Nebraska vs. USC
Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Opening Statement (Audio)
"We want to give credit to USC. They played a fine football game. They are an excellent football team. It was a great challenge coming into this game, and we just weren't at our best. They did a heck of a job, and there was a lot of fight left in our team. Our kids competed to the very end. By and large, we can all do better. We'll start that process tomorrow and work hard and get ready for next week."<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
On the loss and <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska's capabilities (Audio)
"I love our team. I love our opportunities. This is the third game of the season. We plan on playing 14 (games). It's very early on, so anything can happen. It's a long season. We'll see how it all turns out."
On senior quarterback Sam Keller (Audio)
"I thought he played tough. I thought he was gutty in the pocket. He took some hits. I thought he really competed. I looked at his numbers, and they're pretty solid numbers against the top-ranked defense defending the pass. I think they pride themselves on rushing the passer and defending the pass. It was a pretty solid performance. We just have to give him a little help and balance up the attack, and I think we'll be fine."
On USC and the running game (Audio)
"We knew they had a stable of running backs and a solid offensive line coming back. I think the only guy not coming back was their center. Aside from that, they are pretty savvy up front. Their tight ends are good blockers. They did a very good job. Of course, they mixed in the play action with it and some timely calls, so that was a tough situation for us, especially when you have success throwing the ball. We have to get better."
On momentum changes through the game (Audio)
"I thought there was a shift. It's a game of momentum, let's face it. It swings back and forth. It definitely swung in their favor. We felt coming out in the half that we were still in this. We felt confident in the second half."
On balancing the offense against USC's defense (Audio)
"That will be criticized heavily, I'm sure. I thought we had good mix early on during the game. When we got behind, we were wide open. I thought we had good mix and balance, and I thought we did what we had to do to get back in it. When you are behind two or three possessions, we were still mixing the run. We did have to open it up a little more than we wanted to. When you have to make up for yards and time, you're going to have to throw a little bit more."