Frost discusses punt return situation, Manning, Smothers and more
ByBRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON 110 minutes ago
Scott Frost isn't ready to automatically change up personnel at punt returner, after a second straight week with a miscue.
Cam Taylor-Britt, one of Nebraska's best players and team co-captain, misplayed a bouncing punt in Saturday's 52-7 win over Fordham that led to a turnover. It was a week after he fielded a punt at the 2 and carried into the end zone, where he was tackled for a safety.
"We got to make good decisions back there. I'm not the type of coach that's going to fire someone from a role if they make a mistake," he said. "But the mistakes have to quit. The one on Saturday was a little tough. If that's a bounce in the open field, we want him to field it. That was probably not the right time to try to do that. But Cam gives us our best opportunity for a big play too, so we'll make that decision as we go forward. But I trust Cam."
Oliver Martin, when healthy, is on deck as the punt returner, but he was held out of the Fordham game with what was said to be a minor injury. Brody Belt came in to field punts after Taylor-Britt. Belt also dropped one, but it bounced out of bounds. True freshman Kamonte Grimes is another Sean Beckton has worked at as a punt returner in camp to keep in mind.
But the Huskers know Taylor-Britt is going to be critical to this team's success going forward, and that still might include as a returnman.
"I don't think he's had a rough first couple weeks," Frost said. "He's played really well on defense. He's had two bad plays. If you look at any player on our team, they've had two bad plays in two games. So I wouldn't characterize it as a rough start. We just have to make better decisions on punt return."
– Omar Manning got the start this past week with Oliver Martin out. He had three catches for 54 yards, and a couple of nice blocks in the run game. "Omar's talented. It's just a matter of being out there, and when he's out there he'll make plays," Frost said. "He's done a really good job of that through fall camp and with Oliver down last week, he got even more reps and I thought he took advantage of it. When he's out there, we're a better team."
– Frost thought Logan Smothers did well in his four series as backup, save for a fumble that killed a promising drive. "The biggest thing for me was the moment didn't look to big for him."
– With Markese Stepp, it has just been a matter of him getting fully recovered an offseason foot injury. While the running back hasn't started the first two games, he seemed to position himself as the lead dog coming into this game by running for 101 yards on 18 carries. "He showed up with an injury we didn't expect. It took him a while to get healthy, and I've seen constant improvement with him, and it seems to continue."
Frost thought Nebraska "made a step forward" at running back on Saturday, saying he was pleased with several of the backs.
– Frost said he's "potentially" interested in using the portal more going forward. "I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg with the transfer portal," adding that any newbie has to fit culturally in the locker room, as well as from a talent standpoint. "I love where the locker room is right now. I never want to upset that. It's going to be an interesting year because we're going to have a lot smaller signing class than normal ... so we'll see where we fall with number of freshmen and transfers this year."
The advantages for guys like Stepp, Samori Toure and Chris Kolarevic – who all already act like seasoned pros in dealing with the attention around here – being older is obvious. "You're just more ready for everything that life and football throw at you when you're 21 instead of 18. ... Every one of those guys that transferred in did a great job of being mature and getting to work. Training like a pro, and learning the offense and defense and special teams schemes. I think we picked some of the right guys."
– Adrian Martinez played "a really good game" against Fordham, Frost said. "Made the throws he was supposed to make. Made good decisions. We had the one ball on the ground and other than that he didn't miss much. That's what we've been seeing in practice and I expect it to continue."
– Frost didn't get to see McKenzie Milton's performance at Florida State last night, but was happy for his former UCF quarterback. "I was in the office until about midnight last night game-planning, so I didn't get to watch, and then looked at my phone and saw a bunch of messages about him. KZ's like family. He's family to me. He went through something hard and glad to see him having some success again. He deserves it."
– Broc Bando had an illness, which is why he was out Saturday. "Shouldn't be long." When it comes to Oliver Martin, Casey Rogers and Travis Vokolek, "they're all getting close."
– Teddy Prochazka seems to be working his way into the possible backup left tackle role already. "He's got a ton of potential and you're starting to see that shine through. He did a really good job in the offseason turning his body into a guy that looks like he's been in college for four years already. It won't be long before he's helping us, so the more reps he can get the better we are."
– Marquez Buford Jr. is squeezing in already as the fourth or fifth corner. One of the ways he's helping himself is buying all the way into special teams, which is increasing his looks there and maybe on defense too. He was on the travel roster at Illinois and it seems that he might keep making trips.
– Frost also thought the O-line "made a big step" from Week 1 to Week 2. In analyzing Buffalo's defense, Frost noted its strong pass rushers and all-conference linebackers. "They're very aggressive in their scheme, and they looked really well coached. They looked like world-beaters in Game 1," he said of Buffalo's 69-7 win over Wagner. "Our guys know we have a challenge on Saturday."
– Buffalo jumped way ahead early in its opener and that allowed the Bulls to quickly go into hiding with some scheme items. "They did some things late in the game that they didn't do in the first 20 snaps, so it's going to be a little bit of a guessing game." But Frost has gone against the Bulls' defensive coordinator (Joe Cauthen) before. "He did a really good job. They whipped us." Frost was likely referencing the 2016 Cure Bowl, when Cauthen was the DC at Arkansas State and the Red Wolves beat Frost's first Central Florida team 31-13.
"So I know he's going to have his guys ready and we're going to do our best to guess what kind of scheme they're going to be running."
