Safety Rickey Thenarse

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010
Pre-Idaho

Rickey Thenarse
Senior, Safety
On if he will be doing kickoff coverage anymore
"As of now, no."

On getting hurt while doing kickoff coverage previously
"Ya, the 2008-2009 season I got injured on kickoff."

On if he thinks that's why he isn't doing kickoff coverage right now
"I think so. It's pretty dangerous, and coach said that he excepts me to play a lot of football this year, so I guess that's why he took me off kickoff."

On where the defense is at right now
"I don't think we played very well. I don't think we played to our standard and what coach expects from us. So overall I don't think we played as well as we can play, but he said from the first game to the second game is where the team needs to make their biggest improvement and from yesterday's practice I see our defense is better than Saturday's game."

On how he judges success of the defense, since they only gave up 10 points
"Shutting a team out. Coach wants perfection. I mean no one's perfect, but he wants perfection. That's what we are shooting for on the field too, perfection and to dominate our opponent, and we didn't dominate them."

On what it was like to get back out there in front of all the fans
"It was nice. I was nervous but after the first few plays I got back into a groove. I got back into things. I got chop-blocked about eight times on film, so it was great getting back out there."

On if it makes him nervous when he gets chop-blocked after he tore his knee last year
"Actually it doesn't. (The) only time I'm kind of nervous is when I stand around a pile, and I try not to do that. If I'm in a pile I try not to jump on a tackle. I just don't like to stand around piles, that's about it. That's when I get nervous."

On if he thought he was getting chop-blocked more than usual
"Yes. Probably more than I've ever gotten chop-blocked in a game. I just forgot. I forgot about the chop-blocking thing. We kind of worked on it in fall camp, but we didn't work on it as much as we work on everything else. They try and leave chop-blocking out of it because they don't want anyone getting hurt. When I got out there I got chop-blocked about eight times in the first half. Second half I didn't get chop-blocked because I was more conscious of it."

On if he thinks some teams chop-block more than others
"I believe so."

On if the rest of the team helped out, supported and rallied around the two linebackers making their first starts Saturday
"Yes. We were looking to (Alonzo) Whaley to make the calls, but sometimes when he didn't make the calls, Lavonte (David) was making the calls. But when we got back to the sidelines for the breakdown we talked to him and basically rallied around him telling him to be more clear and more decisive on the calls and to have confidence."

On if he could relate to the new linebackers as being the new guys out there
"Yes. After being out there that young and knowing how it feels, I told them to be confident in the calls they make. When they make a call, just make the call because we're all on the same page. Our defense and our rules apply to any offense that they run. If he makes a call we're all on the same page."

On when he found out he was going to start
"I guess when I looked up at the screen. I guessed I was going to start because I had been going in the one (position) but we all had been rotating thought fall camp, and after looking up on the screen and seeing the secondary starters, I knew that was when it was official."

On how it felt to see himself on the screen as a starter
"I felt proud. It felt great. It's been a long time, A lot of hard work, and it all payed off."

On who he called about him being the starter
"Actually I didn't call anyone. My family back home ordered the pay-per-view game, so they knew I was going to start."

On how it felt to be the underdog and not the guy everyone talked about in fall camp
"I was kind of the underdog. I felt like the underdog, but I believed in myself as a player, and I know I can be a leader out there, and I know I can contribute to the team. I know I can be just as good as anyone else and all the things I went through. I wanted to prove that I can be that guy and prove the doubters wrong. This offseason I worked harder than I had ever worked, ever in any sport."

On if he wanted to get away from his reputation as a sledgehammer
"I guess I kind of made my mind up and decided that I wanted to play team defense and be that guy who is consistent and not that guy who just wants to make that play and have a big hit because that doesn't get you anywhere, and it doesn't get you on the field. In high school it was kind of like that. Just get on the field and make a play. It was never a team defense or a system defense, so when I got here it was really hard to adjust, and you can see how long it took me to finally get it in my head."

On if it is more exciting to play safety against a team like Idaho with a pro-style quarterback
"Yes. It's a challenge and we're looking forward to taking on their quarterback, who I think is ranked No. 4 in the country. We've been watching film on him already for the last two days, and its going to be a challenge and we're looking forward to it."

On what stands out about Idaho's quarterback when he throws the ball
"His quick release. He looks at his receivers when he throws the ball. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He's a good quarterback and what stands out is his quick release and how he puts the ball where defenders can get it."

On his ACL rehab and whether he doubted he would be able to come back
"Yes. I did question if I was ever going to come back from it. The first two weeks when (Ndamukong) Suh would come in and he would say after two weeks he had the extension back in his legs and I was still struggling with mine. I was still two weeks to a month from getting my knee back to extend and it was kind of discouraging. I just kept coming in and working hard, going at it and I finally got it. I guess after four months it was still painful, I thought I was never going to get back. I told myself if this ever happened again I am quitting football. I almost gave up everything. It was something you don't want to go through. It was tough."

On who or what inspired him to get back
"What inspired me was seeing how great our defense played and far the program has come, just me being a part of it. I just wanted to come back and finally play with Nebraska when they were playing at a high level. Just watching the success of Larry (Asante) and Matt (O'Hanlon), Matt had knee issues and he was a walk-on and his story kind of inspired me to stick in there and bounce back. Suh tore his ACL and he came back. All those guys came back, so all those guys were inspiration. I just wanted to come back and be a part of something special this year."

On how it feels to be a part of a great defense after being on a defense early in his career that wasn't very good
"It feels good. It just feels good."