Huskers Hope for Success at KU

Nebraska Football
Weekly Media Luncheon
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005
Pre-Kansas Game

Head Coach
Bill Callahan
Opening Statement
“Our focus today as a staff and as a team is on Kansas. We’re excited about the challenge of playing an outstanding football team that we see as really a heck of a challenge from the aspect of how their team has improved and how they look statistically and what they’ve done on the field. It’ll be a real tough, physical, competitive football game down at Lawrence this weekend. I know our players are excited. As you look at Kansas, they have some great strengths across their team. They give you a lot of problems obviously from the defensive standpoint. They are very good at linebacker; they have a very good rush, a very good coverage. They are stingy in terms of the run defense. They present a lot of problems, but I know that our team is up for the challenge. We’re looking forward to going down there this weekend.”

On the gesture made during the Oklahoma game
“I talked with (Nebraska Athletic Director) Steve (Pederson) today and those comments are private.  Like I said yesterday, I didn’t see it and I haven’t seen it.  I wasn’t gesturing maliciously at an official.  I never intended to do anything of that nature after I had gotten done talking to the official.  But interesting enough, I talked to Tim Millis, the supervisor of officials last night and reassured him that there was no intent.  And in that conversation he says ?Bill, you know, we don’t even know what you’re talking about.  There was no flag, there was no report.’  So I don’t know where this is coming from.  I was frustrated at the time and I did make a gesture out of frustration that I normally have done with my own children when I’ve had it up to here with a certain aspect.  I was really frustrated.  I’m going to fight for my players and I’m going to fight for my team and that’s my prerogative as a head coach.  But you know, I’m 49 years old and I don’t go around throat slashing signs and symbols. I don’t use that type of demeanor.  I never have.  I think it is blown way out of proportion.  Somebody said something to me after the game and I dismissed it.  And then it came up again and I couldn’t believe it.  It’s blown out of proportion.  I’m sure the damage has already been done out there, but that’s the way it is.”

On how the incident is affecting the players
“I don’t want to be a distraction to our team.  I certainly hope not.  I hope this hasn’t been a distraction for them.  They know one thing; I’m going to fight for them.  And I’m going to defend them and if I don’t think something’s right and I don’t think it’s just, I’m going to speak up.  And I certainly did that on Saturday.  My demeanor historically, both in the National Football League and in college football, I kind of just sit there with my sheet and review my plays and get the next series ready and things of that nature.  That’s been my demeanor.  That’s the way I’ve acted professionally throughout my career. So I don’t know where we get all these gang symbols and all these allegations.  This is gesture-Gate or something.  I don’t know where this is all coming from.  I get frustrated just like anyone else does.  And I didn’t like what I saw and I voiced it.  But I never did anything toward an official and I reassured Tim (Millis) of that.  When I was listening to him last night, he didn’t even know what I was talking about.”

On the discussion with the official
“Well, I don’t want to get into that.  It’s the heat of the battle.  I’ve been there in the NFL with referees and we battle and then we walk away and we move on, just like anything in life.  Interestingly enough, I had one official comment on one thing he saw and right afterwards I thanked him for it.  I appreciated it.  Things happen pretty quickly and things move on.  In the heat of the battle it frustrated me.  At that point in time, where the game was at, I didn’t agree with it.  And that’s my prerogative.  I don’t have to agree with it.  I can certainly fight for our team and that’s exactly what I did and what I’ll continue to do as we move through.”

On what constitutes holding at the college level
“I’m not going to get into that.  I’m not going to start discussing officiating and what is and isn’t holding.  I think the rules are pretty clear.  I think each crew interprets it different.  I think the Big 12 has been consistent in how they interpret it.  I just get frustrated.  I’m not barking for calls and I told our team, I’m not looking for excuses either.  And I won’t allow that to be an excuse for our team.  That’s a part of football. You have to overcome officiating, good or bad.  And I think it all evens out at the end of the year anyhow.  There are a lot of good quality men.  We’ve got Big 12 officials doing our practices on a daily basis.  I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys.  It’s a hard job, but if I see something I’m going to argue a point and that’s just the way it is.”

On possibly being reprimanded by the Big 12
“I don’t think they’re going to send me to Alcatraz or anything.  There wasn’t any unsportsmanlike act toward any particular person or individual.  I was just generally kind of fed up with what I saw and kind of frustrated in that respect.  But it is what it is.”

On what challenges the Kansas defense presents
“They’re led by an outstanding linebacker in Nick Reid.  What we see in his play is his production at every level; his ability to blitz, his ability to defend the run and cover and make plays all over the field, pursue from the back side.  His entry points are excellent.  He’s outstanding in every respect.  I really have a lot of respect for their team defense as a whole.  They’re not complicated, they’re simple.  They line up and they just play.  And they play hard, they play physical and they play competitively.  They’re stingy.  You look at their improvement from one year to the other.  It’s amazing.  Their front four have really come on.  They can generate pressure, rushes, they don’t need a lot of blitzes.  They can line up and just defeat you man for man.  And that’s what’s impressive about them.  Of course their secondary is very solid.  They zone you up.  They play good situational defense.  They can back you up into a corner if you’re not efficient and if you don’t execute with discipline.  That’s the biggest thing I see in our team coming out of last week’s game.  If we were a little more detailed, a little more disciplined with what we were doing on Saturday, I believe there would have been a better result.  I know that our players believe that fact.  And as we looked at the tape and came away with the positives and came away with areas that we needed to improve, it was pretty clear to me that our guys need to become more disciplined at some of the assignments that were laid out.  We didn’t execute with the exactness that we had to.  When you get into big games and you’re playing for a lot, that precision is key because the margin for error is minute.  And it gets magnified pretty quickly if you don’t.  That’s what occurred to us.  We battled through it and we came back from behind, but like I said, if you’re going to be a championship football team you can’t allow that error to happen in your play.”

On building a game plan against KU’s stingy rush defense
“You go into the game plan and you list your core runs and you look at your situational runs and runs where you can take advantage of weaknesses and what’s tough, is that we don’t see a lot of weaknesses on their part.  We don’t see a lot of weaknesses in their front, in their linebacking corps, which is the strength of their team, and their run support from the secondary is outstanding.  So you plan and you try to put a dent in that defense and if you’re fortunate enough to maintain a rhythm then you usually can generate a little bit more of a positive effect.  But you’ve got to have the ball and you have to have a sequence of plays where you can create that rhythm.  And they're stingy, they’re awfully tough.  Their change-ups are pretty good.  They’ll slant or they’ll pinch and they’ll move their line around.  They’ll continue to put pressure when needed.  So that makes it even more difficult because their movement of their athletes up front is really well defined.”

On the difference in Nebraska’s run game this season
“I think, looking at the overall effect of the flow of the game has created a little bit of a lower level or lower production in the run area.  When you start three or four games behind the eight ball, it’s hard to create the rhythm that you want.  So what consequently happens is that you’re running gets out of sync.  You’re trying to make up yards and big plays with play action, so we’re going more to that effect.  We’re lending more credence to that as opposed to trying to knock down the ball for four yards or five yards and be patient.  So we’re trying to create more yards in a catch-up scenario.  So that has hurt us in that regard.  That’s what I can only draw to in these last few games.  Overall, we’ll have to go back and look at our run game after the season is over.  And we do self-scout continually.  But I can tell you that just in the Big 12 games alone, we’ve been behind the eight ball at the start of the game and we’ve been trying to play catch-up.  And we’ve had some good runs.  We’ve had some good breakouts, but nothing of a consistent nature in terms of production and yardage that we’d like to have to really control the clock.”

On improving the first series of the game
“We just keep going back to see where we’re at and where we’ve entered the game and why that has happened.  I would tell you that the discipline of what we’re doing is really the main point. I just look at the first few series and if we’re more disciplined in what we’re doing in terms of an assignment perspective, we’re in good shape.  And we’ve got some things open structurally down the field and in the run game if we just do what we need to do, if we’re just disciplined enough.  So it’s not where you’d say ?By God, the plays are no good throw away the playbook.’  It’s a matter of just being more disciplined toward the assignments we’re trying to get done.  It’s very simple.  It’s not a complex issue at all.”

On the lack of discipline to this point
“I think every game there is going to be mistakes.  There’s going to be mistakes early, throughout and in the end.  There are mistakes in every game whether you win or lose.  We’re trying to eliminate them and reduce them as much as we can in the opening series.  That’s why we have the first 15 and it has been productive.  As you watch, we’ve got some young players in there.  We’ve got a new left tackle and he’s struggling a little bit, but he’s getting better.  Those guys will struggle now and then.  That’s a part of it.  Those are the growing pains that you go through when you have change and you have guys inserted into the lineup that might not have had a lot of game experience.  You try to put them in positions where they have help, but if there’s an individual breakdown it breaks down and you just try to work to improve that.”

On Nebraska’s offensive progress
“Well that’s a good question because I looked at the Big 12 statistics.  I usually don’t do that, but I looked at where we’re at and where we’re ranked and I see progress in the way that we’re throwing the football.  We’re not turning the ball over like we did a year ago.  I see the progress of Zac Taylor and what he’s lent to our offense and the way that he’s been able to manage the offense and execute it.  I see tremendous progress there and that’s had a dramatic affect on our receiver play and on our line play.  We’ve asked our line to do a little bit more protection this year and we’ve had to because of the games we’ve been in recently.  But I think overall we’re more effective.  We’ve reduced the error in our game, but not the championship level that you have to.  I see us making strides.  I see a lot of different receivers stepping up and making plays.  I see a lot of young running backs getting into the mix.  So it’s been a constant evolution for us this year.  And we’ve managed it well I believe in terms of progressing and being capable of competing at a high level.  I just want to be more disciplined.”

On the importance of a win against Kansas
“I think it’s a huge game.  It’s a huge match up.  We’ve got a lot of respect for Kansas.  I think Mark (Mangino) has done an excellent job down there.  It’s going to be a real competitive battle.  I can tell you.  I’ve watched Kansas’ defense against Oklahoma.  I’ve watched them against Texas Tech.  I’ve seen them against Missouri.  They have done an outstanding job.  They're very sound like I mentioned.  And they play together, they have a rhythm, they have experience.  They feel good about themselves.  They’ve drawn some confidence.  So this win going down there will be huge.  It will be absolutely huge for our program.”

On the significance of being bowl eligible
“I think our team realizes what’s at stake.  They know what the rewards are out there.  They know what the incentives are.  They're fully well aware that anything can happen in this Big 12 North as it did a year ago.  I don’t want to get into all the scenarios, but anything can happen.  As long as we focus in on one game and focus on this game against Kansas and do the best we can, I think things will work out.”

On wide receiver Nate Swift
“You look at him, and 18 catches in two games is a lot of catches for a wide receiver who is just beginning to emerge.  I like everything about him.  I like how he’s progressed.  I like his intelligence.  He has good understanding, a good feel for the passing game.  He knows how to get open.  He knows how to work away from defenders.  He knows how to separate and move a guy and I think that’s important as you’re teaching pass routes.  He’s done an excellent job.  He did a good job against Oklahoma’s corners who I think are very good.  He can read coverage at a very high level.  He can see things, which really helps a receiver’s ability.  Some guys can’t adapt to all the different types of rotations and different types of coverage techniques that they’re doing, but this guy continues to impress.  There are a lot of things that he’s got to get better at, but we like his progress right now.”

On the benefits of Swift’s redshirt season in 2004
“I think it’s big.  Anytime you have an opportunity to sit back and watch and learn and have a second year in the system, I think it’s an advantage.  Let’s face it, I’d like to redshirt them all, but we’re certainly not in that position.  We don’t have that luxury in college football anymore.  But for Nate (Swift), I think he’s assuredly benefited from it.”

On the Big 12 North race
“We re-evaluate our goals every week.  Like I mentioned earlier in the year, we just focus on one game at a time.  That’s all we can control.  And that’s all we zero in on is that particular opponent, and we strive hard in our preparation and our practice to get better and to make progress in those areas that we’ve got to make.  There’s a lot of situational football that we’ve got to get better at.  We’ve got to get better in our third downs, we’ve got to get better obviously in the areas of our field goal defend and the fake that hurt us.  We’ve got to get better. Like I’ve said, I take responsibility for that and the area of special teams.  Those are areas where we continue to show progress.  I always talk about where we’re at and where we’re ranked within the conference in terms of those areas.  I think overall you come out of every game, whether you win or lose, and try to work on those situations.  Those are things we do every day.  We practice the run every day.  We work the running game hard.”

On freshman place-kicker Jordan Congdon
“I’ve had enormous confidence in Jordan (Congdon) from the first time he went on the field to where he’s at right now.  Let’s not jinx him.  We’ve really been pleased with his progress.  He’s working more and more to increase his distance just like any kicker does.  But his accuracy and his poise and his ability to play confidently have really impressed all of us.  He’s got a great demeanor about himself.  He’s very calm.  He’s very poised.  He’s got a great look in his eye and you get the feel as a coach when you look at him on the sidelines and send in the unit, you know he’s going to bang it throw the pipes.  That’s an awesome feeling to have when you can rely on three points.”

On Nebraska’s field goal unit
In order to be a great kicker you’ve got to have a great snapper which we do in Lane Kelly.  You’ve got to have an outstanding holder like we do in Sam Koch.  So that execution and that timing are essential for success.  I think they’re all an extension of one another.  And then additionally speaking, we practice our field goal protection and our field goal block live every day.  So the repetition that our players are getting is very game-like.  And it’s full speed, it’s full bore.  It is hard and to envision yourself being an offensive lineman and putting your foot in the inside gap and having 600 pounds of mass coming after and trying to knock you over. That’s demanding and we do it every day.  And a lot of that success from the field goal unit is thanks to those guys up front because that is a tough chore.  I know that Jordan (Congdon) appreciates that as we all do.  But we work hard.  We’re diligent about that aspect of our play just as we are in the field goal block.”

On utilizing the silent count
“We work hard on that even when we’re not on the road.  We’ll have a different period or plays where we’ll utilize it.  It’s hard.  It’s extremely hard.  But we do have a pretty good feel for it.  But I will say that not being on the road early could be one of those things that maybe haven’t gotten into a rhythm yet.  So I think maybe we learned some things from the Missouri game.”

On Nebraska’s historical success against Kansas
“We’re anxious to go play.  I know there’s a lot of history and a lot of success that precedes us, but once our guys get on the field and the ball gets kicked off, I don’t think they’re too worried about that stuff.  I think those types of statistics fall on the coach.  It’s up to us to uphold that.  But our players are well aware of the statistics.  But honestly speaking, when the game gets going I don’t think they worry about it all.  They just go out and play.  And that’s all I want them to do.  Don’t worry about records and scoreboards, just play.  The rest is on me.”

On the struggle for Nebraska’s wide receivers to gain yards after the catch
“I think that we can always get better at running with the ball after the catch.  Boy we’d like to take a ball and go to the house with it, that’s for sure and we’ve done that.  But consistently to take a slant play and break it for 50 yards, no we haven’t done that.  We’re working to that end but we have not done that.  We haven’t broken for a big play on a short route.  We practice it every day.  We practice long runs as ball carriers coming out of the backfield, as runners in the running game and as receivers in the passing game.  Once they finish a catch, they finish the play by running for a score or running at a determined distance that we want them to finish at.  Whatever we so desire for that particular day depending on our depth.  And our wide receivers are always pushing the ball 30 to 50 yards down the field after every catch.  We make them finish every catch so that they’re always practicing long runs.”

On Quarterback Zac Taylor taking some big hits
“It’s always a concern.  I don’t want any of our quarterbacks to get hit, certainly not Zac Taylor.  But it’s a part of the game.  The quarterback is going to get hit.  We like to keep them cleaner.  This last weekend was tough.  He got sacked nine times and we took a lot of hurries, a lot of flushes.  We took some hits that we didn’t particularly care for.  We had some breakdowns in protection from an assignment aspect and that was bothersome to me.  And we’ve addressed that honestly and there are some things that we’ve got to shore up.  I know for a fact that it will be shored up.  We don’t want to see him get hit, but he’s going to also create some plays where he’s got to get out and make a play.  Let’s face it, they’ve got good coaches too, and when all the variables are in place at some juncture a route is going to get covered.  Our progression is going to be exhausted and there aren’t going to be any options left and Zac (Taylor) has to make a play.  He’s got to make a determination, whether to get rid of the ball, scramble or do something creative.  I think we’ve seen him make some big runs.  I’m not critical at all of Zac.  The one thing he does is protect the football.  If he hangs on to a progression a little too long or he exhausts a progression, he’s got confidence.  And there’s a very fine line in terms of coaching quarterbacks.  How long are you going to let him stay with that progression?  And he has the ability to do that and make a play because he can see the field and he understands what he’s doing with the football.  So I’ve got confidence in him, extreme confidence.  Sometimes, when you’re waiting too long, you have a breakdown in protection and consequently you take a hit or take some pressure.  But I trust him explicitly with the ball in his hands.  He’s got some things to work on, but generally speaking he’s done a fine job.  For a first-year quarterback to come into this system and do what he does and be in the pressure situations that he’s been in to lead this team from behind and do what he’s done the last few weeks, that’s very impressive.”

On the remaining three games of the season
“I think it’s going to be fun and challenging for our football team.  I told the team on Sunday, the games that people will remember are played in November.  This is November and it’s time to play.  This is crunch time and we’re winding down on our final stretch run and we've got to play.  We have got to play well in these next three games.  But as I said earlier, our focus is Kansas and we’re going to do the best we can in our preparation in practice to take advantage of this opportunity.  These three games are big, there’s no doubt about it.”