Schedule turns tougher for winless Cornhuskers
The early results of the Scott Frost era show that Nebraska has a lot of work to do.
It’s been a disappointing three weeks, starting with a cancelation against Akron, then a 33-28 home loss to Colorado, then a 24-19 home loss to Troy from the Sun Belt Conference.
Oh, and the schedule is about to get really difficult, starting with Saturday’s game at No. 19 Michigan.
“We’ve got a tough game next week. It might get worse before it gets better,” Frost said. “It’s always darkest before the dawn, and I know where this is going, and I want every guy in the locker room on board.”
Nebraska also has games at Wisconsin, at Ohio State and at Iowa, as well as a home game against Michigan State … and plenty other Big Ten games that will be difficult to navigate.
Any progress last week was delayed in part because of the absence of true freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez, who missed last week’s game because of a leg injury suffered late in the Colorado game. Martinez had looked good in the opener, completing 15-of-20 passes for 187 yards, also rushing for 117 yards.
Martinez was able to practice Monday, but Frost said he was unsure of the quarterback’s availability for the Big House this weekend.
“It was close last week,” Frost said Monday about Martinez being able to play. “But he wasn’t ready and we didn’t want to put him in that situation. We need him for the rest of this year and the rest of his career. The key is going to be is if there is further danger to more injury.”
Martinez’s replacement last week was walk-on Andre Bunch, who completed 19-of-27 passes for 177 and two touchdowns in a conservative game plan.
“When we asked him to make throws, I thought he made some really good throws and did some good things,” Frost said.
Michigan (2-1) is 12th nationally in total defense allowing 276.3 yards per game.
“They know what they’re doing and they play really hard. On top of that, they have some really good athletes on that side of the ball at all three levels,” Frost said.
Martinez is the future of the program at quarterback as Frost implements his up-tempo, spread attack that relies on the dual-threat ability of the guy taking snaps. Even with Michigan and the Big Ten slate looming, there remains the positive attitude created by the offseason hiring of Frost.
“They’ve been working hard enough, and they deserve to win,” Frost said of his players. “Sometime it’s got to happen, and once it does, things get a lot better.”
