Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska Weekly Press Conference
Coach Bill Callahan
Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006
Memorial Stadium

 

Opening statement
“We just started our preparation yesterday on Kansas. They’re a fine team, excellent in all categories. They present quite a challenge for our football team, one we’re excited about.”

On the early struggles of Kansas with a young quarterback
“I haven’t seen all their offense. I’ve seen a few series from each game but I haven’t really studied them like (defensive coordinator) Coach (Kevin) Cosgrove has. I would just tell you that collectively they’re an excellent team in every phase. They’ve got skill in every area. I’m impressed with their skill level at wide receiver, at tight end. I like their (running back), I like their quarterbacks; they’re both capable guys. I look at their defensive backs and their secondary as very sound, very athletic. They have very good change of direction, they can break on the ball well. Their linebackers, even though they graduated the corps that they had a year ago, they’re still very solid in what they’re doing. They’ve replaced those linebackers with some good athletes.”

On what senior running back Jon Cornish has shown so far this year
“I think Jon Cornish is an excellent back. I’ve watched him this year and he’s versatile. He shows the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and run their scheme in terms of what they’re asking him, whether it be on a shovel draw or a zone run, or catching a ball out of the backfield or on a screen. He’s a very versatile guy. He’s a threat, there’s no question about it. He’s a guy that you have to zone in on and look to defend because he is an excellent football player in every regard.”

On Kansas’ defense after losing a significant number of starters from 2005
“Their inside two tackles are outstanding. I think those guys are playing at a very high, competitive level, and they really set the tone for that front. On film, you can feel their energy, you can feel them come off the ball with quickness, with explosion, and strength, whether it’s against the run or against the pass. I think they’re excellent, excellent defensive tackles. They provide a lot of disruption up front, and their (defensive) ends work off of that. Their linebackers feed off of what they’re doing, and I see those guys really drastically improving from a year ago, and they’re going to be a force to contend with. I think they set the tone, and it seems like they are more or less the emotional leaders up front in what they’re trying to get done from a schematic standpoint. They’re hard-nosed, tough guys who provide a lot of plays for them, whether it’s against the run or against the pass.”

On KU's new linebackers
“The linebackers that Kansas has now are excellent, I think. They’re defending the run and the pass well, and again it has a lot to do with how their front is playing. Anytime your front is doing well, you’re going to have the ability to make a lot of plays, and certainly those linebackers have made those plays, not only in the pass but in coverage. Their coverage element is just as strong if not stronger in a lot of respects. I don’t care what the statistics are, their efficiency against the pass is excellent. They’re very sound in their structure, and they don’t give you anything. You’ve got to earn everything you get against these guys.”

On how much motivation there is coming off of a loss as Kansas in 2005
“Not at all. Every year is different. Every year, every game, is completely different, and our approach is one that looks forward to the start of Big 12 Conference play, the divisional game itself, so all our attention and focus and energy is focused on this year. What’s happened in the past is in the past, win, lose or tie, it’s in the past. It has no relevance whatsoever to what we have to get done on Saturday. So our focus as a team is solely and strictly is Kansas and what they’re doing now and what we need to do to prepare.”

On the excitement surrounding the start of Big 12 Conference play
“I think everybody is excited about the Big 12 Conference play beginning. Now that the non-conference games are over, there are eight games where each game becomes very important. It’s a competitive race, and I think everybody in this North (division) is highly competitive. You can take a look at these teams as they’ve played in their non-conference schedules, and these teams are much improved, they’re going to be a force to deal with, and everybody’s good. That’s what makes this conference interesting and competitive.”

On setting the tone for the goal of winning the Big 12 North
“I think every game is important. This game is important because it’s the first divisional game of the Big 12 North. We’re excited and they’re excited, and that’s what’s going to make it compelling and fun and exciting. There is going to be no better atmosphere than Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. When you get our crowd revved up and excited, with the start of the Big 12 season happening here for us, it’s going to be an electrifying crowd, and it’s going to be exciting, no question about it.”

On the advantage Nebraska has having faced USC already this season
“I don’t think there’s any advantage. I think when you line up and play, it doesn’t matter. When you get in between those lines, I don’t think the coaches or the players are thinking about anything that has happened. In this division and this conference, everybody studies each other and there is a lot of familiarity. There’s a lot of carryover, and we’ve studied these players more than what you would a non-conference team. You can take all that and throw it out the window, because it’s conference play now, and our direction and focus is really centered on Kansas and the Big 12.”

On Nebraska's 6-1 record since losing to Kansas in 2005
“I don’t even look at it like that. We got better, and that happens during the course of the season, and we were fortunate to finish on a good note. We’re just looking right now to focus in on Kansas and our preparation. We’ve got to get better in every game that we come out of. We came out of this game against Troy, and there are a number of things we’ve got to get better at. We?re happy, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that there are things, plays, techniques we’ve got to get better at. We have got to continue to improve on a weekly basis. If you drop the game, you’re going to have to go back and work hard, but even if you win a game, you’re going to have to go back and work harder improving those things in your game. Especially with conference play coming up, we’ve got to elevate our level of preparation.”

On how far the team has come since the loss at Kansas
“All we’re trying to work on is getting better. We have not arrived. We have not gotten to the point as a football team that we want to get to. We’re still working on our goals, and this is just a quarter of the season that’s complete right now. This conference play that’s coming up right now, it’s really just a different type of competition. The stakes are high and everybody is competing at the highest level. This is what makes it the conference that it is.”

On working one-on-one with the offensive line
“I get down there during individual and during group installation, and I have the opportunity to assist (offensive line coach Dennis) Wagner. He’ll give me a couple of drills that he wants me to run, and I love it. I really enjoy being with those guys and I try to work with those guys as much as I can.”

On what fundamentals he works on with the offensive line
“You just go down there and you focus in on all the detail that you’ve been game planning. You’re going to change things if you are changing things, you’re going to go down and work on some of the new techniques you’re going to employ. If you’re not changing things, you’re going back and trying to get better on the things you’ve already done. You’re going back to improve and correct some of the techniques you might not have gotten to a week ago, or some of the plays you might not have used at a particular game, or work on a new sequence or adjustment. There are so many things for a player from what assignment he’s supposed to do to, not only the alignment he’s supposed to do but the adjustments if he’s blocking a particular defensive lineman.”

On how the play of sophomore I-back Marlon Lucky affects the game plan
“Every week I answer the question the same; we’ll do what we do based on the calls we have. I make no predictions about how many cuts a back is going to have in a particular game, because the game is different. I don’t know if we’re going to throw it 40 times or run it 40 times, or if we’re going to go 40-40, we’ll just have to see. It’s hard for me to ever say if a guy is going to get more or less (reps), because you just don’t ever know. You’d like to disperse the ball to as many of your key players as you can, but it’s really tough to make a prediction as to how many rushes a particular back is going to have.”

On how being able to spread the ball to four different backs has kept them all healthy and fresh
“I think we’re in good condition, and we’re striving to get in even better condition. As you work through the schedule, there’s a fine line of how much physical contact work you’re going to do during your weekly preparation. It just depends on the team, right now we’re relatively healthy, and that means we can get after it a little bit more in practice from a physical nature and we can apply more physical contact drills during practice. Week in and week out, we like to work hard, but as a coach and as a staff, we look hard at where the team is at, and we predicate what we’re doing based on that health of the team.”

On the health of sophomore I-back Cody Glenn
“We’re going to find out today. Seemingly he was a little bit better over the weekend, and we’ll find out today where he’s at.”

On whether playing the backups for a more extended period of time this year will be an advantage to the team
“We believe it will help them in their development. Any time you touch the field as a player, it’s invaluable experience you’re acquiring. It’s an outstanding opportunity for a young player. When you play young guys they’re going to make errors, but you’re teaching them in a setting where they’re going to have an opportunity to correct those errors and get a feel for the game itself. A lot of times when a newcomer hits the field, the game is fast for them. What you’d really like to accomplish is slowing the game down, and having them see the game at a slower speed. That’s so when players see the game at that slower speed, they can feel more confident about what they’re doing. A lot of times for a young freshman, who gets on the field for the first time, they’re going 100 miles an hour. They don’t know where they’re going sometimes. But for our younger players, I’ll say that they’re getting better. For example, (freshman defensive back) Ricky Thenarse, and his efforts on the kickoff coverage team, (freshmen defensive backs) Corey Young and Major Culbert, and what they have done. These guys have come in and assisted us and helped us on special teams and that’s huge for a freshman to do. When you’re running down on a kickoff, and you’re running 100 miles an hour, you’ve got to have a pretty good feel for what surrounds you, whether it’s going to be a pin block or a double team, whatever the scheme that’s going to be there, you’ve got to be ready for what technique is going to be employed and how to defeat that technique. Our young kids have done a pretty good job. They’ve shown a good awareness and reaction in terms of their coverage ability.”

On the possible advantages to playing night games two weeks in a row
“I don’t look at it like that. We just play when we play. I like playing at night. I like night games. But that’s just me, I can’t speak for the other guys. What’s different about it is that you come off a night game, and if you win, you really don’t have a lot of time to enjoy the win. You go right back to work first thing in the morning. I know for myself I go home and go right back to look at everything. I try to review the play calls and the selections of plays, and if we go everything implemented that we wanted to show, and then we’re right back into the next week of preparation. So it comes up on you pretty quickly when you play on a Saturday night, and I think we’re going to be playing now for four consecutive Saturday (nights), so there’s not a lot of down time.”

On the status of senior center Kurt Mann
“This week he’ll be out, but he’s back with the team. Some days he feels good and some days he feels not as good, so it’s day-to-day with him. I think the main thing is just getting his strength back to the level it was at before he got ill.”