Head Coach Bo Pelini

Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini
Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Pre-Idaho

On his thoughts on the defensive performance Saturday after looking at film
"Like I said yesterday, a lot of the things that happened I kind of expected going in. You want it to be perfect, but I knew it wasn't going to be perfect. Everything is really fixable; there isn't a great deal of concern there."

On the extent of linebacker Will Compton's injury
"I'm not sure when he'll be back. He'll probably be four or five weeks, I don't know. It's his foot"

On if he takes the defensive performance with a grain of salt
"Oh yeah. Trust me; I don't push the panic button. You know where it is, it doesn't change our expectations going in. It doesn't change our standards. There were a lot of things that I kind of expected. We were better in some areas than I thought we'd be and worse in some areas. Most of it is very fixable. A lot of the things were communication errors, missed calls, that type of thing. Those things are easily fixable. Those are the things that happen in the first game."

On the areas he thought the defense was better
"In a lot of areas our technique was pretty good. I thought we were pretty good on the backend. When we lined up I thought we were pretty good and were all on the same page. Like I said, most of the things were communication issues. I kind of anticipated that would be the case coming in."

On how much more vocal linebacker Lavonte David needs to be
"I didn't mention Lavonte's name."

On how much more vocal the defense as a whole needs to be out there
"Defense always has to be better. Across the board you have to communicate, especially the way we play defense. Communication has to be good across the board. Everybody has to talk, that just comes from growing together and getting more comfortable with each other. If you look at my history, that's our style of defense. You get better as you go on, as you get more time together. I've been here before, I'm not real concerned. I'll be concerned if I'm saying this four or five weeks from now. I don't think that will be the case."

On what is it about his style of defense that makes that the case
"Without getting into it too deep, we game plan and we get pretty specific on a weekly basis on how we're going to do things. We make a lot of adjustments, checks, calls. That takes time. One of the reasons I said I kind of expected it going in last week is we weren't really sure what we were going to get from the opposing offense. We had to practice a lot of different things because we weren't exactly sure what they were going to feature or how they were going to do it because it was a new staff. We had some educated guesses as to what we were going to see. That makes it a little more difficult on the guys in that we probably exposed them to too much last week, maybe did a little too much for that being the situation and having some youth in there. Our situation kind of changed on Thursday when Will Compton went down. Not that the other guys weren't capable of doing it, because they are, but it changes because we weren't expecting that to be the case. Like I said, it's not something I'm real concerned with because we've already made big strides since the game."

On if the two linebackers who had to step in got a valuable learning lesson
"Any time you walk out there it is a learning experience. Everyone wants to focus on the linebackers, it wasn't just the linebackers. There were communication errors across the board. I'm not going to sit here and say where it came from and point the finger because we don't do it that way. There are a lot of things that we could have done better as a coaching staff to make things better. In the end we did what we needed to do to win the game. Now you progress, you move forward, you get better. I think that is what you're going to see."

On Lavonte David's instincts as a player
"It's not just instinct, that's execution. Sometimes he was in the right place at the right time but doing the wrong thing or reading the wrong thing. Every play is different, but I can say this, he did a lot of good things in the football game and has a lot to improve on. I think he would be the first one to say that."

On where DeJon Gomes ranks in terms of distinctive playmakers
"DeJon is a good football player. I thought he was as valuable a guy as we had on our defense last year. I think he is going to have another good year. I don't think he played his best football the other day, but I don't think anybody did. He shouldn't in the first game."

On facing one of the biggest offensive lines in college football
"We've played big lines before. It's about technique and fundamentals. That is how you off-set that."

On Idaho's quarterback Nathan Enderle
"I think he is a good player. I think he makes good decisions, I think he is comfortable in their offense. I think he is a good football player. I can't say much more than that. I think he executes very well."

On how familiar he is with Enderle's story being from Nebraska
"I don't know anything about him personally. He probably was recruited before I was here. I was way down South at that point. I just know that when I watch him on film he is a real good player."

On what it was about the defense last year that enabled them to get better
"It takes practice, it takes reps. We've only had 29 practices going into the first game. That's not a lot of time. That's about two weeks of pro practice during two-a-days. You just look across the board, you look at college football, there are a lot of mistakes. It's early in the season and you hope you keep getting better. That's why we practice. Our plan, our recipe stays the same. We haven't changed anything. Like I said, if you just watch and look at history, you should get better as you move on, as you make different decisions, as you slot your personnel in differently, as you figure things out about your guys after playing in a game. I have no question that is going to happen. Our expectations of what our defense is going to be are exactly the same."

On how much easier it is to game plan this week as opposed to last week
"I think it's easier. I'm not putting anything down on Western Kentucky, but I think this (Idaho) is a better offensive football team that's been together longer. They're more experienced, the quarterback is more experienced in the system. You have more history of what they are, what they like to do. That doesn't mean you can stop. Your challenges are still there. They have some guys who can make plays."

On what impressed him about the three freshmen who got snaps on the offensive line
"I thought they all did some good things. I thought (Jeremiah) Sirles played well, but I think they were pretty on. I thought they played real hard. I thought they came off the ball and played real physical at times, especially when they knew what they were doing. Obviously there is a little indecision at times, but I thought they represented themselves well. There is a lot to clean up there technique-wise and things like that. I thought for the first time under the lights, I thought they reacted well."

On Mike Caputo coming in and starting at center
"He is a good player. He is a really good football player. I'm really happy with where he is right now. He does a good job. He is physical, he's smart, he takes charge up there. I feel real good about him playing center for us."

On how Caputo makes the play or block with his small size
"People get caught up in size these days. I think back to my time at LSU and probably the two best centers we went against were the 260 or 265 range. Especially at the center position, it's not about size. It's about quickness and intelligence. It's about want-to and having heart. I think Caputo's got all of those things, he's a good football player."

On where they are at with the quarterbacks
"Nothing has really changed as far as what our plan is for the quarterbacks."

On if he would want to be more settled at the end of this week with the quarterbacks
"I thought we were pretty settled on Saturday. We had our plan going in, we settled on that plan and have stuck with it. That is always subject to change depending on practice and games. I've said it, I thought all three quarterbacks played real well, which I think is a good situation. They all executed well, I feel real good about our quarterback situation."

On the maturity of his quarterbacks handling the different roles they're giving them
"They're all mature. They're all team guys and they're all good football players and they've all got a tremendous amount of character. I feel pretty good about it."

On if he expects a rotation at the position in conference play
"I only worry about us today. I'm not worried about what's happening in conference play. We're going to do what we need to do to win football games. Like I said, whatever it takes to win is what we're going to do."

On if he has an idea on how much he wants them running the ball
"Depends on what the defense is giving you, but I'm not afraid to run our quarterback. I think you saw that the other night."

On if Taylor Martinez exceeded his expectations
"I know he is capable of doing that. I think the other guys are too. I thought you all saw him run well. I think he is an explosive player. People better account for him, he's a good player."

On if a game like Boise State vs. Virginia Tech is good for college football
"That's up for you guys to decide. I've got my thoughts on it, but it doesn't really matter what I think."