One tough customer

With just four games remaining in his Husker football career (okay maybe five if Nebraska can somehow make it to a bowl game), it’s great to finally see what Richard Rhoden and I have been saying for the past four or five years.
“Throw the ball to Austin! He’s wide open!”
With five catches for 121 yards and one score in Minneapolis, maybe it’s finally sunk in that he’s the best option for Adrian Martinez play in and play out if Nebraska wants to get yards through the air.
Austin has developed into a tough, reliable tight end receiver and blocker. His sheer size causes headaches for opposing defensive coordinators, not to mention undersized defensive backs.
And he catches almost everything that’s thrown to him.
And as much as I’d love to see him in lined up next season when the Huskers open against Northwestern over in Ireland, I’m afraid that ship has sailed.
The NFL is calling, and it will be fun to see which team drafts him and in what early round.
Just sayin’, but how cool would he look in a Cowboys uniform? You don’t think Dak Prescott would be drooling?
***
With Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, Scott Frost is now 10-21 against Big Ten competition. So the question is, what is his biggest win as a Husker head coach?
Could it be last year’s 30-23 win over Penn State in Lincoln?
Nope. The Nittany Lions finished 4-5 a year ago.
Could it be 2018’s snow game against Michigan State in which Barrett Pickering kicked three field goals to beat the Spartans 9-6?
Nope. Michigan State did finish 7-6 that season but I’m throwing this one out since NU failed to score any touchdowns and because Sparty lost to Oregon in a bowl game.
No, on paper it looks like Frost’s best win came earlier in 2018, at home against the Gophers, when Big Red put a 53-28 whipping on P.J., but they didn’t sink his boat as Minnesota rallied back from a 3-4 record to finish at 7-6 that season, beating Wisconsin and Georgia Tech in their final two games.
So that’s it. Frost’s best win to date.
Unfortunately against other schools, he’s 0 for 4 against Ohio State, 0-3 against Iowa, 0 for 2 against both Michigan and Wisconsin, 2-2 against Illinois, an even split with Indiana, and 1-2 against Purdue, a team that just upset No. 2 Iowa and is next up on the schedule.
Six times this season the Huskers have scored 28 points or less, and that’s just not going to get it done.
So where does the team go from here?
For one, the rest of the offense has to take a cue from Austin and play every play like it’s their last. The O-line needs to play better, the coaches have to be more creative and dang it, players need to do their job.
I’m not sure how much more Husker Nation can take. Week after week of gut-wrenching losses has fans wondering once again if Frost’s system is going to work in the Big Ten. Sometimes it’s high risk, high reward, and in a league with stingy defenses, that has backfired way too many times.
All is not lost. But if the same mistakes and slow starts keep happening, then the grumbling will get louder.
And unless the offense can start scoring more points, unless NU can find ways to not beat themselves, the road in November may get even bumpier.
DAVE BRADLEY can be reached at advertising@hamilton.net.