NU Notebook: Frost Embraces "GameDay" Hoopla

They're coming to our city, and Scott Frost is, almost literally, rolling out the red carpet.
 
Frost, the second-year Nebraska football coach, said he welcomes ESPN's "GameDay" crew, and, most notably, the hoopla that surrounds it.
 
While players tried downplaying the extra media attention, saying it's for fans, and their job is a football game, Frost explained the importance of having the national television pregame show broadcasting live Saturday morning from outside Memorial Stadium.
 
"This is a good opportunity to highlight our program, the direction the program is going, the improvement we have made, the path that we are on," Frost said Monday at his weekly news conference.
 
"If we weren't improving and getting better and going in a really good direction that was obvious to a lot of people, we wouldn't have those guys on ESPN coming to town."
 
As for any concern about players being distracted, Frost emphasized how they need to experience such situations and, ideally, become used to the added attention.
 
"This is special," Frost said. "Our guys need to be able to operate and flourish amid whatever distraction brings along with it."
 
Nebraska basketball coach Fred Hoiberg agreed.

Hoiberg, speaking at the weekly news conference to discuss the beginning of basketball practice, remembered when the basketball version of "GameDay" visited Ames, Iowa, when he was coaching at Iowa State, and the Cyclones were hosting Kansas.
 
"There's just so many things that it does for your program, your fans," Hoiberg said. "When we have a big recruiting weekend, they'll be able to see the facilities, they'll be able to see the support, they'll be able to see our team.
 
"It really turned into a big event on all fronts, and on a very important weekend for us. We're excited about it, and hopefully we can show them a good time."
 
Frost wasn't certain if he'd appear live on the "GameDay" set Saturday morning but assumed ESPN would mic him up during a practice this week.
 
"It's not going to distract us," he said. "We've got a really good team coming in here and we need to be at our best to have a chance to beat (Ohio State)."
 
And Frost agreed with Hoiberg in how the added attention will help with weekend recruiting.
 
"They are going to get to see a show," he said. "They get to see what Memorial Stadium in Lincoln looks like on a big game day. I think it is good timing."
 
Given that "GameDay" hasn't visited Lincoln since 2007, Frost expects a large Nebraska contingent to show up Saturday morning to challenge the show's attendance record.
 
"I know the fans are going to turn out. Fans here are always great," he said. "They are the best in the country, and we need them to be at their very best this Saturday and at 'GameDay.' "
 
Newest Blackshirt
 
Junior linebacker JoJo Domann went to his laundry locker Monday morning and picked up his red practice jersey. Nothing new, he thought, wondering if perhaps he had earned a Blackshirt.
           
"Then I turned the corner to my regular locker," Domann said, "and there it was. I was like 'nice.' It's go time." 
 
The Blackshirt is the first in Domann's career.
 
"If you've got a dream and you've got courage to pursue it, anything can happen," Domann said. "I think it's been a process in the making over the past year and a half. It's a dream come true."
 
Domann, among the team's surest, hardest tacklers, and with a penchant for big plays, was coming off a five-tackle performance at Illinois. Two tackles were for loss, and he forced a fumble. His biggest play was a sack on an odd play in which the Illinois line didn't move after the center snapped the ball.
 
Frost admitted Domann probably deserved a Blackshirt long before Monday but noted how he wasn't with the team during a portion of fall camp while remaining home in Colorado to rehab an injury.
 
"So we didn't feel it was appropriate to give it to him then," Frost said. "But his play on the field has certainly been deserving of a Blackshirt. It was good to see him gut it out. Saturday he wasn't 100 percent, and he went out and played hard and played well anyway. So he deserved one."
 
Senior linebacker and captain Mohamed Barry wasn't the least bit surprised to see Domann in black.
 
"He is playing fast. He is playing physical. And he is playing with no fear," Barry said. "Good or bad, he is making a choice and going with it, and that's a great thing to have at outside linebacker.
 
"You want players that just play with their hair on fire. And that's what he is doing."
 
Gripping Tight
 
Through four games, junior transfer running back Dedrick Mills has rushed 46 times and is averaging 5 yards per carry.
 
He's also lost three fumbles in four games, including one Saturday at Illinois that set up a 2-yard scoring drive for the Illini.
 
That's why folks around campus will see Mills with a football in his hands at all times this week. He had it with him at Monday's news conference. His grip was tight.
 
"You're not going to get it," Mills said. "Anybody can try. It's not coming out anymore. That's it."
 
Mills said the idea was solely his, and a strategy he once used in high school. He explained the issues he's had early this season.
 
"It's just me holding on to the ball with two hands, but when it comes to hitting the ground, I always try to catch myself with one hand," Mills said. "Someone always comes in and hits me or hits the ball right on the spot, and it comes out."
 
Stats Corrected
 
Stat-keeping errors in multiple categories have resulted in the correction of official statistics from the Nebraska-Illinois football game.
 
Most notably, Nebraska's penalty yardage, initially reported at 11 penalties for 111 yards, is 10 for 70. Also, Nebraska's rushing yards and total yardage are slightly lower after corrections.
 
Nebraska rushed for 346 rushing yards, not 363, had one more passing yard, and had 674 total yards, not 690. Individually, Mills finished with 45 rushing yards, not 63. Quarterback Adrian Martinez and receiver JD Spielman each had one more passing and receiving yard, respectively, than originally recorded.
 
Also, Illinois had one more passing attempt, and one more third-down attempt. And the Illini's kickoff return yardage is 158, not 194.
 
Official updated stats are on Huskers.com and have been submitted to the Big Ten and NCAA.
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.