Nebraska’s sellout streak in jeopardy; Frost’s job? Maybe
LINCOLN, Neb. — Two days after a season-opening loss at Illinois and facing mounting criticism for his 12-21 record at Nebraska, coach Scott Frost asked fans to hang in there with the Cornhuskers.
Frost’s comment Monday came amid speculation Nebraska’s NCAA-record 375-game sellout streak will end this week when FCS Fordham visits.
“I hope nobody lost excitement after Saturday,” Frost said. “This team has a chance to be really good. I think this team is going to prove a lot to a lot of people. If there are still some tickets out there, buy ‘em up and come watch this team.
“This is a special group of kids with a lot of character, a lot of talent. We can’t wait to play in front of the fans, so we need you there.”
Nebraska did not disclose how many tickets remain for the game at 85,458-seat Memorial Stadium. Face value for the Fordham game is $70, but tickets were available for as little as $12 on the secondary market Monday.
The sellout streak began in 1962 and in the last decade has been propped up by boosters and local businesses buying unsold tickets in the days before games.
Why? Because the streak is a point of pride for the program. The Huskers won at least nine games from 1969-2001, set an NCAA record with 35 straight bowl appearances from 19692003 and won five national titles between 1970-97. The sellout streak is the last connection to the days Nebraska was among the college game’s elite.
The Huskers’ die-hard fans have been tested through the ups and downs of five coaching changes since Tom Osborne retired 24 years ago. They continued to show up as Frost underachieved through his first three years, but the mistake-filled 30-22 loss to Illinois ratcheted up the volume of media and fans casting doubts about whether Frost is up to the task.
The Illinois game was a repeat of many of the Huskers’ losses under Frost. Special teams were abysmal, there were roughing-the-passer and taunting penalties on the same play that kept alive an Illinois touchdown drive, and the offense floundered.
Frost acknowledged he got snookered by new Illinois coach Bret Bielema, saying he and his offensive assistants were caught off guard when the Illini defense lined up with four linemen instead of three. Bielema’s defenses at Wisconsin and Arkansas typically played with three down linemen.
“About half of our game plan was kind of out the window when they came up and lined up the way they did,” Frost said. “We really had to scramble and go to alternative plan and tried to adjust and did some good things but not enough of them.”
SEC COVID: Southeastern Conference teams that don’t have enough available players will have to forfeit games this year.
The league released its policy on dealing with COVID-19 issues during the 2021-22 seasons in all sports on Monday.
Unlike last season, the shorthanded team will have to forfeit and will take a loss in the SEC standings for regular season games.
The scheduled opponent will be credited with a win.
If neither team has enough available athletes to compete because of COVID-19, injuries or other factors, both teams will have to take a forfeit.
Commissioner Greg Sankey can declare a no contest if there are “extraordinary circumstances,” the league said.
The school that would have been able to play can submit a request for reimbursement of any direct financial loss to the SEC Executive Committee.
Sankey had indicated in July that teams would have to forfeit instead of getting windows to make up games, emphasizing the need for teams to get vaccinated.
“We’ve not built in the kind of time we did last year, particularly at the end of the season, to accommodate disruption,” Sankey said at SEC media days.