-Isms

I predicted how the latest episode would play out; I didn't know exactly when.

Once the prodigal son decided to return home and resurrect a football program clinging to life support, I told Scott - my Scott, not the Frosty version - fans would flip out and sport their badges of negativity proudly, if he didn't win immediately and turn the program around in two years.

And, without missing a beat, the bandwagon chanting "Fire Frost," sung by armchair quarterbacks and hidden social media trolls, twisted sound waves from Lincoln to Scottsbluff following Saturday's loss to Ohio State in Lincoln.

Sure, the Huskers did not look like a top-notch D1 team on national, prime time television. It's unfortunate, considering all the hype around the program and Lincoln and the state for the past week.

And, even as much as I love my 'Skers, I knew how Saturday would more than likely end, although I will admit I believed the final score would be closer to 35-21.

Our football program is not where it needs to be yet, but it is on the right path. It will take time, something technology and social media has taught us should be instantaneous. Time, in this age, means in a matter of hours, maybe a day, not after years of hard work, introspection and refocus.

I don't think many fans realized how deeply fragmented the football program had become, how far it strayed from home, wandering aimlessly in search of its soul, clinging to its lifeblood pigskin by the tips of its fingernails.

You may think that's hyperbole, but it's truth, and sometimes, brutal honesty is the bitchslap we need to put reality in its rightful place.

When Coach Frost says, "Success is getting better. Success is being better than we were yesterday. If you measure success just on wins and losses, you're going to have some great moments in your life and you're going to have some epic pitfalls," I believe him.

When Coach Frost says, "Results take care of themselves. If you're better every single time you go out to practice, if you're better every single time you go out to play a game, that's success to me," I know he's right.

When Coach Frost says, "I had other opportunities ... I want to be here," I can't imagine any person more qualified to start from scratch, dismantle a culture of entitlement getting by doing the bare minimum and build a program that, once again, demands respect.

He will get there, it won't happen overnight. Obviously, it hasn't happened after 20 months.

Oh, I hear you. He made an amazing turnaround at UCF in two years.

Nebraska. Is. Not. UCF.

The most disheartening part of this "fire the coach" attitude isn't the 48-7 thumping to a national championship-caliber team. No, the most upsetting part is how quick people jump to judgment and point the finger at a coach, his staff and their players, calling them out on social media, when the score isn't favorable.

Prior to Saturday's game, I spoke with one of Nebraska's retired adjutant generals about social media and its tendency to foster negativity instead of highlighting the small victories, and large ones, too.

We agreed social media fractures an even bigger divide when it comes to contentious topics, including the state of Husker football.

Bob Devaney didn't build Lincoln in a day. Neither did TO.

Tearing it down into a pile of unrecognizable rubble didn't happen overnight, either. It was a slow, treacherous slide into mediocrity and muck.

Slowly, we're clawing our way out of the abyss. You can see a different attitude and renewed sense of pride when players take the field this year. You hear them take responsibility for their actions.

That's progress.

This recovery will take grit and glory - and Scott Frost - to rebuild and bring back respect.

Go Big Red.