Nebraska makes history at Memorial Stadium after 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern

Scott Frost’s tenure in Nebraska now includes another ugly loss.

The Cornhuskers lost 45-42 to Georgia Southern on Saturday night as the Eagles became the third Sun Belt team to defeat a Power Five opponent in Week 2.

Nebraska had a chance to send the game into overtime as time went on, but Timmy Bleekrode’s 52-yard kick sailed wide to the left. The defeat marks the first time in 215 home games at Memorial Stadium that Nebraska has lost by 35 or more points. And it brings Frost’s record in Nebraska to 5-22 in single-score games.

Nebraska allowed 642 yards of offense to Georgia Southern as the Eagles rushed five touchdowns and averaged nearly eight yards per carry. Former Buffalo QB Kyle VanTrease scored the winning TD with 36 seconds left on a QB tie. His TD came less than three minutes after Nebraska’s Casey Thompson scored what Husker fans believe would be the winning TD.

VanTrease threw 409 yards as the Nebraska defense couldn’t do much to stop Georgia Southern outside of two Marques Buford interceptions. The Huskers ran 257 yards and threw 318 yards themselves, but it’s hard to win a football game when your opponent charges more than 600 yards.

And it’s hard to trust your coach when that opponent comes from a non-Power Five conference and your team has a history of crushing losses. Nebraska is now 1-2 in 2022 after losing to Northwestern to open the season in Ireland and win a tougher-than-expected game against FCS opponent North Dakota in week 1.

The Huskers were a prime bounce-back contender in 2022 thanks to their porous track record in single-score matches. But it’s clear that arbitrariness in single-score games doesn’t apply to Nebraska, and it’s reasonable to wonder if Frost will be the coach for the rest of the season if these defeats continue to pile up. Nebraska plays Oklahoma in week 3 for games against Indiana and Rutgers. If the Huskers lose just one of those games, they have no chance of being .500 until a trip to Purdue on October 15.

A .500 season is not what many Lincoln fans were hoping for. But that seems like a success at the moment, given the way Nebraska has played its first three games. And it would also be the school’s first non-losing season since 2016. Right now, a record .500 seems like a worthy goal.