Nebraska Player Quotes

Nebraska Football Weekly Press Conference
Monday, Nov. 19, 2007
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pre-Colorado

Joe Ganz
Junior, Quarterback

On being named Big 12 Player of the Week

“It’s a great honor to be named Big 12 Player of the Week. It means a lot. Obviously I couldn’t have done it by myself. Just as much as it’s my honor, it’s the offensive line, the receivers, the running backs and the tight ends. It’s as much their honor as it is mine.”

 

On his confidence with throwing no interceptions in his second start

“That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of is throwing no interceptions. That really helps your confidence. Touchdowns really help, too. My confidence is really high. Hopefully it carries over to this week against Colorado.”

 

On his momentum going into his third start

“I don’t think the spark is going to die out, especially this week. It’s win or go home. The guys are going to have a lot of emotion. And it’s Colorado. It’s always an emotional game. There’s bad blood between the two schools. There’s not going to be a lack of spark. These guys want to win this game and go to a bowl game. The emotions are going to be really high.”

 

On last week

“It was nice to have a bye week and just get out there to practice and make sure we prepare. We had a couple really physical and up-tempo practices. It was nice to focus on just getting better, football and fundamentals instead of dealing with everything else. It was a nice little break.”

 

On the Colorado rivalry

“We dislike everybody that we play. If it’s Colorado, Kansas. They’re faceless objects is what we look at the opposing team (as). A lot of teams in the country (do that). They (Colorado) do try to make it into a rivalry game and we accept that and make it one back. That’s really all pre-game stuff, all that rivalry talk. When it comes down to the field, you don’t really think ?Oh this is a huge rivalry. We need to play better.’ We need to accomplish what we need to accomplish on the field. If they want to be talking about a rivalry that’s fine.”

 

On bad blood between Nebraska and Colorado

“Obviously there’s been bad blood between Nebraska and Colorado for a while, since that Black Friday or whatever they call it. They don’t really like us and we don’t really like them. It’s just a known fact. Not to make to big of a deal out of it, but it is a rivalry game and it is what it is.”

 

On how the rivalry is created

“It’s created with fans, but players really take it to heart. I don’t think they’re (Colorado) allowed to wear red in that building or something like that. You hear stuff like that. Really it doesn’t bother you but you know it’s a rivalry game and you need to bring your best.”

 

On Shawn Watson

“I don’t know if it means more to them, but they have a lot of insight on (them) because they recruited a lot of those kids. They have a lot of insight on the type of personnel they have, what kind of kids they are and what kind of athletes they are. That helps us out a lot, but their coaching staff is gone, so they can’t really help us prepare (with) inside information. It probably means a lot to them. They once coached there and it meant a lot to them last year. I think Coach Watson got Gatorade dumped over his head when we beat them last year. It means a lot to those guys, just like it means a lot to us.”

 

On the buffalo head in the locker room before the 2005 Colorado game

“I think the buffalo head is back this year. That’s kind of what Coach Callahan brought once we started playing Colorado. He put a big buffalo head in our meeting room and watched Dancing with the Wolves all week with the buffalo hunt. It’s just a fun way to get the guys revved up.”

 

On the buffalo theme on Dancing with the Wolves

“They go on that buffalo hunt. They have like a chant. I don’t know what it is. It’s “The buffalo must die or something.” Coach Norvell did it two years ago. He was real into it when we played them at Colorado. The quarterbacks kind of joke around making fun of Coach Norvell. We watched it two years ago. It’s like a two-minute clip of a buffalo hunt they went on. It’s just a fun way for the guys to get revved up.”

 

On winning one for the coaching staff this week

“You don’t want to be the ?Win one for the gipper type deal,’ but you really want to win it for him (Coach Callahan) and all the coaches. And especially the fans. They’ve been through a tough year. We’d like to reward him with winning this last game and then going to a bowl game and hopefully winning that. There is kind of a sentimental value to that it, where we do want to win it for the coaches and players. We just want to finish the season with a win and a chance to go to a bowl game. That’s what we’re focused on.”

 

On the rumors surrounding the coaching staff’s future

“We don’t really focus on that too much when we’re around each other. We don’t really talk about it. We’re more focused on what we have to do to win. Our game plan is very extensive. There’s always little talks here and there, but we can’t focus on that. As players, we do want them back. We want the same system. We don’t want to learn a new one. It is kind of tough when you hear all those rumors. We can’t really pay too much attention to it because we have enough on our plate as it is.”

 

On the disadvantage of possibly having to learn a new system

“It is an advantage knowing this system, and it is a complicated system. It’s not as complicated as people make it out to be. It does take some time to learn, and it does take some reps, but what system doesn’t?  I think Urban Meyer got criticized for his offense when he got down to Florida, and then the next year they win the national championship. Defenses can be just complicated as your offenses can be simple. You have to have different answers for different things that defenses do. It would be a disadvantage for me for a new system to come in, that’s why I am trying pulling hard for them to stay, and I want this system, I want these coaches here.

 

On what Coach Callahan has meant to him

“He means a lot. I mean, he gave me the shot to play here. I am very thankful for that, if it were not for him I probably would not be playing football at all. I am very thankful and very grateful that he took a shot with me, and let me play at a big time university.

 

On what he thought Coach Callahan meant by saying he was a ?product of the system’

"I think you guys looked into it a little more. I think he was just trying to say that I kept working hard and kept learning the system, kept taking his coaching, and really let the system work for me instead of trying to go out there and find big plays. I think the media and fans kind of took that out of perspective of what he was trying to say. It really did not bother me. I know what he meant by that so I really didn’t take offense to it.”

 

On what Colorado does defensively

“They’re tough. There secondary is good, they mix up a lot of different coverages, a lot of oddball coverages.  It will be tough, but similar to what every Big 12 team does. You can’t really do to much different now, it being the last game, so I’m sure they will have a few wrinkles. We just have to stay with our keys, and how to read a defense, that’s how we have to go about that. Do what Coach Watson tells me and we will be fine.”

 

On being a leader

“I think it is going to be a lot easier for me really, to be sincere about it. When you are on the sidelines trying to be a leader it’s tough. I kind of feel like I’m being a phony or a fake, but now that I am in there with the guys, and you are in the battle with them it is a lot easier in my mind to be a real leader, instead of that cheerleader on the sidelines.”

 

On being animated in practice

“Practices are long, and it is the last week of the season, so I kind of do things here and there to lighten the mood a little bit. You need a good laugh here and there. Me and Carl (Nicks) go back and forth pretty good in the huddle. The guys get a kick out of that. I’ll crack a joke in the huddle, something to keep the guys working hard. Help take their mind off how long practice is and how long the season has been.”

 

On Nebraska’s helmets with CU stickers this week in practice

"Idon’t think that we have the stickers this year, but I am not too sure. They were not there today, maybe because it was a real early practice. They might have them tomorrow. Buffalo heads up, that’s all that really matters.”

 

On if he is a morning guy or afternoon guy

“Both. I'll be whatever guy you guys want me to be. Morning practices are tough. It is tough waking up at 5 in the morning. Once you get here and start going through stretches you don’t really realize what time it is. It really was not that big of a deal.”

 

On the outlook of not reaching a bowl game the past game

“I don’t know if it wasn’t attainable. It just looked like it was a long shot. That was the last thing we were thinking about during that stretch was ?We need to get to a bowl game.’ We needed to win and we needed to win quick. We did that last week. Now that a bowl game is attainable, it’s kind of lifted our spirits up a little bit. It gives us another thing to play for. It’ll be a fun atmosphere. I think it’s supposed to snow. That would be great. It would be sweet. It would be really fun. That should be a good atmosphere for the Colorado game. It’s potentially a playoff to go to a bowl game. I’m sure both of us would like to keep each other out of a bowl game.”

 

On the offense’s approach to the Colorado game

“It’s always important on the road to have a good running game. It’s tough to go into a hostile environment and throw the ball 70 times. It’s always important to get Marlon (Lucky) and Quentin (Castille) and all those guys going, especially if the weather is bad. You never know how it’s going to affect throwing with the snow or the cold. We won’t really go away from what we’re going to do. We’re going to do what we’re going to do. It’s really important to get the running game going, especially on the road and for a chance to play in a bowl game.”

 

On Maurice Purify

“He’s a huge weapon. He does everything well. He blocks well. He catches well. He gets open. He’s tough to bump. A lot of teams don’t like to press him up because he’s such a big body that he can get off real quick. Colorado does like to bump so we’ll see what they do against Mo. I hope to God that they do bump him, because he’s a big weapon. Being that big and that physical, he is tough. He’s a great weapon to have. We’re going to miss him when he’s gone. I’m sure he’ll be playing somewhere on Sundays, hopefully for the Bears.”

 

On the defense

“They’re a pretty confident group of guys. They should be confident. They played really hard and they played really well. I don’t know if I’ve noticed anything different. We still have to work hard. They’re always working hard, but it just hasn’t worked out for them this year. They played well and I expect them to play well against Colorado. We’re going to need them, especially if there’s bad weather and it’s a defensive game in the snow and cold. We’re going to need them.”

 

On his touchdown pass to Barry Turner in last year’s Colorado game

“That was my first Big 12 touchdown. It was to a defensive end, which was a little weird but it worked out. That was a fun time. It was just fun to be a part of a big game, instead of just coming in for mop-up duty. It was fun for me to be a big factor in an important game. It’s a little more important this year.”