Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini

Nebraska Football Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009
Pre-Texas Tech

Head  Coach Bo Pelini

On if there is anything about Texas Tech’s offense that makes it unique

“The routes, the concepts, the things that they do. He (Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach) just kind of does what he does and is real rhythm-oriented. Quarterback is well-schooled, and they just kind of do their thing. They execute their offense very well. They’re not trying to trick you or anything else. They’re going to see where you are and try and execute their offense really well. Their quarterbacks are well-schooled, and they get the ball in and out. It’s just a system he believes in and runs very well.”

 

On how difficult it is to defend their offense

“That speaks for itself. He does it well, runs it well and executes it well.”

 

On how different it is from preparing for a team like Missouri

“Totally different offense. Everybody wants to loop these spread offenses into one category. It’s not even close. They’re all unique in their own way.”

 

On what they can take from last year’s loss to Texas Tech on the road

“Different year, different time. It’s going to be a unique challenge. These guys are a challenge. They are a good football team. They were right there with Texas right till the very end and that speaks for itself.”

 

On if it matters which quarterback starts for Texas Tech

“I don’t have any control over that, so no. Whoever they put out there that’s who we’re going to defend.”

 

On preparing for two different quarterbacks

“You don’t. You prepare for whoever is out there. It’s the same offense.”

 

On Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield against Kansas State

“He executed the offense. They’re not going to change what they do. Coach Leach is not going to change. He’s going to run their system. It looked the same to me. They are both good players and they both execute the offense very well.”

 

On what he saw from Houston and Texas and how they were able to contain their offense

“I don’t know. I can’t think of the amount of points they scored, but they scored a lot of points in both those football games. You have to play well. I like our plan. We have to execute our plan. We have to play good football.”

 

On his level of concern for Nebraska's offense

“I think we’ll play well Saturday. I like our plan and I think we are going to play really well.”

 

On things that have hampered the offense

“I don’t like some of the things we have done penalty-wise on the road and some of those things that have hurt us. It’s like everything else, it’s offensively, defensively, and special teams, you  have to execute consistently. We haven’t always done that in any phase of our game. Everybody wants to panic about the offense and what happened the other night, but it’s football. It’s a team game. You have to find your way through things, you have to pick each other up, you have to play well and that’s the way it works. The offense struggled and when they needed to they picked it up and because of it we won the football game.”

 

On the importance of winning this weekend to maintain momentum

“I believe it’s about having that consistent approach and that’s something that we do. Our guys understand that. We’re not talking about Missouri. Missouri is over. We put that to rest a long time ago and it’s time to get onto the next thing.”

 

On the status of freshman I-back Rex Burkhead

“Rex is going to be out for awhile. I’m not sure how long.”

 

On what kind of injury he has

“Foot”

 

On if it is broken

“Not quite sure. He’s going to be out for awhile.”

 

On who would step into his place

“We have a number of different candidates.”

 

On if Rex’s injury puts a bigger load on Roy Helu’s shoulders

“No, still going to have other guys in there playing.”

 

On the depth they have at running back

“You have (Marcus) Mendoza, you’ve got AJ Jones, you’ve got Lester Ward, Collins Okafor, and you have Dontrayevous Robinson. We have a stable of guys. We rep all those guys. They are prepared and ready to go.”

 

On who is most likely to earn the spot out of the reserve backs

“Whoever earns it.”

 

On who takes Burkhead's spot as a punt return specialist

“Niles Paul is going to be the guy back there. He’s been the starter. There’s a couple other guys, Timmy Marlow, Antonio Bell. We have a number of guys that have been back there doing that.”

 

On what Rex brought to the table that they will miss now

“He’s a good football player. Anytime you have a football player out you are going to miss him. He’s a good football player. I feel worse for him. We’ll be all right. I feel worse for the kid. He’s a prideful, tough, competitive guy.”

 

On if the injury happened in practice
“Yeah.”

 

On the defense preventing touchdowns after offensive turnovers

“Mental toughness. It’s an approach. It’s an attitude and we’ve been fortunate. The guy’s go out there with an attitude. We have an attitude as a football team that we have to pick each other up. You have to have each other's backs and that’s a big part of it.”

 

On Eric Martin and his intensity

“Well, I don’t care about him firing the crowd up, but he’s a good football player. He’s doing a good job on special teams. He’s high energy. He’s tough. He’s physical. He’s doing a good job.”

 

On if there are any Blackshirt candidates

“How many guys do we have on defense? About 80 of them.”

 

On if there is any plan to bring those back

“You’ll know when they’re out there. That’s the furthest thing from my mind right now.”

 

On if he is getting tired of that question

“What do you think?”

 

On Ndamukong Suh’s performance against Missouri

“He played well. He did what we expect him to do. He’s a good football player. Everybody wants to just focus on Suh, that’s great and he’s earned that, but there’s a lot of guys around him that are playing well, too. This is a team game, team defense. It isn’t only one guy. I know everybody wants to build it into it being one guy, but it’s team game and that’s how it works and how it will always be. I feel fortunate we have him. I think he is a helluva football player and I’ll leave it at that.”

 

On if he told Suh to come back to win a championship and play in games like the Missouri one

“Absolutely, that’s why he did come back. Missouri was just one part of it. That’s over. We handled that one and it’s on to the next one. Our total focus right now is on Tech.”

 

On the improvement of Texas Tech’s running game since the start of the season, and the difficulties it creates in defending them

“It’s part of the deal. They run the ball well, better than what people think. It’s a big part of their game. Their running back is a very quality football player, football players I should say. They have some good backs. You can spend so much time defending the pass and they can really hurt you with the running game. You have to have balance and they understand that. We have to have balance defensively. We have to defend what they do.”

 

On Ndamukong Suh as a Heisman candidate

“That’s up to you guys. I’ve been through that before. I went through it with (Glenn) Dorsey a little bit.  That’s up to you guys.”

 

On if a defensive player should be nominated for the Heisman

“That’s up to you guys. I don’t have any say in that. I think he’s as good of a football player at his position that there is in the country.”

 

On if it’s important for the running game to be more active this week

“Yeah, we have to be able to run the ball better, just period, not just against Texas Tech. We didn’t play real well for the first three quarters (against Missouri). There are some things we need to get fixed and worked out. It’s safe to say, I think we need to run the ball better this week. We need to do everything better this weekend. We need to play our best football this Saturday in all phases to win this football game. This is a good football team, really good football team.”

 

On if the running game is emphasized more in order to keep their offense off the field

“Yeah, but there are a lot of ways to keep their offense off the field. Last year, we like that we had a great time of possession. I don’t know if we’ll ever be in a game where we have that kind of time of possession. Bottom line is, we need to score points. You’re not going to shut this team out. You’d like to, but they’re a pretty good offensive football team and we need to match them. We need to put some points on the board to take advantage of our opportunities and we need to play well.  I really believe we need to play our best football Saturday in all phases to win this game.”

 

On his input on offense

“I always make suggestions, but I don’t tell them do this or do that. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Wats (offensive coordinator Shawn Watson) and what he does and really the whole offensive coaching staff. Like always, I look at the opposing defenses, I make suggestions. But I know this, our offense is in extremely capable hands. I know that. I have confidence in them. You hire good people and you let them do their job and it’s been getting done very well. I have no reservations about what we’re doing offensively.”

 

On Zac Lee's growth this season

“A lot and he’s five games in. I think we’re going to see there is a lot more growth to happen, and I think we are going to continue to see a lot more.  You get better with experience and I think we’ll see that with Zac.”

 

On the keys to developing depth on defense

“Just getting guys taught. Getting guys taught, getting more guys into the mix and your approach to practice and getting better everyday. I think you’re seeing guys get better. The understanding of what we are trying to do is better. The techniques and fundamentals are getting better, but we still have a long way to go, I can say that.”

 

On if the gap has closed between starters and reserve players

“I would hope so. I think that needs to be the case. I think that will continue to be the case as long as we’re together. You get more guys, you keep recruiting, and hopefully you get deeper as time goes on.”

 

On if Nebraska was hindered last season by lack of depth

“Somewhat. We weren’t a real deep football team, especially defensively last year and we’re not as deep in some positions as I would like to be right now.  It’s part of the process. We’re deeper at some spots than we are others. That’s something you have to address in recruiting.”

 

On reserves pushing starters for more playing time

“Our guys know that’s our culture. Our guys know that to play you have to practice well. You have to perform on the field. There doesn’t have to be a lot words spoken. Our guys know that’s the way it is and they way it will always be as long as this coaching staff is here.”

 

On what Dejon Gomes and Alfonzo Dennard have done to earn more playing time

“Practiced well, performed well. I said, I don’t know what day it was, last Wednesday,  but commented in the meeting room on how good Gomes looked in practice and there he goes. It translates to the game. You can’t just flick a switch and it happens on Saturday. You have to prepare to play well. It happens time after time and if you don’t, it won’t happen for you on Saturday unless you do it during the week.”

 

On if the two Texas Tech quarterbacks are different

“No, I think they are pretty similar guys. I think the second guy who’s come in might be a little more mobile, but they both can move their feet. They’re both similar players. They both have good arms. They both run the system well. Not much of a difference.”

 

On if Texas Tech does anything different on their offensive line

“Their splits are a little bit wider. They sit deeper. It’s a different kind of passing game. It’s pretty rhythm. It gets out pretty quick. Obviously, it helps in your protection when the ball is coming out fast.”

 

On how hard it is to get a pressure with that kind of offensive line

“It’s not easy. You have to pick your spots. When you win, you have to make them hold the ball sometimes. There’s a lot of aspects to it.”

 

On the physicality of Nebraska's cornerbacks

“I don’t know if it’s as much the physicality of it. It’s the technique. It’s playing with your technique and fundamentals and really it’s about execution. I think our guys are very capable. I like what we’re doing, but once again there’s still a lot of room for growth in the back end. I think our guys are playing better technique-wise more consistently and playing with better fundamentals. To me when that happens you look like a more physical football team. You’re getting your hands on people, you’re playing with good technique, and when you’re playing the right way it should look more physical because that’s the only way you play good defense.”