Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini

Head Coach Bo Pelini
Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008
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On whether he is concerned about how the team will bounce back this week

“Attitude-wise, no. I know there is a lot of character and they’ve already bounced back.”

 

On if Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel is the best at distributing the ball in college football

“He does a nice job. I don’t know if he’s as good as I’ve seen. There are a lot of good guys out there. He makes the plays, he runs their offense well and he’s well-coached. He makes quick decisions. (He’s) a good football player.”

 

On the importance of running the ball and establishing long drives this week

“We have to be efficient in the run and pass. We need to run the football better than we did last week. That’s always an issue and always something we want to establish. It’s a big part of the game. I’ve said from day one, you’ve got to stop the run and be able to run the ball on people to win championships.”

 

On the importance of tempo of the game against Missouri

“I think so. Time of possession is always important. It is very important when you play a team like Missouri. You want to limit their shots.”

 

On getting into a scoring contest

“I’m not sure what that means. Every game is a scoring contest. You’ve got to do what you have to do to win any game. I hope it’s not a scoring contest.”

 

On what factors into a good third down team on offense

“Not being in third and long a lot. You’ve got to be in third and manageable situations. When you’re in third and long it’s difficult, a lot of things play into that. Establishing the run and having production on early downs is important. You have a lot more options and your percentages go up dramatically when it’s third and four, third and five, third and three, rather than third and long.”

 

On the keys to being a good third down team on defense

“(You have to) execute, get them into third and long."

 

On how to contain Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin

“You have to be smart. You have to give him attention. You can’t focus your entire game plan around him. They’ve got a lot of other good players. You’ve got to make plays. You’ve got to get after them. You’ve got to challenge them. You just have to make your share of plays."

 

On what makes Maclin such an explosive player

“He’s a good athlete. He does a lot of good things in all areas of the game. He’s an explosive athlete.”

 

On the importance of a good start

That is always important, to start fast. You like to be out ahead, but if you’re not, you’re not. Like I said, every game is going to be a little different. You have to be able to respond, no matter what the situation and keep fighting. We might be out ahead, you get the momentum going for you, but you have to be able to react and play no matter what the circumstances of the game end up being. I sure want to start fast.”

 

On how Missouri’s offense has evolved as compared to 2003 and 2004

“It’s totally different. It’s not even close to being the same offense.”

 

On if they make any concessions going into the game

“I’ve never gone into any game making concessions. I won’t start this week. We’re going to play the best we possibly can. We’re going to try and shut them out."

 

On why Marlon Lucky has started at I-back over Roy Helu

“Is he? I don’t know. They both get a fairly good amount of snaps.”

 

On if he anticipates any changes at I-back

“Possibly, (we’ll) find out on Saturday.”

 

On the the use of Lucky as a receiver or slot-back

“No, Marlon can do a lot of good things, run and pass. Marlon Lucky is not the reason why we didn’t win the football game the other night.”

 

On what Roy Helu brings in his running game

“He gets north and south. He makes good cuts. He’s strong. He does a lot of good things. He’s very decisive in his running style, I like that. (He) gets up and hits the hole quick. He’s running the ball well.”

 

On what Missouri does well to create paths for their running backs

“They create space. Their whole offense creates space. They try and stretch you in a lot of different ways, in the passing game, in the running game. (They) get things running away from you, get things out on the edge quick with the receivers. (They) have a lot of misdirection. They stretch you in a lot of different ways. Anytime you’re spread out that much, you’ve go to be right. If you miss a gap or make a mistake it’s a little more magnified against a group like this than it is with somebody that is packed in a little bit tighter. You know the next guy to make the tackle is that much farther away. Not only do they spread you out, they also have big line splits. It’s just a philosophy they use.”

 

On preparing for the line calls and shifting they use

“Them shifting and moving and making line calls, that doesn’t effect us because we have to make our same calls, getting lined up and making sure we have our communication. That stuff doesn’t have much bearing on us, except you need to recognize the formation they are in.”

 

On how Missouri is different

“I’ve said before, (with) every spread offense, a lot of them have similarities. Everybody has some different things, a different twist to it. Missouri’s is a little different than Florida’s as opposed to Texas Tech. Everybody has their own little wrinkles and intricacies that they use. It’s part of their philosophy and Missouri is really no different from that.”

 

On one or two things that stand out about Missouri and the spread

“I think it really comes down to a lot of passing games are similar. It’s really what are you going to hang your hat on in the running game. Are you going to use the quarterback? What style of quarterback runs are you going to use? (With) Missouri, you see their running games oriented to the running back, with the quarterback carrying it every now and then. It’s just a little bit different running game.”

 

On the change of Lydon Murtha at left tackle

“Our tackles are pretty versatile and have moved around a lot since we’ve gotten here. Murtha is a guy that can play on either side and is comfortable on either side. You’ll probably see a little bit of a mix there. It’ll depend on who is in there are the other side.”

On what he found out about himself after his first loss as a head coach at Nebraska

“Correction, it’s the first time I’ve lost as a head coach. I don’t like it. I’m a poor loser. I’m not very fun to be around the next day. No, you know, I take losses hard. I took them hard as a coordinator and a position coach. (When) I start enjoying losing or when I can handle it well, it’s time for me to go into another profession. You have to be a man about it. What I’ve learned to do is that you have to look at the reality. You go to the tape, and the tape tells you the reality of where you are, what you have to do as a football team, how you need to move on and what you need to fix. That’s what we concentrate on. Honestly, I don’t get real high when we win. I’m not a guy who’s jumping around for joy when we win a football game. Once again, when you put on the tape, you’ve got to look at the nuts and bolts of really where you are. Unfortunately, after the Virginia Tech loss, I felt in a lot of ways, very similar after the Virginia Tech loss as I did in the three games we won. (We) made too many mistakes, (we had) not good enough execution, (we’re) not where we want to be. (We’re) a work in progress. That’s just reality and we’re still working. The kids are working hard and they are giving effort. I like that, I like the passion they are playing with, I like the effort that we’re giving, but we are not executing consistently. You’re seeing progress in guys, but then you’ll have a breakdown here, a breakdown there, and just a number of errors. They hurt you. Against a team like Virginia Tech, a team like Missouri, they hurt you and it’s hard to overcome.”

 

On the unsportsmanlike penalty on him in the Virginia Tech game and his emotions

“I’ve done it for years. Not gotten unsportsmanlike conduct (penalty, but have emotion). Honestly, I was kind of surprised he threw the flag, because I didn’t really get a warning. That was bad judgment on my part."

 

 On the reaction at home when he gets a penalty like that

“We don’t talk about football at home.”

 

On if the mistakes defensively are a result of it being the first year under the system

“I think it’s very much with it being the first year together. These guys are hearing a lot of things for the first time. They are learning. It’s not from lack of effort that we’re making the mistakes, but repetition corrects a lot of things. Being together and hearing some things for a longer period of time, over and over and over and over, that’s the reality of it. I think you look back to when I started at LSU, it wasn’t a lot different. We didn’t play well. It started off slower and we picked up steam. That’s coaching, that’s football, that’s a new coaching staff, that’s reality. We need to coach it better, we need to play better, we need to come together and keep working every day. That’s why I’ve said from day one that when we get together, every single day that we walk out onto the practice field, every day that we walk into a meeting room is an important day for this football team. They keep progressing, keep getting better and keep learning. That much I know.”

 

On if they have to execute perfectly to beat Missouri

“No. Let me tell you, there’s never been a perfect game played in football, I can promise you that. We need to play well. They are a good football team. On top of that, they are a very well-coached football team. We have a lot of respect for the team that is coming in here, in every aspect of the game. I can’t say enough about what they are doing.”

 

On if their ranking changes Nebraska’s approach

“Like I said, I put on the film. It’s not about a ranking or a good football team. That all takes care of itself, rankings don’t mean a whole heck of a lot. Look at last Thursday night, (it) was a big example of that.”

 

On if it being a Big 12 team changes the importance or focus

“Yeah. (It’s) the Big 12. You’ve got to win in your conference, win in your division. There are a lot of things that are telling you it’s an important game, but it doesn’t change what you need to do. You can’t get focused on all that stuff, being on TV or anything else. It’s going to be won in between the lines and who executes and who plays better and who prepares better.”

 

On the keys to defending against Missouri’s speed

“The keys are executing, getting guys in the right place. You need to tackle well against a team like this, because you’re going to be in space a lot. You need to make tackles in the open field.”

 

On how to get to Chase Daniel in the open field

“He gets rid of the ball quick, but it doesn’t mean you can’t affect him or try to affect him some. He’s not going to get sacked a lot, because he’s back there with some depth, number two, he gets rid of the ball quickly and makes quick decisions and the offense allows him to get the ball out quick. You’re not going to sack him a lot, but that doesn’t mean you don’t try to affect him.”

 

On if you try to disrupt Daniel’s rhythm

“Oh yeah. You have to. You can’t just let him sit back there and make a sandwich because he’ll give you some problems. They’re too talented. You have to give them a lot of different looks and mix it up.”

 

On the importance of preparing emotionally

“They emotion takes care of itself. Our guys will be emotionally ready. I don’t know, it’s what each guy is. It’s something I can control somewhat. I’ll talk to the guys about it. Once again what I try and tell our team is focus on you, don’t focus on who you are playing, focus on doing your job and finding the correct focus to play with the discipline necessary to play in the football game. That’s an area we need to get it right and fix. We’ve been having too many mental breakdowns and too many unforced errors, I’ll put it that way.”

 

On the Lil' Red in the lawn as told by Coach John Cook

“Coach Cook did? Yeah. I owe him one. I came home Thursday night late and I had a blown up Lil’ Red in my yard and it had a note on it that said, ?you got Lil’ Redded’. I opened up the little album that came with it and Coach Cook’s family was in front of it. It happened to him too and he returned the favor. I think the neighbors thought I lost my mind.”

 

On the difference when Missouri has strong safety William Moore and when they don’t

“I really can’t speak on that very much. I know they are very capable on defense. They have a number of talented players. If it did affect them, I hope he doesn’t play Saturday.”