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Nebraska Football: 5 takeaways from Scott Frost’s inaugural season

By Justin Heisey

LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Scott Frost of the Nebraska Cornhuskers during pregame activities before the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Scott Frost of the Nebraska Cornhuskers during pregame activities before the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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Nebraska football saw many ups and downs in its first year under hometown coach Scott Frost. What did we learn from the Cornhuskers’ 2018 season?

So 4-8 wasn’t exactly what Husker fans were hoping for in their first season under Scott Frost, but their late-season surge got fans interested in the direction that Nebraska is heading in.

The Huskers began the season with a close contest against Colorado that sadly ended in a loss as walk-on back up quarterback Andrew Bunch failed to finish out their final drive with stellar-freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez falling to injury. They followed that loss up with a non-conference loss to Troy and began conference play with four straight losses to No. 19 Michigan, Purdue, No. 16 Wisconsin, and Northwestern.

When all hope seemed lost, Nebraska wracked up 383 rushing yards between Martinez, Devine Ozigbo and Marcus Washington with the former also throwing for three touchdowns in the process. Nebraska’s defense allowed 349 yards through the air but it seemed that the Huskers had finally found some identity on the ground.

After their second win against Bethune-Cookman, the Huskers hit the road to Columbus to take on Ohio State, the ultimate measuring stick to see how far away the program is from the best of the Big Ten. This matchup came at a good time due to Ohio State falling far short of a victory against Purdue the week prior 49-20. Nebraska gave the Buckeyes all they had with 184 yards on the ground with three touchdowns and 266 yards through the air with another score for Adrian Martinez.

Down 12 points with 4:52 left in the game, Martinez set up a drive that cut the game to five. Unfortunately, the Cornhuskers Achilles’ heel of a defense couldn’t hold the Buckeyes back from earning a first down and icing the game.

The Huskers season ended with wins over Illinois and Michigan State and an eventual loss to Iowa. Even though they missed out on a bowl game, Nebraska finished out the season 4-2 in their final six games. Had they avoided the storm during the Akron game and kept Martinez healthy for Troy, we could be looking at a bowl in Frost’s first ride but sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce in that direction.

Now that it’s all said and done, what can we take away from the 2018 installment of Nebraska football?

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