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Nebraska Football Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.
Pre-Big 12 Championships Game vs. Texas
On how excited he is to play in the Big 12 Championships Game
“I can’t wait. It’s the first time I’ve ever played for a Big 12 championship. It’s a great feeling I have right now, and I can’t wait to play in it.”
On if they have to temper any sort of intimidation because Texas is so highly rated
“No, we love being the underdogs. We’re in a great position right now and we just can’t wait to play them. It’s going to be a great challenge for us, but we can’t wait to play in it.”
On if they feel like they have nothing to lose while Texas has everything to lose
“I guess you can say it that way, but we feel like we’re a good team and we are going to go out there and compete.”
On how hard it will be to establish the running game against Texas
“I have complete faith in our O-line, and we’re going against our D-line everyday, so I feel like we’re going to get a run game established, which is going to open up a lot of things for the pass.”
On if he saw anything from the Texas A&M game that gives them a chance to move the ball
“Yeah, Texas A&M just ran it straight at them, and they took their shots here and there, which played into their favor.”
On if he feels they can match Texas offensively
“Our offense is an offense that controls the clock and the past couple weeks we have grinded each game out. I figure we are going to stick to the game plan we have been doing.”
On if the running game is the strength of this team
“Yeah, definitely the running game is the strength. Roy Helu and Rex (Burkhead) run hard and they open things up for us.”
On how much Burkhead adds to the run game
“He’s a great help. As you saw last game, he went out there and he ran his heart off.”
On if first down is the key to being successful against Texas
“Yeah, definitely, we like to be in a position after first down where it’s short yardage. Of course picking up big yards on first down is the key.”
On what he has seen from the special team play
“We feel like that’s a good phase of the game for us, because we have hard-working special teams in each category. We can open up a lot of things with that.”
On the dynamic kick return specialist that Texas has
“I heard they were track guys. I heard they were good track guys and fast track guys, so it should be interesting. But we have, I think the best kickoff team in the Big 12, so it should be interesting.”
On how much he has heard or seen about Cowboys Stadium
“I’ve just heard about it. I’ve never actually seen it. Of course, I’ve never actually been in it. This will be my first time.”
On if he feels like the pressure is off because they made it to the game and now they can just go play
“I guess a little bit more added pressure. This is the game we have been waiting for all year. We had a lot of obstacles this year, but we’re here and we’re going to play in it. We can’t wait for it.”
On how he has hung in there after having some rocky outings in the middle of the season
“It definitely took a lot of resiliency. We went through a lot as an offense, not just me. We went through a lot as an offense, a struggle here and there. We came through and are in a position we want to be in.”
On if he feels like the offense is going to have to do more in order to win the game
“It’s up to our coaches. It’s really Coach (Shawn) Watson’s decision on what we are going to do, and I completely trust whatever decision he makes.”
On if he feels like he really needs to pick his game up for this game
“Definitely, but I take pride in that every week. I want to make plays for our offense every week and given the opportunity, I want to take advantage of it.”