Nebraska Player Quotes

Nebraska Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.
Pre-Oklahoma State

Jay Moore
Senior, Defensive End
On his performance against Texas
“I made some plays.  When I went home, I watched the game.  I made some plays, but I was upset with myself because I could have made some more, and I wish that I could have done some things differently to help our defense out.  As far as making some big plays, I thought it was one of my better games.  I just made plays.  I was able to put pressure on the quarterback.  I was just producing and causing some trouble in the backfield and showing up here and there.  I was really producing for the defense, and I think I did that best on Saturday.”

On watching the game again Saturday
“It wasn’t too difficult that (Saturday) night.  It didn’t hit me (that Nebraska lost) until Sunday morning.  It wasn’t too hard.  I stopped it before they started that last drive, but it didn’t hit me until Sunday morning, when I woke up and they had the game on ESPN Classic. That made it a little harder to watch that second time around.”

On the advice of the coaches after the Texas game
“The first thing Coach (Bill) Callahan told us Sunday morning is that it’s behind us.  We can’t do anything about it now.  We have to turn our focus toward OklahomaState.  I’ve done that already.  I’ve already begun to break down film yesterday.  I’m just trying to see what they do offensively and to get my game ready to prevent them from making big plays.”

On OklahomaState’s offense
“I see a good offense. I see a good quarterback with good receivers. I see confidence back there. I see their ability to make plays.  We’re going to have to be on the screws again.”

On facing a mobile quarterback
“As far as the game plan (for facing OklahomaState), I won’t know a lot about that until today.  I think, when you face a mobile quarterback, from a defensive line perspective, you really have to keep your rush lanes.  You really can’t get upfield or come underneath. You have to play contained, disciplined football against a mobile quarterback.  Otherwise, he can tuck it, run it and make a lot of yards, because you’re going to have linebackers in coverage, so you have to play contained, disciplined football when you rush the passer.  I know in the IowaState game, I broke containment once, and (Bret) Meyer rolled out and completed a 3rd-and-15.  I think the big thing is to stay disciplined.  Don’t try to make some huge play.  You just have to do your job, and things will take care of themselves.”

On facing a balanced OklahomaState offense
“When you face an offense that runs that smooth and that well, you’re concerned with everything. You want to stop one aspect and make them one dimensional.  You usually like to stop the run and get into the passing game, so you can start dictating things a little more.  They do everything well, so they definitely have a good offense.”

On preventing a slump after a tough loss
“We’re way more prepared this year.  Going through something like that (losing a close game to Texas Tech) last year, guys understand how to handle those types of situations now.  It was a tough one, but we’re talking about this upcoming game already.  I think it (the loss to Texas) is pretty much behind us, and we understand that we can still play for the Big 12 championship and get to a BCS bowl game, so I think that’s our focus right now.”

On Nebraska’s mindset after losing to Texas Tech last year
“Last year, it was a little different because we saw the question marks on the team and we were wondering if we were a better football team, so last year, we took it maybe more as a moral victory.  This year, we knew we were going to win that game (against Texas), we thought we were going to win that game and there was no second guessing whatsoever about us winning that game. So this year, we understand what we have and what we can do compared to last year, when we were still not understanding what we were capable of.  We know what we’re capable of this year.”

On linebacker Steve Octavien's performance against Texas
“I was a little surprised.  When a guy is out that long, you’re a little skeptical of what can happen because you think the rust factor might kick in a little bit.  There’s a bit of a different conditioning factor in not playing for a while.  It was awesome to see him out there making plays.  He has those capabilities of making those plays out on the field and it’s huge for us to get some depth at linebacker.  Any time you can get a playmaker back on the field, it’s huge.  Steve is a pretty animated guy.  Any time you see a guy on the field making plays, it gives you a burst of energy to see him do that, and you think, ?Now it’s my turn to make a play’.  It really just helps all the way around the defense when you see a guy of his caliber come back and make his mark.”

On the mental makeup of the team
“We’re hungry.  We know where we want to be.  We know we don’t want to be back in San Antonio in December or at home watching the Big 12 Championship Game, because we know we can play in that game and win.  So we’re just hungry to get another game.  We’re just going to get this game farther past us and get back on the winning road again.”