Pitchin with Pritch: Husker losses getting people restless

The Huskers have played two games and are still looking for a win. Hate to say it or think it, but the W’s might be difficult to achieve this season. 

The Huskers’ play already has a lot of “fans” and the media wondering if things are going to ever start to work with the set-up that is now running the show. 

Coach Frost has some people wondering if he was the right choice for the job. I thought he was and still think it is too early to start thinking about changing again. 

Frost is a young head coach; this is just his 5th year being in that position. I am sure he is still learning the ropes. 

One writer called him a befuddled coach. Social media had many saying he should turn the offensive play calling over to someone who knew how to do that job! 

That is a little harsh, but in the Northwestern game, it sometimes made you wonder just what kind of offense are they trying to perfect. 

The first comment Coach Frost made after the Northwestern game was, “This is my fault. It’s on me.” He was referring to the lack of discipline still rearing its ugly head game after game.

A lot of people agree; it is his fault. When he arrived at Nebraska, he was treated like a coach who had been in the game a long time. His head coach experience was just two years.

But now Frost and most of his staff are starting their third season. People are saying that should be enough time to quit having things like false starts in a time when almost no one is allowed to attend games so hearing the quarterback probably shouldn’t be a problem.

Then a lot of people were addressing the quarterback situation. Adrian Martinez as a freshman looked like he would be a Heisman candidate right away. 

Martinez is a good quarterback. No question about that, but he is inconsistent at times and against Northwestern that was a problem. 

Now, do you know the most popular player on a lot of football teams might be . . . yes, the back-up quarterback—especially if the starter is struggling a little and the team is not winning more games than they are losing. 

Enter Luke McCaffrey, a pretty good QB himself. He has had flashes of being really good in both games the Huskers have played. 

He might be the spark that Nebraska needs and Coach Frost played him Saturday but not until late in the game. McCaffrey moved the team down the field but threw an interception when the Huskers where at the four-yard line and that was a killer misfire.  

Steven Sipple, Lincoln Journal, made a comment that “Frost tells us the culture in his program is getting stronger. But we’re not seeing a lot of evidence when it matters—That is, on Saturdays.”

Another fan was quoted, “I can’t imagine there is another football program in America that has provided a worse return on fan support and investment than Nebraska for the last decade.”

I still say that Frost will get it done. I could be wrong. Some of the observations are very valid. 

I don’t care what level you coach, or what sport you coach—if you keep making mistakes that could be corrected but it never gets done, you are going to have trouble being a consistent winner, or maybe any kind of winner at all. 

If you can’t do the little things correctly, then they add up and become very big things.

On the high school football level, I noticed that Kearney is still in the running and they knocked off Bellevue West, who was the number one seed in Class A. 

Now Kearney gets to make their fourth trip to the Metro area to play Elkhorn South. I wonder how much complaining would go on if a Metro team would have to make a trip out west four straight weeks to play—even if it was just to Kearney and it would be four different Metro teams. 

I know that we are used to driving a distance for playoff games or just regular season games but the eastern schools usually don’t have to. 

I remember once when a friend of mine told me they were going to have to go to Omaha to play, which is about 55-60 miles from their school for a district basketball game. 

I had to tell him, “Yes, that must be terrible. Our kids are getting on the bus to go to Gering for our district games.” He admitted that their trip wasn’t going to be all that bad!