Matt Slauson Quotes

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Nebraska Football

Preseason Press Conference

Monday, Aug. 6, 11 a.m.

Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.

 

Matt Slauson - Senior, Offensive Lineman

On this year being a breakout year (Listen)

"We feel the same way. We have pretty much a veteran line. We’re all young, but we’ve been playing together for enough years to know what everybody else is doing and this is our year."

 

On the spotlight on the offensive line

"The offensive line is always a part that gets talked about whether we do good or bad, especially bad. We’re always in the spotlight as far as blocking goes. We aren’t in the same light as the quarterbacks and running backs. We have to be perfect so we don’t get talked about at all."

 

On the heat and humidity today

"It’s all the same for big guys like us. We’re sweating either way."

 

On his final position

"I’ll play tackle if there’s a need for me to play. If there are some injuries, then I will, but otherwise I’m in there at guard."

 

On his transition to guard (Listen)

"Being as though I’ve never played guard until I got here, it was a lot different. The guard position is pretty much a train wreck every play, where as tackle is kind of dance. Tackle, you’re going against a 260-pound guy who is blazing past you, so you have to get back really quick and then kind of mirror him as he goes around. It turns into a kind of shuffle contest. Guard, you are just firing out. You are trying to blow him up before he blows you out."

 

On which he likes better

"I like guard. I don’t mind a little train wreck."

 

On a difference in training

"I like being big. I’ve got to shave a few. Guards are usually a little more square-bodied like me, where as tackles have a little longer legs and their a little quicker so they have to be smaller. The only reason I worked out as a tackle is because it took the defensive ends about a week to run around me."

 

On his size

"I’m 6-6, 330. I want to be 320."

 

On the spotlight being on the offensive line

"There’s been a lot of pressure on us the last couple years because of sacks. Because we weren’t really gelling well together. The only way to get out of the spotlight is to do well. We’ve done well, but we have to do perfect. That’s why the spotlight is always on us, because we’re not perfect yet, but this is our year to get out of the spotlight."

 

On his expectations

"Our goals this year are really high. They are always really high. Our goals this year are different than every other year. We have to do everything as an offensive line because that’s where it all starts."

 

On how good the running game can be

"We have a huge offensive line. I don’t know what we average, but it’s way up there. We have a lot of guys with speed and a lot of guys with a whole lot of strength, so we have the opportunity to make enormous holes. So if anyone of our running backs, I don’t know how many we have, but there’s a lot. There’s going to be fresh legs in there, so if we can squeak by the secondary, that’s all we need."

 

On Lydon Murtha as a starter (Listen)

"Murtha is a great player. We are good friends. We room together every year. I think this has been a really unique year for him. He’s always been athletic and strong, but this year I’ve just seen huge gains from him strength-wise and speed-wise. This is going to be a huge year for him."

 

On Carl Nicks (Listen)

"Nicks is a big-bodied guy. He’s got good feet, a really strong punch and he does whatever he can every play to make sure the job gets done. However it needs to get done, it will get done."

 

On Nebraska's redshirt freshmen

"It’s huge for them because they get the year that I didn’t get to have to just practice and get smarter and stronger. There were a couple months there where I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. I mean I was all over the place.  These guys have a great advantage. Keith and DJ and Mike Smith are all going to have great years."

 

On Nebraska's potential starting quarterbacks

"They have both (Sam Keller and Joe Ganz) been working so hard. I’ve been seeing them working so hard to get a spot. I think in my eyes, they are both even. They have both stepped up so much. I love Zac (Taylor), but right now it’s like he never even left."

 

On having a new voice under center

"The only different thing between Zac (Taylor) and these other guys is pretty much the snap count. Just the way they go through the cadence a little different. We had a little adjustment period with that in the spring, but now it’s all fixed."