%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Nebraska_N'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%20163%20152'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%20163%20152;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill:%23FFFFFF;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M159.1,144c-2.3,0-4.1,1.8-4.1,4s1.8,4,4,4s4-1.8,4-4S161.2,144,159.1,144z%20M159,151.2c-1.8,0-3.2-1.4-3.2-3.2%20s1.4-3.2,3.2-3.2c1.7,0,3.2,1.5,3.2,3.2C162.2,149.8,160.8,151.2,159,151.2z'/%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M157.4,145.6h1.4c0.6,0,0.8,0,1.1,0.2c0.4,0.2,0.6,0.6,0.6,1.1c0,0.4-0.1,0.7-0.3,1c-0.1,0.2-0.3,0.2-0.6,0.4%20h-0.1l1.1,2.1h-0.8l-1-2h-0.6v2h-0.8L157.4,145.6L157.4,145.6z%20M158.6,147.7c0,0,0.3,0,0.4,0c0.4-0.1,0.6-0.3,0.6-0.8%20c0-0.3-0.1-0.5-0.4-0.6c-0.1,0-0.1,0-0.6,0h-0.4v1.4L158.6,147.7L158.6,147.7z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M147,0H93h-5v5v35v5h5h5v24.8L55.2,2.3L53.7,0H51H5H0v5v35v5h5h5v62H5H0v5v35v5h5h54h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V82.2%20l42.8,67.5l1.5,2.3h2.7h46h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V45h5h5v-5V5V0H147z%20M150,5v35v3h-3h-7v66h7h3v3v35v3h-3h-46h-1.6l-0.9-1.4L52,75.3%20V109h7h3v3v35v3h-3H5H2v-3v-35v-3h3h7V43H5H2v-3V5V2h3h46h1.7l0.9,1.4L100,76.7V43h-7h-3v-3V5V2h3h54h3V5z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M103,87L103,87L51,5H5v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0c0,3.3,0,68.7,0,72l0,0c-2.2,0-10,0-10,0v35h54v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0%20c0-2.6,0-47,0-47l52,82h46v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0c0-3.3,0-68.7,0-72c2.2,0,10,0,10,0V5H93v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0%20C103,42.6,103,87,103,87z'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
Quarterback Sam Keller
On the effects of the athletic director change on the team
“We as players have a very simple job, and that is to play, practice hard and go to school. This change is a decision that’s made so high above us that we try not to let it affect our thinking. In all honestly, I can imagine how the coaching staff feels. Given that I’m 110 percent loyal to Coach (Bill) Callahan and my coaching staff, I’m probably going to work harder to do everything I can for them to make them know that I’m going to be they’re guy this week. I’m going to be as good as I’ve ever been, work as hard and be as supportive as I can. It’s something that I’ve never experienced. I don’t know how this whole thing is going to play out. All I know is that I’m not going to be making it any better by letting it affect me. I need to be one of the leaders of this team and I need to be Coach Callahan’s quarterback. That’s all I that I’m going to do for him and my players, because we have a job to do this week, and that’s what it all comes down to.”
On the team’s focus
“Today is the first day that I’ll be around the whole team because yesterday is our day off and everybody was taking care of class issues and stuff like that. As a team, as players, our locker room is tighter than ever. We’re as tight as we can be down there, because we realize that this is a problem so much bigger than anything we have control over or have any conception of. We know that we need to rectify the situation on the field. That’s how we’re going to approach it. All of the administrative things and the things that are so much bigger than us will handle themselves. We need to handle these five games. We’re going to stay tight and stay close. We’re going to make this the best five games of the season. That’s all we can do.”
On the athletic director change as a distraction
“It must be, for the coaches. I can’t see it not being (a distraction), because it’s their job and livelihood. I’m a football player and I play for these guys. I put it on the line for them. I was so fortunate to come here and have Coach Callahan bring me here that, I have to do my job. It means much for me to lay it on the line for the coaching staff because I love this staff. They have stood behind me since the day I got here. It means a lot to me to keep this team focused in the right direction because we have five games left and games are fun. Getting ready for games is fun, and we have to get back to that. All of this stuff is huge, but we don’t have any bearing on it. It’s going to happen the way it’s going to happen, so we have to make these games work. We have to make them worth it. We have to make them as fun as possible. We have to go out and play with a reckless abandon and enjoy each other, the atmosphere and college football for what it really is, because, when it all comes down to it, that’s what we’re doing on Saturday. Everything else will take care of itself. When we’re long gone, Nebraska football will still be going on. Everything will fine when I come back in many years to see everyone, see the program and watch games. For what I can do now and what we can do now as a team is really relish this opportunity to face adversity right in the eye and go play some football. That’s what it comes down to.”
On the team’s mindset with the staff’s future in question
“Just try your hardest for your teammates and try your hardest for the state and everything you try to do on a weekly basis in college football, which is win every week. The main thing is that we can’t think about that as an entire team. We have to play football. If you let external factors affect how you play on the field, you’re done. You have no chance, because the other team is going to come in here and know that. Other teams can smell blood. It’s just a fact of college football and competition. In the last sport where you put on pads, like armor, and go to war, that’s the nature of the game. We have to come out and fight so hard, stare it in the face and get after it. That’s what we as football players do. That’s our job. Our job is not to be coaches. Our job is not to be athletic directors. Our job is to fight as hard as we can for those people and for everybody that cares about the program.”
On the timing of the athletic director change
“Take it for what it is, and block it out. That’s all you can do. If you feel sorry for yourself or think the world is going to end tomorrow, if you think all this all this adversity stacking up and you’re just going to fold up the tent, if you have any of those thoughts, it’s time to go. I don’t feel that way. I came here to do a job. I came here to play quarterback and lay it on the line one last time, to be a college football player one last time. The fact that I built such lasting, memorable and meaningful relationships, both with my teammates and my coaches, this is not a time to feel sorry for yourself. This is not a time to realize the weight (of the situation). It’s a time to cut it loose and bring a mentality of, ?This is our last five games and we need to make them the best five games we’ve ever played’. That’s all you can do, is to look at it positively. I’m no stranger to adversity. As a player, one player, one cog in a huge wheel, I’m just going to make it work the best I can for everybody.”
On the potential excitement of the team coming into games
“I think so (that guys are excited to play). I sure hope so. If it’s not that way, then I’m going to change it. I can tell you that right now. There are guys on this team who have my back on that. We have enough leaders to make this thing go in the right direction. There’s no alternative but to come together as a team and do the things we’ve been trying to do and make them happen. There’s no room for fear, hesitancy, or feeling sorry for yourself. We have to enjoy this for what it is. We have to play these last five games like they’re our last.”
On this game as an opportunity for Nebraska’s offense to succeed
“I think so. Every week, you go into the game thinking that way (that you can succeed). You’re thinking of that opportunity. I sure hope so. I can’t wait. I can’t wait for this game. I couldn’t wait for this game ever since Saturday when that last game was over. I just can’t wait to get back on the field and play and do what we know how to do. It’s hard to wait for these games when you just want to go out there and compete. I’m a competitor. I don’t like waiting and I don’t like losing. I don’t like all this stuff, but you can sure fix it by having a good game, so I going to fight as hard as I can to do that.”
On the fairness of the athletic director decision
“I don’t know. I have no background in what happened before or now. All I know is that Steve Pederson was a tremendous guy when I showed up here. From what I hear, what he’s done for the facilities and this program, there’s been some huge things he’s done. All I know is that, since I’ve been here, he’s been one heck of an athletic director. I have all the respect and faith in the world in Mr. Pederson. What happens with the athletic director and chancellor, I’m just a college kid playing quarterback on this team, trying to play ball and win games. It doesn’t really matter what I think. I just hope the best for this whole situation, for everybody involved and for everybody that’s a lot higher up than me, I hope things work out. I’m just going to do my job to make the best of the situation.”
On Nebraska’s slow starts
“On offense, you have to establish a rhythm and you have to be able to play with continuity and an element of looseness and confidence. All teams, even the best offenses in the world, don’t start off the bat really good. That’s why a game is four quarters long. When you get down 17 or 24 points right away, it makes it difficult and makes things change. Our job as players is to try and weather that storm and fight back as best we can, while realizing that there is a sense of urgency and we need to start off fast. That being said, we were pressing last week to do that, and that sure didn’t work. We need to come out and have a mentality. It’s not an X’s and O’s thing. We trust what the coaches are going to do and the plays that they’re going to call. It comes down to just going out and doing it. I’ve been in offensive struggles before and I’ve been in situations where the offense has been clicking on all cylinders. One time, you can be clicking on all cylinders, everything is working great and you’re in the penthouse and then, something goes wrong. That’s the nature of playing football. You just have to get out of the outhouse and into the penthouse again. That can happen after one game. I have seen this so many times, that I understand that the best way to deal with it is to keep chopping away at it. It’s not letting it snowball and you put pressure on yourself to where (you say), ?We have to get out of this. We have to score’. It’s not that. It’s going out, relaxing, playing and letting the game come to you. That’s when your instincts take over and you start reacting on the field rather than pressing. As an offense, we have to get back to that. I don’t know how you do it, other than coming in with the right mindset.”
On studying Nebraska’s first drives in games
“We’ve looked at it quite a bit. All it comes down to are penalties, a couple times dropped balls, a couple times a bad throw. Those are just little things. They’re just execution things. Throughout the game, you can change those. You complete the pass; you don’t get the penalty. We didn’t even have the opportunity in that game. The game was far out of reach and we were just clawing to get back. Games have ebbs and flows. You’re not going to be perfect. You just have to come out and be perfect on the next drive, without putting pressure on yourself to do so. You just have to let the game come to you and play and do what you know how to do and not try so hard that you screw up again.”
On the 15-play script to start the game
“I love it, because you know exactly what’s coming. You know your gameplan. You have confidence in it and get excited. That’s something that we take a lot of pride in. I imagine we’ll have a good first 15 (play script) for this game.”
On his message to recruits about Nebraska
“I would tell them that everything is fine. Everything will be O.K. The coaching staff will be here. That is something that, I will tell them as a player, that you’re not coming to a place better than Nebraska. Nebraska is where I found my home and who I play for and who I swear allegiance to. As a player, you’re not going to be in a better place. That’s what I’ll tell them.”
On drawbacks to being too optimistic
“We’re already looking at what we need to improve on, the bad things. When you do that, you don’t focus on the negative. You turn the negative into a positive. As bad as I’ve seen things get in the past and as things have gone for me, you don’t come out of it by looking at the bad things you’ve done. You come out of it by chopping off the bad things and moving over as a human being. You don’t dwell on things or feel sorry for yourself. You say, ?That sucked. Now let’s move on’. That’s all you do. That’s all I do, and that’s all I’m going to do. As a person, you have to always maintain a level of positive feeling toward everything.”
On players potentially having negative feelings
“I sure hope not. If there are, I’ll find out.”