Scott Frost on Saturday will make his Big Ten debut, but the opponent is strikingly familiar.
The first-year Nebraska head coach has history with Michigan, both as a player and as a coach. Of course, he famously stumped for national championship votes in 1998 after defeating Tennessee in the Orange Bowl one day after Michigan dispatched Washington State in the Rose Bowl.
In 2016, Frost’s second game as a college head coach was a 51-14 Central Florida loss at the Big House. Afterward, Frost, whose Knights made the trip north as a 35½-point underdog, said he thought his team outhit the Wolverines.
“I know the people in Michigan don't like me very much,†Frost said during Big Ten football media days in Chicago in July. “I have a lot of respect for their program. … But if I get all done coaching and decide I want to run for office, I probably can't do it in Michigan."
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As it turns out, that respect that Frost holds for UM is reciprocated by Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh.
“Really good physical team,†Harbaugh told reporters in Ann Arbor on Monday. “A lot of team speed. A lot of athleticism and right now going through all their schemes, they have a lot already put in. When you watch what they did at UCF as well, you expect that to be indoctrinated into the Nebraska schemes as well.
"Really impressed with what he’s done as a coach — what he did as a coordinator at Oregon, had a chance to compete against him there and when he was at UCF. Really one of the bright coaches in our profession.â€
The 2016 matchup, in particular, will hold some weight this weekend. Not just because Frost and his staff know what it’s like to go to the Big House as big underdogs, but because they have schemed for a Don Brown defense before and vice versa.
“The thing about (Michigan) is they’re going to be where they are (on) first and second down,†NU running backs coach Ryan Held said Wednesday. “They’re either going to be in man or two-high. You know where they’re going to be. They’re saying, ‘All right, come beat us.’’ So we got to be able to execute. We got to be able to win on man-routes, we got to be able to run the ball, we got to protect the quarterback on third down.â€
Regardless of whoever is under center, Frost expects Brown to test NU’s ability to operate in the face of pressure.
“He’s got good players to work with and they have a good scheme,†Frost said. “They take away just about everything easy that should be there and they make you earn it. They’re going to play hard.
“I’m sure if we’re playing a young quarterback or a backup quarterback, they’ll be coming over the walls on blitzes. So we have to be ready for all of that.â€
In 2016, the Knights rushed for 275 yards (6.0 per attempt) against Brown’s group, but also completed just 6-of-22 passes. UCF lost again the next week, albeit by just six points to Maryland, before winning five of its next seven. That, of course, helped set the course for the Knights’ 13-0 2017 campaign.
So scheme familiarity? Sure, that’s something that Frost can draw on to help NU as Saturday approaches. Twenty-year history or underdog tales? Not so much.
“We’re going to be underdogs in quite a few games this year, so I’m not going to tell the guys they’re not as good as the other team,†Frost said. “I’m not going to embrace that at all. I just want to go out and play as hard as we can and fight and be better than we were last week, regardless of who we’re playing.â€