Scott Frost summed it up well.

“It starts with the quarterback,” the Nebraska coach said at his press conference on Monday. “He’s got to be the hardest-working guy at practice.”

Frost went on to say how much he loves Adrian Martinez and that he thinks he’ll have a great season, but those were some interesting comments about the Nebraska star quarterback following a lackluster showing in a 35-21 win over lowly South Alabama. That performance wasn’t what anyone expected out of Martinez.

And those remarks from Frost certainly weren’t what we expected to hear about Martinez. Frost was very honest. Maybe too honest. What’s the strategy here? Is he trying to light a fire under Martinez? Probably. You don’t really see a coach call out a player too often in college sports, but it speaks to the relationship those two have. Or it speaks to what lies ahead — a bumpy, unsatisfying Year No. 2 for Frost in Lincoln.

Martinez, to his credit, placed the blame on his own shoulders. He’s not shrugging this off.

“It starts with me,” Martinez told the media Monday. “I didn’t do my job well enough, and that’s on me. I’ve got to hold people to that standard, and I’ll take that responsibility. My teammates deserve better out of me.”

Here’s what I like about Martinez. He isn’t making excuses; he’s owning his subpar outing in which he completed 13 of 22 passes for 178 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. It’s the type of thing you’d hear from Russell Wilson or Drew Brees.

But at the same time, why did it come to this? It’s concerning to hear that Martinez didn’t practice well. It’s odd that after a 4-8 season that anyone in Nebraska’s program wouldn’t be locked in. This is a community that lives and breathes football, that sells out literally every home game, that churns out 85,000 people — for a spring game! How can you not be dialed in for the season opener in front of those passionate, loyal fans? Even if it is South Alabama on that other sideline.

“Both of us were piss poor,” quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco told the media. “He’s just a young guy, man. I’m in charge of getting him ready to go and I didn’t do a very good job. I gotta get better.”

Frost added earlier in the week, “We’ve got to do better as a coaching staff.”

Nebraska didn’t score on its final seven drives and finished with just 276 total yards (to South Alabama’s 314 total yards). Martinez didn’t look anything like the true freshman that thrived in the second half of last season as Nebraska won four of its final six games (and two narrow losses to Ohio State and Iowa). There was some Heisman hype for Martinez, and it was warranted.

Martinez looked unsure of himself on Saturday, and part of that was an uneven performance from the offensive line. He also wasn’t running the way he normally does, probably due to a more conservative game plan. And this Maurice Washington situation surely isn’t a stabilizer, with him sitting out the first half and then playing the second.

The offensive line struggled in front of Martinez, as the Huskers averaged just 2.2 yards per carry. If it can’t get a great push against South Alabama, what happens against Iowa and Wisconsin?

Center Cam Jurgens hasn’t practiced much because of injury, and it showed. He simply couldn’t snap the ball, and when Martinez already doesn’t have his best stuff, those sorts of things compound the issues. Even if the snap is off a little bit, it ruins timing. When the ball is being snapped clear over Martinez’s head, well, then you’re in big trouble.

But I’ll say this, I think the schedule lines up favorably for Nebraska. Playing at Colorado, a longtime rival, is perfect timing coming out of that opener. Everyone is dialed in, and a win in Boulder will make everyone forget about South Alabama and set Nebraska on the right path for a redemptive season that so many are predicting. And it’s a chance for some personal redemption for Martinez, who got hurt in the loss to Colorado last season.

Martinez got a bit of a wake-up call, and he seems to be taking it the right way. I expect Martinez to get back on track and for Frost to use the QB in more running situations. Martinez has weapons in JD Spielman and Wan’Dale Robinson to put up huge numbers against a Colorado defense that allowed 505 total yards (374 of which came through the air) against Colorado State. The coaching staff is vowing to be better and will probably put Martinez in the better situations.

And as alluded to earlier, Frost summed up this crossroads well.

“That game, offensively, is either gonna be a harbinger of things to come for this season,” he said, “or we’re going to look back on it as the best thing that ever happened to us.”