Nebraska Player Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
Pre-Ball State

Sam Keller
Senior, Quarterback

On getting into a rhythm against USC

“We threw the ball a lot of times because we did not have much of a rushing attack. So we were forced to throw it a lot. Anytime you throw it a lot, you get in a rhythm and I am a rhythm thrower so I felt pretty good.”

On his role this week

“You just have to start over and regather. It was a very important game, as they all are, but it is one game. We just need to move on. We just need to forget about it, learn from it and come back and refocus because this game is the most important game of our season.”

 

On whether it is hard to refocusing

“If you aren’t ready for it, if you don’t have the right mindset. You have to do the best you can to move on. I have been able to move on already. It is over. I am just focused on BallState and how this team can get better. It might be hard for some guys, but that is where your leaders have to step in and say let’s forget about it and move on to the next game.”

 

On Callahan bringing the team together to watch the USC game

“I thought it was a good move because we needed to strip down that game to its bare elements. The bare elements of that game were that we have glaring weaknesses in some areas and that we need to fix them. It does not do much to talk about it. Once it is on film, that film speaks volumes. It was important for all 110 guys on that team to see what we need to improve on, so that we come out with a really good focus this week.”

 

On going back to full pads today

“I think we need it. We have not done it since fall camp. We went up against some really darn good football players and they pounded us. We need to go back to the drawing board and pound each other a little bit and see if we can’t get our mojo back.”

 

On jobs being on line

“I do not know. That is not my job to consider or even think about. That is where we as players have faith in Coach Callahan. The coaching staff makes the moves there, I don’t make them. I have no idea.”

 

On practice tempo previous weeks versus today

“We have been in shorts and shoulders pads, so they have been fast moving practices and very crisp. As far as installing game plans and moving with a lot of speed and tempo, they have been good. We are going to add another element to that. We are going to hit. We are going to knock people around a little bit and see where people stand.”

 

On whether Nebraska will continue in full pads or if it is a one-time occurrence

“We will see how it goes and how the team responds. The whole goal of doing this is to see where everybody is at. See where everybody is at mentally; see where our key players are at mentally. We have to buckle down this week. This is huge. This team is no small potatoes. This team will come in and beat you if you let them. We are going to try and not let that happen. We are going to prepare for them like we prepared for USC last week. It is very important that we really refocus.”

 

On what he told defensive players after USC game

“They know how to play football. They know what they are doing. Games like that happen. The fact of the matter is you have to move on. They know how to play ball. They know how to regroup. They are tough guys and I have faith in them. You do not really say much to them, you just tell them you have their back.”

 

On what he knows about BallState

“I know a little bit. I watched film for about three hours yesterday and they are a pesky group. They do a lot of the same things on defense that I have seen the past couple weeks. If you let them hang around, if you give them a chance, they will beat you. They are a tough group of people. I know their coach will have them prepared.”

 

On getting Marlon Lucky back on track

“He ran hard, despite how fast those guys were and how hard they hit him and how fast our holes closed up. He ran hard. He is a tough guy. Marlon is doing just fine. We will get the holes there for him, we will get the running game going for him and he will pop through there for some big gains. I have a lot of faith in that.”

 

On his physical state after the USC game

“A couple of them (the hits) hurt. Those guys are big boys and fast. They are kind of from another planet. They are really excellent. They are vicious. They just play vicious. You can really feel them when you step back. That makes the game really fun. I love those kinds of games where you might be jawing back and forth or you get in a really competitive atmosphere. At the end of the day, you are going to feel them. There were a couple hits that I am still nursing. Nothing bad. It is just part of football.”

 

On how he came back at Arizona State after losing to USC

“If I remember correctly, it was such a long time ago, we might have had a little layover. Kind of lag going into the next week. I think it was Oregon and they jumped on us and that week I got hurt. It is completely different. We have a different team. We are going to go into this thing full speed ahead. Obviously we are in full pads so we are going to get this thing corrected.”

 

On the USC defense compared to other defenses he has faced

"They are the best. It is the speed and their intensity. They get together as a group on the sideline and you can see them over there dancing around and just getting ready. When it is their turn to go to the field, it is like releasing the hounds. They go nuts out there. We knew that coming in. We had a game plan. We hung with them. We could have made that game a lot closer than it was. It should have been that way.”

 

On his near-400-yard passing performance

“It had to be done. Somebody had to make plays against a team like that. If nobody does then nobody is going to make plays and that is unacceptable. Somebody has got to do it. If that was me that needed to make plays, then that was fine. Coach has faith in me. They were really straining up front to block. We gave it our best effort. We wished we could have made it closer toward the end because in the fourth quarter it probably would have been close. We would have had a chance to win that thing. All that aside, you can take positives from that game, you can learn from the negatives and move on to this week because that is where it is really important.”

 

On the play of his receivers

“I thought they played outstanding. I am really proud of those guys. Every single one of them showed up and played with toughness and caught some tough balls. I have said before that the windows close really fast against those guys and they just hung in there and played tough. They took some hits. They blocked down field. They got after it. They were the strength of our team that night.”

 

On the return of I-back Cody Glenn

“Cody can be a huge player for us. Obviously we have Marlon (Lucky) and then we get that big Cody in there and that is a good one-two punch. He showed that he can catch the ball out of the backfield, too. It was really nice. He did a great job.”

 

On the team’s swagger

“I would love to see this team have more of a swagger. We have it in us. That is what this week is for. We are going to go in and pull it out and go back to work.”

 

On whether we need leaders by example or vocal leaders

“I think you need a little bit of both. I think we are going to let that play out this week and see who shows up. I think you need both. The guys who talk are definitely going to have to be the ones that back it up. You cannot just talk. Talk is cheap. You have to show by example. If somebody’s cage needs to be rattled, we have guys that can do that. We need our team to respond.”

 

On if he rattles people’s cages

“If that opportunity presents itself and I feel it is necessary, I will. Obviously there are guys that have been here a lot longer and they are guys that have the capability of doing that. I would like to see a lot of guys just step up, not just one or two or three. I would like to see at least 10 or 15 or maybe the entire team rattle each other’s cage. That is what we need that week. We need a lot of intensity. I am excited because I think it is going to happen. Everything is going to be fine.”