Senior Linebacker Cody Glenn

Nebraska Football Weekly Press Conference
Player Quotes
Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008
Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Neb.

On what is left for him to do
"Try to duplicate and top what I did last week. Keep getting better. Obviously we made a lot of mistakes last week, and I didn’t grade as well as I wanted to. Keep learning and getting better."

On if he can do better than he did on Saturday
"I have to or Coach Bo (Pelini) isn’t going to be pleased. Really just tone down on the mistakes, that was the biggest thing last week. I had a few busts and a lot of communication problems with the defense and getting some of the signals in. As far as technique-wise and stuff like that, I think I can do a lot better."

On the majority of his mistakes
"A lot of communication issues between me and some of the cornerbacks, and me and Phil (Dillard), and the other linebackers. Us not being on the same page, so he might be running a different scheme than I’m running. Some breakdowns within the defense."

On if he felt like he made up for his mistakes with his athleticism
"I think I did, and I think I relied on it a little bit too much. Sometimes I got away from reading my keys and getting my eyes on the quarterback, and the coaches don’t really want us to do that. I kind of did it a little bit too much."

On why you’re not supposed to keep your eyes on the quarterback
"A couple of times they ran a halfback choice out of the backfield, and I was on the running back. I was on him and I would peek back at the quarterback and then he would separate away from me. It allows him to get separation on you and of course they catch the ball and get yards on you."

On if they ever get confused in their defense
"Sometimes, but by the time we get to game week we remember it a lot. Some of the things you are still trying to learn. With the way we do things now, we have a lot of game-plan stuff, and that’s a lot different than fall camp where we are just going against our offense and we were just learning the concepts of the defense. Now it is different because it is a lot different. We know exactly what we want to do against the different teams we are playing. It is a lot easier now."

On if he surprised himself on Saturday
"Actually I kind of did. I figured I would come in and play kind of decent, play sound technique and do what I was supposed to do. It just kind of opened up and plays keep coming to me. I kind of thought they were kind of picking on me because they knew I played running back last year and it was my first year at linebacker. I kind of felt like they were picking on me at the beginning, which I didn’t mind."

On if he thinks it will be a trend of teams picking on him early in the year
"I wouldn’t mind it. They can keep coming. I am a competitive guy and I want that. If they do, I’m fine with it. You have to step up. They probably will, but hopefully if I can continue to play good it will shy people away from it."

On if he thinks he earned his Blackshirt
"Some guys played really well. I would hope so, but that is up to Coach Bo (Pelini). Ty Steinkuhler played a heck of a game, and I would definitely be surprised if he didn’t get his back."

On how the attitude of the team has changed since this time last week
"People were just skeptical of what we could do. They really weren’t sure if we could be good. After playing that first game everybody is kind of like - OK, we can do things. Everything we gave up was just mental mistakes that can be easily fixed on our part. Looking at that and looking at the film it gives everybody a lot of confidence."

On if he has looked at San Jose State
"We watched a little film on them yesterday. They are a big pass team, screen team. Kind of similar to what we saw this past week, just a different style of passing. We expect a lot of passing, and will try to get me out in coverage."

On covering receivers in routes
"It’s a little bit more difficult than I thought it would be. I figured guarding the tight end wouldn’t be so bad. It is kind of tough sometimes because you don’t know what they are going to do and there are all kinds of reps you have to prepare for. If you get caught sleeping one time, they can bust a big one on you. It is kind of what happened in the game late in the third quarter when they caught that big seam route on me. They had been running outs the whole game and they just busted a seam route on me. You just have to be on your heels the whole time and be ready for anything."

On his satisfication at being able to contribute
"It was great because it was always something that I wanted to do. I always felt like I could help this team win. Just to be out there every snap of the game, everyone relying on you, and you know that you can make plays to help the team win. It felt great knowing that you wouldn’t have to come off the field if you make any kind of mistake. It felt great."

On if he feels like he will be a captain next week
"It is kind of up to coach. I hope so. It would be a great honor for me. It is something that I always wanted coming here being a captain at Nebraska. It is something that the coaches do. I would be honored to get that."

On if he would be OK with only a few members of the defense getting Blackshirts
"I would love to see everybody get a Blackshirt on the defense. I kind of like the way Coach Bo (Pelini) does it now. You have to earn it. If you played a good game, and you earned your Blackshirt, then you get it. If not, then you have to wait. I like the way he has it now. It makes people more hungry. It makes people want to work harder because they know what the Blackshirts mean. It’s not a shirt that is just given out because you are on the starting 11. It is something you have to earn."

On if Coach Pelini has said anything about handing them out this week
"He hasn’t said anything to us about it as far as when or if he is going to hand them out."