Head coach Scott Frost has certainly brought a sense of swagger back to Nebraska football.

Expectations were high heading into his first season with the team in 2018, but a winning record never materialized. An abysmal start to the season paved the way for an ugly 4-8 record in Frost’s first season leading the Cornhuskers. However, expectations are already soaring for his second season.

The B1G West race remains wide open for 2019 after Northwestern shocked the conference by winning the division last year. The Wildcats are replacing a number of key pieces from that team, and every other West contender has questions of their own. And when it comes to Nebraska, they are quickly becoming one of the more talented teams in the division.

Many analysts have picked the Huskers to finish strong this year and they opened with a No. 24 ranking in the preseason AP Poll. Quarterback Adrian Martinez was asked about those higher expectations heading into his sophomore season, and he made it clear that this should be the norm at Nebraska:

“We play at the University of Nebraska,” said Martinez. “I think we need high expectations. That’s the way it is, that’s part of the reason we came here. We should be winning, but also we have to earn it. I think this team knows that. We’ve been working really hard, we’re confident, but we need to earn it.”

Hopefully, Martinez can build off of an electric freshman season with an even better 2019 performance. If the offense keeps rolling and the defense plays better, the sky is the limit for this squad.

Be sure to check out all of the comments from Martinez and JD Spielman from the BTN Bus Tour: