Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan
Postgame Press Conference
Nebraska 25, Maine 7
Sept. 3, 2005 - Memorial Stadium
Lincoln, Neb.
Coach Callahan's Opening Statement
“I thought our team was good in a lot of different spots. First of all, defensively, we can’t say enough good things about the way our defense played today generating 11 sacks and holding them to minus yards in the running game. I thought our defense played very well and responded to the sudden changes that interrupted the game during the course of the game with the turnovers that we had on offense. I thought our defense played physical and that’s what we’re expecting.
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We played 17 newcomers during the course of the game. I’m really proud of all the young guys that played. When you look at Frantz Hardy and what he achieved and what he produced today, it was very good. We’re looking for more good things from him.”
On <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska’s special teams
“Overall, you look at the work our kids poured into that particular phase, the thing that stands out is the pure execution, the technique and exactness of what we practiced. Not only from the field in terms of hold ups and coverages, but I thought our specialists were awful good today.”
On junior quarterback Zac Taylor
“I really feel that if you look at the pure stats of what he was today, I don’t think its even close or indicative of what he’s capable of doing.”
On the instant replay
“There were a lot of questionable calls and we certainly understand that some will work in our favor and some of them won’t. I think they overturned two of the calls against us, but that’s the way it goes. It’s a fair shot for everybody.”
On the Nebraska offense
“We went out there and tried to achieve balance and establish a running game, which obviously we struggled with. Overall I think that we tried to remain balanced and we tried to establish a lot of things today.”
On Nebraska’s turnovers
Winning the turnover battle is going to be huge for us. Again, I’d like to compliment our defense for responding to all the sudden changes that we put them into tonight. They certainly responded well.”
On the season-opening win for the Huskers
“Openers are tough games. Let’s face it, they aren’t easy. Sometimes you don’t know what to expect. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce our way like it didn’t in some aspects of our game. But, you’ve got to give Maine credit, they played hard and I know that we’ll improve off this film.”