OK, so here's the deal.
Nebraska is an OK team, and as everybody around these parts knows, including its head coach, Scott Frost, Husker football being labeled OK is anything but OK.
OK?
That became a prevalent postgame theme following Saturday's maddening, frustrating, yet oh-too-familiar 38-31 loss to Indiana at Memorial Stadium in a game that featured its share of good, but too much not-so-good.
"I told the team, right now, that's where we are. We're just OK," Frost said. "We're just OK right now because a lot of the things that are done are just OK.
"I'm not going to be happy with just OK. I want a bunch of team players that aren't going to be happy with just OK."
OK?
How Nebraska (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten Conference) responds over its final four games could largely depend on how many players, regardless of age or stature, fully embrace those words from their leader.
Frost delivered a similar message, albeit more pointed, more dramatic, after a home loss to Purdue last season, amid a six-game losing streak. Enough Nebraska players heeded their coach's advice to help change the tide, turn the momentum, as the Huskers ended the season with four wins in six games.
That flourish, combined with what everybody knew Frost did in his second season of turning around a moribund UCF program, ratcheted expectations for Year Two in Lincoln. Truthfully, that narrative began with national spring and early summer publications, and trickled down, with Nebraska suddenly the trendy pick to have a breakthrough season, based on, well …
That's a conversation for another day.
OK?
Warranted or not, the lofty preseason predictions hinged greatly on what Frost reported to be a positive culture shift within his program.
A positive shift, yes, but as Frost explained Saturday, not a complete shift. There's a marked difference.
Yes, Frost was pleased with the culture of his second team because players were doing everything coaches asked. Make no mistake, that's an important change.
Yes, there's a "but" coming.
OK?
"But," Frost said, "if you look at this week or last week, there's a difference in doing it because we tell them to, and doing it because they want to be great. I think we still have some kind of ratio on one side or the other of that fence right now.
"I told them in the locker room, just OK never existed in a locker room that I was in when I was at Nebraska, because you were expected to live up to a standard. Our guys are doing the right things, which is a big improvement from last year. But I want guys that live and die for it and want to be great and are tough."
Guys like senior Darrion Daniels, a team captain, who had the gumption to speak up Saturday morning when he detected teammates weren't dialed in enough during a simple warmup to get players' blood flowing. On a good team, Frost said, that would look like a Marine drill.
But it didn't. At least, not until Daniels, a defensive tackle, had his say.
"He had to stop everybody," Frost said, "and yell at them."
That's notable, given Daniels is a fifth-year transfer, from Oklahoma State.
"Guy's been here for four months," Nebraska defensive end Garrett Nelson said. "Obviously, if he recognizes something is wrong, then guys who have been here for a while need to recognize that focus needs to be honed in at times."
To some, that may not fully explain allowing opponents to covert a plethora of third-and-longs, as Indiana (6-2, 3-2) did on Saturday, or the ill-timed turnovers (two of which the Hoosiers converted into touchdowns) or the shanked punts, the kickoffs out-of-bounds or the penalties.
But as Frost sees things, the details, the not settling for being OK, are most certainly a reason for the aforementioned negatives.
"Those details that we go through every day that are in our mind but we don't really focus on? That's going to change," Nelson said. "I'm excited for that to change. To take guys to the next level, take the defense to the next level, take this team to the next level, these little details that we hound on all the time, they need to get accomplished."
Yes, Nelson is only a true freshman. But he's a true freshman who's seeing increasing playing time, and who seemingly sees the big picture.
"Working on those little details that matter and having those things matter the most, we will turn that corner with that," Nelson said. "Some guys won't follow that. Some guys will fall off. If that changes things, then that changes things."
Nelson, a Scottsbluff native, grew up bleeding red. And black, for that matter. He tells of falling asleep in his room watching Blackshirts film of yesteryear.
So yes, to see Nebraska allow 415 yards to Indiana, playing its backup quarterback, on a day the Huskers wore alternate black jerseys in a nod toward the school's defensive tradition, bothered Nelson.
"It's frustrating to wear those jerseys and have that outcome, obviously," Nelson said. "A lot of former Blackshirts are probably punching some holes through some walls, but I don't blame them. I'm kind of on the same level with them right now."
Nelson expanded on Frost's "OK" mantra in a manner that made you believe the youngster not only truly understands his head coach but could also help instill the message within his teammates.
Players shouldn't be OK, Nelson said, with having a good practice, or being OK with just making it through practice, or being OK with surviving another Wednesday, or being OK with trying in class, or getting through meetings.
"There shouldn't be a lack of effort," Nelson said. "There shouldn't be a satisfaction with just being OK."
Nelson knows Frosts wants players attacking more with a mindset of getting better and taking care of details that matter.
And to say that didn't exist at all Saturday would be unfair to players like true freshman quarterback Luke McCaffrey, who, in the most extensive time of his young career, led a couple of touchdown drives, including one right before halftime, when he delivered a 24-yard scoring pass to senior Kanawai Noa.
Nelson joked about McCaffrey being an "oddball," and how he wouldn't change a single thing about him.
"There's never a dull moment around him," Nelson said. "I swear he sleeps in the quarterback room because he works so hard to try to get the details down. We need a culture like that."
Nelson said that, knowing McCaffrey would immediately trade his 76 rushing yards and 71 rushing yards for a victory. Nelson knows, because he would do the same.
"I don't care how many snaps I got," Nelson said. "We didn't win the game. I don't care if I got a tackle or if I didn't get a single snap. I would've rather won that game."
That's the type of attitude Frost wants as he looks to continue to shift the culture and players' mindsets the remainder of this season.
"We're going to change it. To a degree that I want it at? No, probably not," Frost said. "But we can still change it enough to be competitive and have a chance in all four games.
"Listen, we're going to keep working, and just OK isn't going to be OK with me, but we have got to keep improving."
OK?
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.
