Nebraska Cornhuskers College Football Pregame Quote, 11/16/2020

On Nebraska’s special teams against Penn State:

It was a step in the right direction from the week before. It was kind of similar to the other two units, offense and defense. We did some good things, some really good things and some things we can get a lot better at, so I was pleased with the improvement, but still some things to fix. It’s always better to do those after you win a game.

On whether there has been significant changes to the coaching staff’s approach on defense:

I don’t think so. They worked really hard in the offseason, but they’ve been doing that. I think it’s just the process of rebuilding the program and getting some more talent and more speed, guys learning scheme, being able to play a little faster, being more sound, making fewer mistakes. I’m really impressed with the way we’re running and hitting right now, and that speaks to the guys we have recruited and how they’re being coached and just the character of the players and the effort they’re giving.

On the reason for moving to the West sideline:

I was wondering if anyone was ever going to ask me. I guess somebody told me Coach (Bob) Devaney moved us to the East in ’62. That’s the home sideline to me, but with no fans in the stands it’s just kind of an empty barn in there. It’s not a lot of fun. We need the fans back. But, it’s really easy with us signaling things in for people to be able to see the East sideline from the coaches box. We wanted to make sure we did everything we could to protect our signals, particularly when there’s less chaos in the stadium.

On wide receivers Oliver Martin and Omar Manning:

Oliver Martin got eligible, so we’ll start letting him compete for some time. He’s a talented kid. We’re glad to have him. He just hasn’t gotten a lot of reps because he wasn’t eligible. We just can’t seem to get Omar healthy. So we’ve got our fingers crossed that we can get him healthy.

On where Nebraska’s offense is overall compared to where they want to be:

You know we’re not going to be happy until we’re scoring more, more efficient, doing some really good things. I just got done with a unit meeting with the offense and we reviewed the game, and I think the guys were able to see little things that they could do. And should be able to do, fixing some things to sustain a few more drives. I think we’re on the right track, but you’re never completely happy and we’ve got to keep getting better. I think as coaches you get frustrated because you want it perfect right now. I’ve mentioned this, but I think we counted 10 first-year players that played a significant amount for us last year and seems like we’ve been young three years in a row because of the turnover at some positions and the recruiting we’ve done to get some new athletes in here. It just takes those guys a while to know all the assignments and details they need to for us to be a little more efficient and we’re working at that every day.‚Äù

On freshman running back Marvin Scott III:

He needs to keep learning and make sure he knows the whole scheme because he’s earned the right to play a little bit more. He hasn’t touched the ball a lot, but that’s kind of how it goes. Your first year you get a few chances and if you take advantage of them, you get more. I called him after the game on Saturday night because he made two or three good runs, but he made the key block on Zavier’s (Betts) long touchdown and another third down, where Luke (McCaffrey) threw the ball left-handed and he made somebody miss and got a first down for us and those two gains potentially could have won the game for us. So I told him how happy I was for him.

On the running back position overall:

I’m happy with that room. I’ve seen significant improvement in that room. Rahmir (Johnson) is doing good things, Ronald (Thompkins) is doing good things. Marvin’s there. Sevion’s (Morrison) been knicked up a little bit, but coming back. We’ll always use Wan’Dale (Robinson) as a change up and make sure he’s getting the ball into his hands enough. Wan’Dale was so close to popping a couple runs for big plays for us. He’s just dynamic, so if we need to hand it to him, we’ll hand it to him. But (Dedrick) Mills, he’s done a good job and those young guys behind him just continue to improve.‚Äù

On tight end Jack Stoll returning to the field against Penn State after being injured at Ohio State:

I saw him in the hallway yesterday and I told him it wasn’t bad for being 80 percent. He said, ‚ÄòFrosty that’s being generous.’ So he went out there and got a good out. He made a key block on Zavier’s touchdown too, and did some other good things, but hopefully he’ll be closer to 100 percent this week.

On redshirt freshman quarterback Luke McCaffrey taking criticism in watching film after his first start:

You can’t take it any better. Luke is the type of kid that lives in the office. Always watching film, always trying to get better. So he takes coaching as constructive criticism and he wants it. He wants to continue to improve and that’s the type of people that you want to coach.

On patience with so many young guys because they just don’t know what to do:

I just had that conversation with Coach (Matt) Lubick. You know, playing some of these young guys, you know there’s just a couple of blocks that we didn’t block the right guy or plays would have popped. A couple plays where we weren’t quite in the right place in the pass game and missed a protection on a key third down right at the end of the game with a young running back. Luckily those things didn’t cost us the game, but you can’t fix all those things in one day, so all you can do as a coach is continue to teach and teach and teach and try to get those guys a little bit better every week.‚Äù

On the importance of starting the game strong defensively:

I don’t think there’s anything that brings energy to a team like success on defense and getting big hits and getting stops. That inflates offenses and inflates special teams. It makes everybody want to play harder. And like I said before. You know, there’s some big hits out there when you’re on the sideline and listening to those collisions. If we keep doing that, you know, we’ll get hit on some things, but defensively you’ve got a chance when you’ve got that many guys running to the ball and delivering hits like that.

On McCaffrey’s left-handed completion:

Yeah, I’m OK with it because it worked. I told him this morning, you never want to curtail their creative ability as football players, but you just have to know when to do those things and when not to and be smart with the football. You know several of our quarterbacks have the ability to make plays. You just have to be disciplined when doing those things and make sure they don’t turn into negative plays.‚Äù

On whether there was a different vibe in practice this morning after the win:

Yeah, I think the guys are excited. The key for us is, you know, we’re playing another good team. They got their first win just like we did. Guys in this building can’t win one and relax. They have to let that elevate them and go back out on the field and and work that much harder to get even better and keep moving this ball down the field. I think the team’s mentality is in a good place.‚Äù

On senior outside linebacker JoJo Domann playing 90-plus snaps against Penn State:

JoJo’s, first of all, been a good teammate. Second, you know, really athletic guy and very versatile, so we can ask him to do a lot of things. We can ask him to play the edge and rush. He used to be a DB so he can drop into coverage and play zones for us. That’s why he’s out there so much because he can do so many different things. JoJo’s probably bugaboo before was just making sure his eyes were good and he was disciplined in the right place all the time, and that’s been a lot better this year, and I think he’s reaping the rewards of that.‚Äù

On defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and the respect the players have for him:

Chins is a really likeable guy. I think the best teachers are good communicators and Chins is a really good communicator. The players like him, so they want to play hard for him. Coach (Charlie) McBride was that way when I was here. Man, he was tough and would yell and scream but the players would run through a wall for him, and he made it clear to them what he wanted and what he expected. We’re certainly not there. There’s a lot of things we need to improve, a lot of standards that need to be raised around here so we can do things even better. But I think the message is starting to get home to the guys and their play on the field reflects that.‚Äù

On the plan at quarterback this week with Luke McCaffrey and Adrian Martinez:

It’s going to be the same. It will always be the same. Whoever gives us the best chance to win is going to be out there. Whoever practices the best makes us confident as coaches that they give us the best chance to win. Luke’s performance for his first start was really solid. I expect him to go out and practice great, but Adrian had a good week of practice last week, too.

On whether the playing rotation could change at quarterback:

I think that could change. You know some of the things we’ve done with two guys on the field, they’re still available to us.

On McCaffrey’s energy level and leadership and whether it makes a positive impact on the team:

Luke’s energy is infectious. His competitive nature is infectious. That makes guys want to play alongside of him and that’s really what you want your leaders to be. The guys out front should be the ones who are most dedicated, and working the hardest, and when your best players are the hardest workers and the most dedicated, then the team will follow. So Luke sets a good example from that standpoint. He works as hard as anybody in the building and certainly cares as much as anybody in the building.‚Äù

On his input in developing some different looks on defense during the offseason:

I had a little to do with it, but not much. I think the key there is just trying to get guys in positions to do what they’re the best at. There’s some outside linebackers that are better at rushing the passer and we get an even fronts on third down, they’re going to be playing there. Some guys that are better at setting the edge and odd fronts. You know the defense had to play 91 snaps I think on Saturday. That’s a lot of snaps for anybody to take. I hope we don’t play another game where we snap the ball 30 times less than another team. We’re not used to playing those types of games. When you’re playing that many snaps, you need depth and you need a lot of guys rolling, and they’ve done a good job developing guys to be able to go out on the field so we can continue to rotate those guys. I think they’ve done a good job using guys in certain groups and situations to highlight what they do best.

On the young offensive linemen Bryce Benhart and Ethan Piper in particular:

I feel comfortable with several guards and even a couple that haven’t played have done a really good job in practice. Boe’s (Wilson) done a really good job for us. Ethan Piper’s done a really good job for us. Matt (Farniok) was back at guard with Cam (Jurgens) back at center. I think Trent Hixson is capable of playing at any time. (Broc) Bando is capable of playing any time, so we’re starting to get some depth there, and you know the young guys have done well considering they are freshmen. So first action, said this before, but it would have really helped us with some of those guys to have a non-conference schedule and get some games under our belt with some experience for those guys before we play teams like Ohio State, Northwestern and Penn State. But given the circumstances they’re battling. I know they’ll continue to get better and be really good players for us.‚Äù

On the physical nature of last year’s game with Illinois:

First of all, I compliment Lovie (Smith) for one. He is just an exceptional person and a really good coach. They hit the crap out of us last year. We ended up winning the game, but the guys were sore after. They did a good job running and hitting. They hit our receivers. They played physical up front and you wouldn’t expect anything less from a Lovie Smith-coached team.

On Illinois being forced to adjust because of COVID-19 challenges:

You know, they’re dealing with a lot of contact tracing and stuff because of state rules that maybe some other people aren’t dealing with. I give them credit for playing the games they’ve played despite missing some guys. I think that says a lot about who they are and who Lovie is. The challenge for us is not really knowing who’s going to play and who’s going to be out there for them and maybe what they’re going to do on offense, depending on who’s playing quarterback, so we’re going to have to get ready for multiple things.