Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule Pre-Pinstripe Bowl Quotes

On this week’s schedule
“We’ve probably done more work than we normally would have here because it’s a unique schedule, Christmas, travel to New York, so we’re going to land and go right to practice at the Giants. We will practice the second day at Fordham. On Wednesday, Christmas morning, we’re actually going to Central Park and walk through at Central Park. Yankee Stadium was able to secure that so I’m not sure if all of our guys know what Central Park is other than the park from Home Alone 2. Some of our guys know it. Ceyair (Wright) knows it. He was texting me last night for dinner reservations. He gets it. Thursday we will practice at Fordham, and Friday we will walk through at Yankee Stadium. We are going there to win the game. We aren’t going there for an experience. We are going there to win the game. We will have experiences along the way so we will practice but Christmas morning will be a little different.”

On the offensive line
“I think anytime you lose two super seniors you are going to look to address it. Offensive line is a unique position in that the true historical thing is that you bring a kid in, you redshirt him, best thing for him. The next year, year two, you are hoping that they’re in the rotation. In year three, if they are a really good player, they’re starting. It’s best to probably recruit, develop and grow your own guys at that position. We’ve been here for two years and going into three, so some of the guys you recruited the first year, you’re hoping they can help you. Guys like Gunnar (Gottula) played this year. Probably wasn't the plan for him to play but he played and he played well. I think that you’re going to look for offensive lineman always and continue to recruit and develop your own guys. I want to make sure I say this, to me it’s a three-year process at best for a really good player. I thought the offensive line really the last four to five weeks had a dramatic uptick, played better. Part of it is just development and growth, part of it was maybe settling down a little bit of what we’re doing. Dana (Holgorsen) felt like he hasn’t changed anything but just shrunken down what we’ve been doing. That’s helped. I think Donny’s (Donovan Raiola) done a really good job of developing some guys and a lot of guys that we have on the team we think are good players that just need the weight room in the offseason.”

On the running backs
“I would never say the guys aren’t good enough. I think Emmett (Johnson) played really well down the stretch. He fits Dana’s vision of what we are. We don’t want running backs who can only run the football and can’t catch. We don’t want running backs who can’t protect. So Emmett is a guy that can run the football, catch the football, protect. When Dana got here he loved Rahmir (Johnson). His career is coming to an end. But was hurt down the stretch but he really found value in him. I’ve been on record many times talking about what I think about Kwinten Ives. I think he is really, really a good player. I feel the same way about Mekhi Nelson. Does that mean if someone came along we wouldn’t look at them, this is ever-changing. This is not a deal that even when you come to an agreement with a player, like in the NFL a free agent comes and you deal with the agent and you sign a contract, that’s not this. This could change tomorrow. We are always looking but our running back room we can win with.”