Five things we learned from Nebraska's Week 0 press conference

Nebraska officially kicked off its first game week of the 2022 season on Sunday. Head coach Scott Frost and several players met with local media at Memorial Stadium to preview their upcoming showdown vs. Northwestern in Ireland.

Here are five of the most notable things we learned from what Frost and the Huskers had to say…

Frost clarifies ‘puking’ comments

Frost once again found himself in the national college football headlines for the wrong reason on Thursday.

He caused a stir by saying Nebraska’s offensive linemen were throwing up “15 to 20” times per practice because they had been working so hard.

After a few days of backlash and criticism, Frost made sure to clarify his comment right off the bat on Sunday.

“I was trying to portray how hard the o-line had been working and how proud of them I am,” Frost said. “I might have exaggerated puking a little bit. But the important thing is I want to make sure everybody understands our training staff and weight staff do an unbelievable job of keeping me abreast of everything going on in practice.

“We have heart monitors; we know their complete output. We cut back practice if we think it’s getting too hard or guys have spent too much…

“I know a lot got made out of that (comment). I can assure you that between (head football trainer Mark Mayer), the weight staff, and I, we’re doing absolutely everything to keep these guys healthy. That’s our No. 1 priority.”

Blackshirts will be awarded in Ireland

Nebraska’s coaching staff originally planned to award its first group of Blackshirts this weekend before the team flew out to Ireland on Monday.

Well, due to some logistical issues, the select recipients will have to wait another couple of days.

Frost said the Huskers’ equipment trucks – including the game and practice jerseys – had already been packed and were en route to Dublin. So now the plan is to hand out the Blackshirts when NU arrives on Tuesday.

As Frost mentioned during his radio show on Thursday, there will only be a handful of Blackshirts given out this week. The staff only wanted to award the coveted black practice jerseys to players who had appeared in a game at Nebraska.

More will likely be distributed after the team returns to Lincoln.

“That was just sort of semantics and operational issues,” Frost said. “We had to pack jerseys. We didn’t want them sweating in (the Blackshirts), and the shipment had already left. So we’re going to give them out the first day in Ireland. That has more to do with going overseas than anything else, but we’ll make that announcement this week.”

Mark Whipple will call the offense from the sideline

Frost shed some light on his staff’s gameday coaching structure, most notably that new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple would call plays from the sideline.

This will be a change from Frost’s previous OCs, Troy Walters and Matt Lubick, who both worked games from the coaches box.

“We’ve been training for that for a while,” Frost said. “Every time we get a chance, we put people up (in the coaches’ box). Whip likes to call plays from the sidelines. It’s good. I think it’s going to help. If I’m not staring at a play sheet, I can watch the defense more and see if I see things and try to be a help to them.

“But we’re going to try to have guys up (in the box) that can give us as much information as we need to get in the right play and make adjustments.”

Thompson’s experience shines

While Frost has raved about the depth and overall talent Nebraska now has at quarterback, one of the biggest separators in the competition for the starting job this offseason was that Casey Thompson had actually been there and done it.

Thompson took the podium for his first weekly press conference as a Husker and looked every bit the part of a veteran leader of the offense.

Asked about Northwestern’s defense, the former Texas transfer reeled off a detailed breakdown of the Wildcats’ scheme and personnel, a sign of how much preparation he’d put in ahead of his NU debut.

Having played in 12 games with 10 starts with the Longhorns last season, Thompson said nerves weren’t an issue at all heading into the opener in Dublin.

“No, I haven’t gotten nervous,” Thompson said. “Actually, the most relaxed I ever was for a game was in Dallas, Texas, last year on October 9 against OU… It was a different experience. You basically go into a meditation state – I don’t really know how to explain it…

“I really don’t get nervous. I would say last year, they named me the starter against Rice in Week 3, and I remember getting on the bus from the hotel to the stadium, and that was the only time I got nervous the whole season because it was my first start and I didn’t know what to expect. But ever since then, I really haven’t gotten nervous.”

Transfers have brought some swagger back to NU’s wideouts

Not only does Frost feel that additions of transfers Trey Palmer and Marcus Washington have upgraded Nebraska’s wide receiving corps, but he also thinks they’ve provided a much-needed boost in swagger for the unit.

While no receiver depth chart has been released to the team (according to Thompson), it’s a safe bet that both Palmer and Washington will be fixtures in NU’s wideout rotation this season.

Part of that is because of their talent. Thompson called Palmer the fastest receiver he’d ever played with and praised Washington’s meticulous route running and film study.

But Frost has also noticed how those two have helped raise the overall level of confidence within the room compared to past years.

“We’ve added a lot of really confident guys,” Frost said. “I’d point to Trey Palmer, Marcus Washington. Some of those guys are almost confident to a fault, and our offense needed a little injection of that.”