The beginning of Scott Frost's fifth season at Nebraska lapsed from poor to abysmal on Saturday when the Cornhuskers suffered a 45-42 home loss to Georgia Southern. The defeat was Nebraska's first to a Group of Five opponent since 2018 when it lost to Troy in Frost's second game as coach.
Much has been made about Frost's record in close games; indeed, the Cornhuskers are now 5-22 in one-possession outcomes under Frost. However, Nebraska was also an astonishing 214-0 all time at Memorial Stadium when scoring 35 or more points, including 11-0 under Frost, until Georgia Southern came to town.
Now, it's 214-1.
Frost is now 16-31 overall and 1-2 in a 2022 season that was expected to bring a breakthrough of sorts for the program. With a preseason win total set at 7.5 by oddsmakers, Nebraska was projected to at least reach a bowl game for the first time in Frost's tenure and for the first time since 2016. After Nebraska's defense surrendered 642 yards to the Eagles, however, it's clear the team faces an uphill climb to reach six regular-season victories.
Up next is a game vs. No. 7 Oklahoma followed by eight straight Big Ten contests, and as the weeks go by, speculation about Frost's future figures to only mount. His buyout reportedly drops from $15 million to $7.5 mullion on Oct. 1, the day Nebraska hosts Indiana. Unless the Cornhuskers pull a significant upset against Oklahoma next week, they will be assured of having a losing record the day Frost's buyout figure changes.
While a season-opening loss to Northwestern in Ireland during a Week 0 showcase game was somewhat understandable since it was a Big Ten contest coming as the Cornhuskers broke in a new quarterback and offensive coordinator, Saturday's result further exposed the issues that the Wildcats first revealed two weeks ago.
Georgia Southern, which finished 3-9 last season as one of the nation's most run-heavy teams, is transitioning to a vastly different offensive scheme this season under first-year coach Clay Helton. But Nebraska's porous defense made Georgia Southern's offensive attack look like a well-refined juggernaut. The Eagles scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions and then drove 75 yards on 11 plays in the final three minutes for the go-ahead score.
