Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan
Postgame Quotes
vs. Oklahoma
Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005
Opening statement
"Boy, our kids fought hard today, and I'm really proud of their effort. They gave everything they had in this game and they just didn't have quite enough in the end. The other team made the plays that we didn't make and I give them credit. But I'm really proud of the way our kids came back and fought back from the halftime deficit. That shows a lot of character. I'm really proud of the kids and what they've accomplished, and what they're going to continue to do. I really am. I'm excited about our future and where the team is headed, just because of the competitiveness that I see in our football team. So, there will be another day."
On the slow start for the third game in a row
"You know, I really can't (explain it). We try everything we can to come out of the tunnel fast and hot, and we just did not get it done today. But we'll keep working on it. It's something we've got to get better at."
On being prepared for the fake field goal
"We sure were (prepared). They just made a great play. You get down to crunch time and you need a block, and you want to prevent it from going up and them scoring three points, and I think we all realized that, and you sell out, and obviously you're going to be vulnerable. So it's hit and and miss, and we took a gamble on that, and that's my fault. That's the way it goes. When you play, sometimes you're going to have to gamble a little bit, and that's the game of football, that's the way it goes. They made a great play. They made a great call."
On what the call was on that play
"A block. We were (prepared for the fake). But we didn't cover it down off the block. So there are elements that we have prepared for the fake, but we didn't get it done. And to their credit, they executed an excellent fake."
On the pressure on junior quarterback Zac Taylor
"There's pressure in every game, there's pressure on every quarterback. That's just the nature of the game."
On the officiating
"I'm not going to comment on the officiating. I can't comment one single bit on the officiating. That's a conference rule. We have no excuses here. We're not making alibies or anything of that nature. That's just the way it is."
On the problems in the running game
"We got behind, but when we got done with the first half we made a decision to continue the mix. But when the clock wound down, we continued to throw the ball a little bit more than we did at the beginning of the game. But we wanted to run the ball. They're a pretty stingy defense. I think they rank second or third in the country in rush defense. It was a challenge. We had our shots and we didn't pass the test."
On Oklahoma sophomore running back Adrian Peterson
"Fine player. Very fine player. He had a fine day. He made a couple of runs that hurt us, and he's an excellent player. Excellent."
On the defensive package in the second half
"We changed it up. I talked to (defensive coordinator Kevin) Cosgrove at the half. I thought we had an excellent package. They continued to shot-gun zone run, and there were a lot of times where we had stopped the run in an early down, but we just couldn't close them out on third down. I don't know how we finished out at the end of the day in third down conversions, but just from my perspective I thought they did a pretty good job."
On the wind as a factor in the game
"I thought it was crucial. I thought the coin toss was an interesting decision that they had made. We were up against the wind to begin in the first quarter and then again in the third quarter, and that makes it hard to do what you want to do. But they had the same situation going, so it all evens out."
On junior quarterback Zac Taylor's incompletion to freshman wide receiver Nate Swift on the final drive
"Well I know Zac (Taylor) certainly put everything he could into the throw. He was on the move, on the run, and he reset and he lost it. You've got to give Zac credit. He rushed and got out to his left, and made a nice play. He kept the play alive, and unfortunately we didn't connect. But I thought it was a great effort by Zac just to get the ball off."
On the interception right before the end of the first half
"It's one of those calls where you're trying to continue your momentum and stay the same with your play selection, and it was just a bad call because we ran it right into a two-deep coverage and the corner just set and he swatted at it and cut, and he broke out and made it into a great play. That certainly hurt us, because of the fact that it was 14-3 going into the half, and that put them up to 21, and that hurt us. But our kids came into the half very confident that we could come back. We certainly were in the game, but we just didn't have enough at the end, for the second week in a row."
On how much the game plan changes when you get behind
"That's one thing that you don't want, you want to keep a balance and you want to be able to give the team a balance, but you end up wanting to take risks to catch up. It's awfully tough, because it forces you to go another direction. We're confident the direction we go to when we have to adjust because of the depth, but you certainly don't want to live like that, and we have been for the last two weeks."
On the frustration that comes from constantly playing from behind
"That's just part of football. You're going to have ups and downs and you're going to have moments when you're not going to be able to throw the ball or run the ball exactly like you want to, but that's part of the game. That's part of adapting and adjusting to the elements and to the things that you see during the course of the game, whether it's the point differential or the wind, or whatever it may be, you've got to continue to adjust. I've got to give credit (to Oklahoma). They certainly did a good job of adjusting today."
On whether the offensive line did a better job in the second half
"I really have to look at the tape before I comment on the individual line play. To give you an honest answer, I can't without looking at the tape. I thought there was some good individual effort that allowed Zac (Taylor) to make some plays, but I don't know about the situation where we come back in the second half and make some plays."
On the halfback pass call
"Well, we were in the formation where we had run the outside sweep a few times, and the last time we made that call we had adjusted the corner, and the corner forced a perimeter pattern on the edge and it allowed the corner to come up, and he's the one who made the tackle on the last toss play, so with that being said, it was the next one called for (senior I-Back) Cory (Ross), and it was an excellent oppurtunity for (senior I-Back) Cory (Ross) to make that play on the halfback pass with Nate Swift."