Center Jacob HickmanCenter Jacob Hickman
Football

Center Jacob Hickman

Nebraska Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.
Pre-Louisiana-Lafayette

On the team’s red zone struggles at Virginia Tech<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

“It’s really just critical errors, be it penalties or on any given play maybe one of the guys has miscommunication or something like that. It’s obviously the worst time to have those things. We weren’t having them out in the middle of the field. We were just having them in the red zone. I don’t know why, maybe the crowd got louder. We’ve got to eliminate those critical errors because they really killed us.”

 

On the difference between mistakes made in the first game and mistakes made on Saturday

“The first game I think it was just what first games are, a little bit of jitters and stuff. I think this kind of had a first road game feel, and (it was) a lot of guys’ first experience with the crowd. We’ve gone through it now. I think we’ve really just got to make sure we address these things and overcome them.”

 

On the atmosphere in the huddle after critical penalties

“As it was going on, what you really want to avoid is guys starting to bicker. You’ve really just got to do your best to try to get everybody to calm down and try to get out there and play. If people start yelling at each other and bickering or getting frustrated, they’re just going to bust again like they did. It’s one of those things where when it rains it pours. Guys kind of let it snowball and one guy made a mistake and then the refs were definitely looking a little bit closer at us after that.”

On if the loss has lingering effects

“It’s still kind of frustrating, but at the same time, a lot of the guys and the coaches have addressed it and it’s time to move on. We’ve got a game this weekend and the sun will rise again, so we’ve got to go play.”

 

On being a part of the 300th consecutive sellout

 “It’s an incredible achievement by this whole state and community. They’ve sold out every game since I think my mom was born, so it’s a fantastic achievement, just unbelievable.”