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Scott Frost
Nebraska Football Coach
Pre-North Dakota
Press Conference
On post-game results after competing in Ireland
“Got back from Ireland and I want to compliment our players again on how well they handled the whole trip and thank the fans again for the unbelievable support over there. The pep rally was really something to see. Obviously really disappointed that we weren’t able to give the guys or people over there a victory. There are some things we definitely need to clean up and some other things that I think we can really build on, but I’ve been really impressed with the way the kids answered the bell. Especially coming off of an overseas flight. These guys are in a good spot right now.”
On what he would like to improve upon this week leading up to North Dakota
“Watching the tapes back, I think we played hard in a lot of places. The effort was there. It came down to four or five plays probably on both sides of the ball that we need to execute. We had a couple busts on defense and misfits that cost us some big plays and cost us a first down or two that led to points. We had a couple more chances on offense to score. We’re going to be in a lot of games where that’s the case.”
On the need to be more creative offensively
“Yeah I didn’t realize I said that after the game. I guess kind of referring to the run game more than anything. Coach Whipple’s really good and he knows his stuff. I thought he did a really good job calling the game. We’ve gotten better up front. There’s no doubt about it. We’re better at running back. There’s no doubt about it, but in the Big Ten it’s hard to just turn around and hand it back and think you’re going to be really consistent. I think I was referring to coming off the game and having a few more things in the run game that are schemed for the particular opponent.”
On debriefing with coordinators after the game
“I don’t want to get into the creativity thing. We did a lot of creative things on offense. For the first two and half quarters, I thought the offense was having a lot of new pieces and new coaches operating really well. But I did debrief with both sides and there’s a lot of frustration and disappointment but also some things we can build on.”
On getting back on schedule after traveling
“We’re kind of back now. It was tough getting back late. We kind of chose this that we wanted to go right back into week two. We had meetings yesterday morning and kind of a walk through practice in the evening instead of practicing in the morning. We turned around and had a similar practice today. We had pads on for a while today to get a little rust knocked off and then finished with no pads. We’re going to have a normal Wednesday so starting tomorrow we’ll be back on a normal schedule.”
On quarterback Casey Thompson’s play in the last quarter
“It’s on our two plays. I can think of one drive we had the ball up four and on their 40. I think that was the one we ended up with an interception on and it’s one or two plays where if we hit a play it leads to points. That’s the league. In general. I thought everything was great. We need to make sure that we execute a little better in those situations. I know Coach Whipple watched the fourth quarter with the offense yesterday. Up until that point I thought we played really well. I think we can keep coming together and being even better.”
On the challenge of finding the offensive tempo
“There’s a line there. I have learned that, and I think our staff has learned that in this league. When you want to go fast and when you've got the advantage and when you want to slow it down. We’re going to have to be good there. We had our defense on the field too much. Part of that was them needing to get off the field on a couple third downs. To your original question, Coach Whipple does so many good things and we do so many good things now with a lot of the concepts that he’s had for a long time. I want all of us to put our heads together and find ways to create more first downs. We've got more opportunities to do this.”
On the focus on tackling
“Overall it wasn’t bad. We had four or five glaring ones. Give a lot of credit to their backs. I thought they did a really good job at the end of runs. Overall I believe in this group. I think they’re going to be a really good tackling unit. They missed a couple of tackles, and we missed a couple of tackles. I see that getting better as the year goes on.”
On moving on from the loss
“This is the best locker room and culture we’ve had. Everyone is excited. Disappointed but excited. We know we've got to get it done this year as a staff, but that doesn’t matter. I want this for the kids, and we've got a great bunch of kids that believe in themselves right now. I feel like they have a lot to prove.”
On his game day role
“I had definitely had more conversations with special teams and defense than I’ve ever had, but I’ll find my rhythm there, too.”
On drops by the wide receivers
“You say all the drops, but there was two or three that we really should have caught and some other contested balls. A couple of those guys were playing some of their first college football and definitely their first college football at Nebraska. But we’ve got to be more efficient. That’s extra catches and more timing with the quarterback. That will get better, too.”
On Travis Vokolek’s play and injury
“I thought he played a great first half. I wouldn’t say it hurt us, but it definitely kind of changed a couple of things we were thinking about doing without him in there. He’s a real security blanket for us. He’s day to day and we have a couple other guys that are day to day and nobody that we lost for an extended amount of time.”
On what needs to improve for a better offensive push
“Defenses in this league are tough. If you line up and go head to head and just try to push, you don’t see a lot of teams doing that anymore. Give Northwestern a lot of credit. There needs to be answers and we’ll keep getting better with that. There’s a lot of good things in some of those concepts that we do, and I think we can add to it.”
On the running backs helping with the push
“It’s some timing and some things like that. For the most part I was really pleased with some of the runs we made at running back. When we get those guys on the second level I think they’re going to be really dangerous. I think there’s a few things that we can do to help make sure that they’re not getting touched at the line of scrimmage when we get them on the second level.”
On not using the quarterback option
“We used it a little bit. If I was calling a game, I wouldn’t want somebody else to shove a lot of things down my throat. You get a rhythm as a play caller. That’s the approach I took. Coach Whipple is an elite play caller. I think that showed in the first two and a half quarters. You saw what can be done with this offense. We did run some of it. If I was calling we would have done it a little more, but I also wouldn’t have been able to call the things he did to score us the first 28 points. It’s going to have to continue to be a marriage of different things.”
On if the relationship between Scott Frost and Mark Whipple
“He is really smart, really good at what he does. We have a lot of other coaches that are really smart, really good at what they do. We just need to find our rhythm of putting all the best stuff together, and I thought it as good on Saturday. It can be better.”
On having conversations with assistants during the game
“I have more time to do that now. For the most part we talk about that right before the game, what the plan is for who is going to play and who is going to get reps and we stick to that plan unless something comes up in the game that would make us alter.”
On wide receiver Omar Manning
“Omar (Manning) was out there practicing in full pads today, so I feel good about him.”
On Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda
“Isaiah (Garcia-Castaneda) is a great person, first and foremost, and he is a competitor. It does not surprise me at all that he had that kind of game. He is a fighter and really smart and pays attention to detail and I think that showed up Saturday.”
On Ajay Allen
“Running back is one of the places we have a lot of guys that deserve to play. There is a couple that I do not think played enough or very much at all. That is going to kind of be a week to week thing a little bit unless somebody really takes it and runs with it and guys that practiced well. Rahmir Johnson is a really good football player. He has done a lot for this program and he kind of got caught between playing some receiver in practice and playing running back. Gabe Ervin (Jr.) is ready to go and healthy and I would like to see us use him. Those guys can help us win football games.”
On putting Ajay Allen in at the seven yard-line
“(Ajay Allen) is a pretty special kid. I think he has a bright future. He is in the mix right now and we trust all those guys.”
On Rahmir Johnson:
“We needed some help we thought with depth outside and with our depth at running back. I want Rahmir (Johnson) to be able to play both, and he took a bunch of reps outside and he has gotten really good at that, but it has been a bit of a learning curve. I think he has just got caught between playing outside and playing in the backfield, but he is good enough. We need to find some roles for him and make sure he has some touches.”
On punter Brian Buschini
“There is one bright spot you can really take out of it. That is as well as I have seen the ball punted around here for a long time. Unfortunately they had some more chances to pin us than we had to pin them and gave us some longer fields but I feel great about that unit going forward with (Brian Buschini) punting the ball.”
On North Dakota
“I am impressed with them. I know their record was not good last year. They lost a lot of close games. I do not know how anybody does that for sure. They played North Dakota State to three. They were ahead of Utah State by quite a bit in the middle of the game. I think they are smart with what they do. There is a lot of scheme stuff on offense that challenges you. They bring a lot of heat and pressure from all over the place on defense and you can never really count on them being anywhere, so it is a good challenge for us. I think it is going to make us focus on some things that we probably need to focus on to get that much better.”
On Nebraska’s defense
“I think we probably needed to rotate a little more with a few guys. We had some guys that played 90 snaps and came out of the game looking fresh as a daisy. I know (Quinton Newsome) played 90 snaps between special teams and defense and looked just as fast on the 96th play as he did on the first. Some of the guys in the trenches, maybe there needs to be a little more rotation there to make sure we are a little fresher at the end of the game and we are not leaning too much on a couple guys, but mostly I give them credit. They hit us with a couple schemes and four minute drill that we had not seen before and we did not practice and fit up right and that led to a couple crease runs that extended a couple of those drives.”
On playing in Memorial Stadium on Saturday
“I am excited. We have a lot of players that have never played in Memorial Stadium. I know it is going to be a special experience for them again and I cannot thank the fans that went to Ireland enough. This is a neat team. I know the fans are going to be there to support them. Do not give up on this team because this is a neat group of kids and I know Husker faithful will be out to support them on Saturday.”
On quarterback Casey Thompson
“Casey (Thompson) is great. I tell you I knew Casey was a good football player. He made some plays in that game that really impressed me and that another real positive thing when you get a kid you have not seen play live before. You do not really know what you have. We have a kid there that can win us a lot of football games, so he can get better we can all get better but he is going to give us a chance in every one.”
On the offensive line performance
“They did pretty well. I thought our pass protection was greatly improved. We dropped back and threw it a lot and Casey (Thompson) got hit a few times but we had one sack on a good schemed-up blitz by them on a must-throw situation and another one where Casey fell down. Other than that they did a good job of giving him time to get the ball out. Casey did a good job getting the ball out. That unit is going to keep getting better as they play together, too. That is really their first time together as a unit. I have been seeing the improvement and the work done by those guys so I feel good about the direction that group is going.”
NU Athletic Communications
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