Nebraska Cornhuskers College Football Pregame Quote, 11/23/2020

On coaching the “juice and enthusiasm” to play into a young team:

It’s our job to coach it into these guys. We’ve got a lot of guys that have that, it wasn’t there as a team. It started in practice all week I thought, and we’ve got to do better job coaching it into them. We certainly tried to coach it into them. I think a little bit, we’ve got a young team that thought they won one game and everything was good, and the next one was going to be a a win, too. That’s not the way this game works, so hopefully our young players learned a lesson and we won’t let it happen again.

On coming into a rivalry game with Iowa after a loss being different than coming off a win:

No I don’t think so. Our guys have responded this week. Energy is way better. I think they’re excited to play Iowa. Iowa is a really good team. It’s going to be a black and blue game like it always is against those guys. They’re going to make you earn it. We respect them but we want to play as hard as we can, and I think the guys are going to prepare.

On judging the quarterback performance and instilling confidence in that position:

Pace has been good this year. Those guys are running hard, they’re evading rush when they need to. Timing on throws needs to be a little better. We’re really young outside so that it’s all on the quarterbacks. But overall our quarterback play wasn’t good enough on Saturday, particularly the turnovers. We got off to such a bad start, but just like every week, we are going to let those guys compete. I’ve been talking to those guys about just what you asked, being confident. Both of them believe in the type of player they are and the type of throwers they are. They both have the capability of doing it.

Is it harder for the quarterbacks because the receivers are so young:

Oh yeah, that’s the passing game. Shoot, we’ve thrown for a lot of yards in this offense and we’re not on track to do that this year. We’ve got the kids in the program that I think are going to be great receivers. They’re all young. A lot of them are young, couple veterans that are doing a really good job. But our quarterbacks need to trust them, and we need to be in the right spot and we need to be at full speed and all those things. We’re working toward that every day, and it was better today.

On whether this Thanksgiving will be different in terms of preparation for Iowa:

Yeah, this whole year’s been rough and trying to manage things, we’re going to treat Thursday like it’s a normal Friday for us and head over there. We’re trying to work through right now how many guys we can let go home but if we go home and get some guys with the virus, that could put our season in jeopardy, the rest of the season in jeopardy. I’m sure our guys after this long haul are ready to go see family but we’ve got a couple more games to play so we’re trying to work through that schedule right now. But we’ll treat Thursday other than a nice team meal the same as we do the day before any game.

On how close Nebraska’s quarterbacks are to being like some of the great quarterbacks he has coached in the past:

They both have enough talent to be those guys, and we haven’t we haven’t gotten them playing there yet. Luke (McCaffrey) was in his second start, that’s tough. You know Adrian (Martinez) has all the talent in the world and and has the capability of doing it. Those guys can both be just like the people you asked about but there’s been games where we haven’t played like that. We have to better jobs coaches to make sure that we get those guys to max out their potential.

On if the team is having more physical practices this week after last Saturday’s game and preparing to play Iowa on Friday:

Other than trying to get the guys to play hard, practice hard, we didn’t do as well as I wanted last week and the execution wasn’t as well as we wanted. We didn’t change practice. I think it’s just the intensity is better, and that’s what we need when we’re playing any game, especially Iowa.

On being able to maintain the tradition of playing on the day after Thanksgiving:

We’re excited to be playing football. We thought play football, I’m glad we’re playing. No matter what happens I’m glad we’re getting this experience. To get better the football team we need to be able to play. It’s great we get to play Iowa, I’ve got so much respect for Coach Ferentz and their program. We’ve been int two close ones that we lost the last second the first two years. They’re going to make you earn it, man. They’re a physical team, they’re good on defense, they do great job on offense. We’re excited to be playing. It has been a weird year, it’s been a challenging year trying to handle every one of these weird situations the right way, but great that we’re getting a chance to play this football game.

On showing progress over the remaining games:

It’s important. We’re so much better in so many ways but we weren’t Saturday and that’s that’s what frustrates me. We’ve taken steps forward, I feel like we took a step back Saturday. We’ve got more talent in this program than we’ve had the last two years. The talent keeps growing. A lot of the good players that are playing for us are young, freshmen playing for the first time. To win in this league you gotta not only have the athletes on the field and have the right Xs and Os, you’ve got to execute it really well and that’s easier to do with a veteran team than it is a young team. I think defensively – Saturday wasn’t what we wanted ‚Äì but our defense has been running and hitting better. We’ve got the pieces at skill on offense now, some of them young. So the progress is evident when you’re inside these walls, but it’s got to show up on the field. We’re playing three games against three good opponents. We’re going to take our swing. There’s no doubt that the improvements are being made. It’s got to show up on the football field and we’ve got to catch some momentum.

On if playing a rival helps motivate the team during the week of practice leading up to the game:

I think so. It shouldn’t. We shouldn’t need to be playing a rival to prepare well, but if that’s what it takes that then hopefully it helps this week.

On the status of senior linebacker Collin Miller, who was injured against Illinois:

Colin was at practice today. He didn’t take part in practice, but he was out there with his teammates, and I gave a big hug and I think a lot of guys were excited to see him.

On if Miller will return before the season is over:

Doubtful. We’re going to be careful with him and make sure that he’s going to be OK long term. His health is the most important thing.

On how the coaching staff evaluates itself in terms of improvement:

We’re always looking for ways to be a little bit better. We’re certainly not going to completely change a formula that’s been so successful going back a long time, but we all have to self examine and make sure we’re doing everything we can to win. We didn’t do a good job getting the team mentally ready to play last week, and we didn’t play well. We didn’t play anywhere near as well as we could play. To win in this league, you’ve got to play your best. The rest of the year I’ve been happy with our energy and effort; at Ohio state, shoot Northwestern looks like a a playoff team right now and we had every chance in the world in that game and found a way to beat Penn State. But we can’t play like we did Saturday. Again, credit to Illinois but we can’t play like that. Wins are too hard to come by in this league to let that happen so whatever coaches need to do to make sure the team’s ready we need to do it.

On if any of the running backs have stood out at practice:

(Dedrick) Mills was kind of our lead running back, he’s been nicked up. That puts us in a position where we got one Dale that we want to use it receiver but can put him in the backfield and can do special things and some freshmen, and those freshmen have been battling it out. I can’t tell you there’s one that’s clearly on top because they’re all talented kids, but that’s the boat we’re rowing in right now.

On changing quarterbacks during the season and how that impacts the team:

I don’t think the rest of the team is going to be affected. I care about those two kids so deeply. I’ve been kind of bench here before as a quarterback, even for a short time during a game. (I) got booed when I came back into the game to some degree. Sometimes you need that shake up and it puts a chip on your shoulder. There’s no doubt in my mind Luke McCaffrey’s the future around here but right now to help us win we’ve got to play the guy that gives us the best chance. I think Adrian’s been playing with little chip on his shoulder, Luke’s playing well so we’re going to evaluate this week and let’s see which one goes out there. I feel good about both of them, we just need to keep coaching him as well as we can so we get the best that we can out of them.

On his favorite Thanksgiving memory or food:

One of the challenging things about being in football is you lose Thanksgiving. It’s just the way it is. I like cranberry sauce on my turkey. Some people are into it some aren’t. I love it.

On how defenses have been playing Wan’Dale Robinson:

They’re aware of where he is all the time. Some of the quick throws, some of the option routes, some of them fast screens, they know where we where he is. We have a lot of people up near the line of scrimmage against us right now until we’re going to be able to push the ball downfield better.

On who the starting quarterback will be on Friday:

Just like last week we’re letting them compete, and I’m not sure.

On how he feels about the inside linebacker position with Collin Miller out and Luke Reimer ‚Äòdinged up’:

I feel good. I think Luke’s going to be fine. We can always move Nick (Henrich) back to that spot. (Garrett) Snodgrass has done some good things and got some playing time. So we’ve still got some guys that we feel good about there.

On how he keeps young players motivated during a season like this:

It’s a challenge. I was the 2nd-ranked quarterback in the country I think coming out of high school and I didn’t play until my fourth year of college. Things worked out great for me. Freshman years are hard because you’re used to being the star of the show in high school and you come and very few freshmen are capable and able to start their freshman year. This year’s been even tougher with no fans in the stands, they don’t get to see what Memorial Stadium looks like. We’re going to be done with school and still have a few weeks a season left here, so there there’s been probably even more challenges than before but at the end of the day a lot of kids need to learn to be patient and if they persevere, things are going to work out better for them. Not everything happens easy or right away or when you want it to. It’s kind of like the progress we’re making as a team but hasn’t quite gotten there yet. We try to teach those lessons to those kids every day. At the end of the day, some of them will learn them, some won’t and won’t stick around here or somewhere else they go, but that’s the challenge facing a lot of us.

On the nature of Collin Miller’s injury:

They’re still kind of testing everything to make sure. They’re calling it a spinal concussion. I can only tell you what that sounds like to me, but I don’t think they found any serious issues that went on. I think it he just took a hit in the exact wrong way and it sounds like everything down the road should be fine.