Nebraska vs. Florida Atlantic
Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
On his impressions after game one
“Ok, pretty good. We had a couple mistakes, but for the most part it was a pretty solid game.”
On his impressions of the defensive line
“I saw a lot of good things out of (Jared) Crick. The one thing I do get mad at him about is he always tries to make plays for me and I think he’s getting it. He’s starting to get it now since we’ve been in game situation that the way he’ll open it up for everybody else is as long as he goes out there and makes plays. He’s started doing that and started getting a lot of penetration. He got an unfortunate call, but he’s getting good and opening things up for us.”
On how he feels about the team after the game
“I feel real good, especially on offense. I haven’t really had a chance to see the offense in action because these last couple of weeks they’ve been on their own side. I saw Menelik (Holt) making plays; he did it last year and a lot of young guys stepping up. Rex Burkhead is becoming a workhorse-back back there, getting some good touches and runs in. On the defensive side of the ball, that linebacking corps, it’s like they are veterans. I am real proud of them and the fact that they came in and weren’t nervous. We basically told them, make sure you guys get back in coverage and know what you’re doing, but all we needed was that first call to line us up and go play ball.”
On if he was worried about the linebackers
“Not really, just because we went through these last couple of weeks and they were on point. We had their (FAU) whole offense in and they were right on point. When we had our film session before the game, they were calling out the plays right then and there and making all the checks.”
Quarterback Zac Lee
On how it felt to get out and play a game
“Good. It’s been like three years now, the last time I played a game was back in California. It was fun to get out there and get hit a little bit.”
On if he had any butterflies
“A little bit of anxiety, like I said. That faded pretty quickly once I got hit.”
On how he would summarize his day
“Yeah, it was efficient. That interception was a bad interception. It was a really low ball. There were some things to clean up as always. You’re never going to play perfect. Things are going to happen; bad things are going to happen. It’s more about how you react and move on. Hopefully I learned from the mistakes I made and keep getting better.”
I-Back Roy Helu Jr.
On evaluating his day
“It went, statistically, alright. There are a lot of improvements (to be made). It was up and down for me personally and in the first quarter I was impatient. It was really a product in the second half of how well our line was doing.”
On what changes they made at half
“I think that the big adjustments that we were going to put the ball in the running game’s hands and set the tempo that way. A big thing also, to our success in the third quarter, was the tempo. We talked about us getting in the huddle and getting out and running to where we were. Just having a good tempo got me in a rhythm.”