Freshman Quarterback Cody Green

Nebraska Football Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.
Pre-Iowa State

On if he is surprised to be up there speaking in front of everybody<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

“Yeah, I’ve never actually been in this room. I just get to see it on the internet and whenever I walk past and see Coach Pelini talking in here. I’m kind of surprised.”

 

On what it means to be up there

“There may be a little chance that I am going somewhere right now with my life. This is where the big stars go. I am just trying to get there.”

 

On how he is approaching this week thinking that he wants to start or that he’ll maintain his role

“I’m not really going into this week thinking anything different than I have. That is just because Coach (Shawn) Watson has instilled it in our head that we should always practice as if we were the starter. Going in there whether it’s week one or week two, I always practiced like I was the starter because I was one ankle turn away from being in there and competing. This week is not any different from any other week I’ve had before.”

 

On if he thinks he deserves a chance to start

“Yeah, I think I do. I think I have a pretty good chance just because of the way the offense is set up. I know it could go for me or Latravis (Washington), really anybody, just because that is the way we’ve been brought up with Coach Watson. He’s always instilled in our heads to play as if we were the starter and to compete. That is the main thing he always says, to compete. Of course in my head I am always thinking that I am going to be the starter one day, I’m going to be the starter. Now I just have that chance.”

 

On how many plays he knows now

“A rough number, probably somewhere around 270 or 260. If Coach Watson was right in front of you all and he started saying plays, they would start popping up in my head.”

 

On if he would have any problems running the offense if he were the starter

“I don’t think so. It varies from defense to defense. With the defense last week, they were a pretty straight forward defense that we could have ran anything in our offense on. Virginia Tech was a weird defense and nothing we’d seen anywhere else. Just some of the stuff we ran during the week got into the game; they threw a monkey wrench at us. That varied with the plays I would have known. It just varies from defense to defense.”

 

On how he’s changed from the quarterback he is now from when the season began

“I think, personally, I feel like I am a new quarterback. At the beginning of the season, all I wanted to do was run. If I got in the game, I wanted to get the ball and tell people to get out of my way so I could take off running. Now I have learned how to manage the offense and when to take shots and when not to, just be a complete quarterback. That is one thing I have to give credit to Zac (Lee) and Coach Watson for. They’ve moved the path out for me and told me how I have to do it, just walk down this road.”

 

On how many of the balls he threw against Texas Tech did he get away with something

“I think I got away with three or four balls. The one that fell right through Curenski’s (Gilleylen) hand, it wasn’t really for him, it was for Menelik (Holt). The ball just soared on me. The one near the end zone, that the safety dropped, I turned around and threw it right to him the next time. Those situations ate me alive because that is just the person I am, I don’t want to make mistakes. Coach Watson pretty much told me that everybody does it, and I am in the type of position where I have to go take risks. You can’t be weak-hearted in those situations. You have to be fearless and able to sling the ball around. It really ate at me for a while, but once I sat down and watched the film, I could really see that if I wouldn’t have made those throws, what would have happened. Maybe the next ball I would throw would be right next to the person. The balls I wish I could take back set me up for ht next play, focusing in and hitting the target.”

 

On how he’s had to grow up the last few weeks

“Fast, I had to grow up real fast. From having a blanket on me at the beginning of the season, knowing that Coach Watson would kind of protect me and put me in situations I knew I would be able to handle it, to now being able to say I don’t need protection right now. I feel like I can go in there and compete with the best of them and make plays. That comes with having confidence in the offense, confidence in my ability and confidence in the coaches and the players around me.”

 

On wanting to commit the offense to the run

“It’s a little bittersweet for me. The bitter part is that I have finally grown to just like to throw the ball now. I really like to make plays with my arm. Once again, it’s real sweet for me because that is what Nebraska has been known for and that is one thing I really love to do. I tell Coach Watson just let me get hit one time. Whenever I get in, let me run the ball right into somebody and let them try to break me. After that the butterflies will be gone and I will be focused in. With the run, if I get in there and we get a called play for me to run, I’m pretty sure you all will be able to see my smile from the press box. Once again, it’s going to be bittersweet for me. Of course, I know we’re still going to throw the ball a lot. That is one thing that I have grown to love, to throw the ball around now.

 

On if the pressure and scrutiny is what he thought it would be

“I didn’t really think it would be as fast. With one play that Zac made, it’s like the whole state was against him because of one bad pass he threw. I’ve seen it at colleges back home, of course everybody saw it with Oklahoma State, how fast they were on his bandwagon and just jumped straight off. I really didn’t think it would happen that fast here, but it didn’t surprise me once it did. Especially here at Nebraska, all our fans want to know exactly what we’re doing. We joke around sometimes that if they could be in our locker rooms they would pay millions and millions of dollars to sit in there and listen to what we talk about. We’re fish in a fishbowl and the fans and everybody around the nation that are Husker fans are dying to know what we’re doing, what’s going on, what happened. It’s something you are just going to have to deal with here."

 

On if it’s hard to not buy into everyone saying he should start

“It’s not as hard as I thought it would be probably because as a recruit we are always asked if we want to start when we get to college as a freshman. That is just something that I have grown accustomed to letting it go in one ear and out the other as fast as it can. It helped with the people I grew up with back home, the guys I have here, the coaches that have kept me humble. They always say stay humble, stay hungry. Whenever you do that, what the media says, what’s on the newspaper and the blogs doesn’t bother you. You don’t have the urge to read that stuff and read what they say. You really know what is really happening within the team. Not many people know that. It helps a lot knowing you have the comfort of the coaches and players that they have your back no matter what. So be it, if I start, great. If I don’t, it’s OK. I’ve been doing that these past weeks, I’m still going to prepare myself the same way, there is going to be no difference to it.”