’re fighting hard for them. I almost teared up running off the field. That was a special moment.”
On his defense today
“Our defense had its moments again, kind of like last week, but they got a couple of stops when it mattered. Really that’s what a defense is, there’s good offenses in this league. You’re going to give up some plays, but if you can find a way to make one or two plays and make a stop, it changes the game. We did that enough times today to get our offense back the ball. It was a good team win.”
On three players rushing for 100 yards
“We got some guys that are special players, and some young guys that are going to be really special. We talked about Adrian [Martinez], Mo [Washington], they’re going to be really special back around here, and Devine has just been awesome for us. I think at Washington my senior year we were really close to having three, hundred-yard rushes, I don’t know if it has ever happened since then or not, but really proud of those three guys and the rest of the guys.”
On if it feels like joy or relief to win this game
“It’s both. This is overdue. Our guys have deserved and played well enough to win some other ones, and we found some of the most unbelievable ways to lose games that I’ve ever seen. This leaves me shaking my head, but sometimes when you break through the dam, the flood waters come.”