Frost Now Has Titled Position

The rest of his teammates had long since departed and workers were folding chairs around him, but a long line of fans still awaited an autograph or a handshake from Scott Frost.

Frost, who ran for three touchdowns as Nebraska completed an undefeated season with a 42-17 win over Tennessee in last week’s Orange Bowl, was the center of attention in the buildup to today’s East-West Shrine game.

His heroic welcome was a stark contrast to the last time Frost was on the Stanford campus. Back then, he walked away from a Cardinal team that doubted his skills as a quarterback, and went home to Nebraska.

“That’s why I left,” he said of the fans’ reception this week. “It was a great opportunity to play at Nebraska and win some titles.”

Frost will be one of the quarterbacks for the West team in the annual charity game, in which the West holds a 38-29-5 lead. The game features 78 top college players.

Frost spent his first two college seasons at Stanford, hoping coach Bill Walsh would turn the speedster from Wood River, Neb., into one of the nation’s top quarterbacks.

But Walsh turned Frost into a defensive back instead, a move that persuaded Frost to return home to play for the Cornhuskers.

In two seasons at Nebraska, he had a record of 23-2 as a starter. This past season, he became the first Nebraska player to surpass 1,000 yards in both passing (1,237) and rushing (1,095) in the same season. He also set a school record of 19 rushing touchdowns in a season by a quarterback.

Frost said he has no regrets about his decision to leave Stanford, saying he still has fond memories of his two years on the campus. And he said he is sure he eventually would have succeeded as a quarterback for the Cardinal.

“There was no feeling of failure when I left,” he said. “If I would have stayed out here, things would have worked out.”

It is still uncertain whether an NFL team will give Frost the chance to play quarterback in the pros. But his speed and strength could make him valuable at several other positions.

“He has a different throwing style. Everybody is probably concerned about his ability to throw the ball,” said John Ralston, a retired college and NFL coach who is on the player selection committee for the East-West game. “I could see him playing in three or four positions in the pros -- maybe even fullback or tight end.”

Many of the fans who stood in line for Frost’s autograph wore Nebraska hats or shirts, and one even wore a red nose--though that was because he was a Shriners clown, apparently not because of any Cornhusker allegiance.