Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini

Nebraska Weekly Press Conference
Pre-Kansas State
Monday, Oct. 4, 2010
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.) 

On if it has been a different week because of the Thursday night game
"No, not really. We try and make it like a normal week. It's a little bit different having the weekend and that type of thing, but I think our schedule has been good."

On the pros and cons of playing a Thursday night game
"I kind of like that fact that it splits up the bye week where you have a little more time on both ends. You don't have as much time on the back end of it. Like I said, there are pluses and minuses to everything. I think its fine."

On if he gets a sense from his players that this is a bigger game because it is a conference game
"Well, I would hope so. I haven't seen much difference in their approach, but the stakes go up once you get into conference play. That's pretty obvious to everybody."

On how the extra time benefits Lavonte David and Eric Martin
"You hope time will make everything a little better. The more reps they get, the more practice they get, the better they're going to get. I think a little extra time and a couple extra practices will always help a guy. Hopefully, it helped our whole football team."

On the level of confidence he has in his run defense
"I feel good about our run defense. We play a lot different than some people do. There is some give and take that we live with. It's kind of in what we call and what we play. A lot of our issues were communication issues, alignment issues and that type of thing that I think we've gotten figured out."

On why playing on the road seems to bring out the best in the team
"I think our guys approach it the right way. Sometimes I think you have fewer distractions when you're on the road. Obviously, we like to play at home, but when you go on the road you just focus on one thing and that's playing football. You're not as much worried about tickets and people coming into town, and those things that go along with playing at home. I just think our guys have a good approach to it. They have been pretty mature about handling all the elements that you have to deal with on the road."

On how you attack Kansas State
"Well, you can't change the tempo that they're going to play with offensively. You have to try and get off the field and get into winnable third-down situations, control their running game a little bit without giving up big plays. They're a well coached football team. They have a plan. I think they do a good job of executing their job and giving themselves a chance each and every week. I think they do a good job with what they do. There's a little bit of a chess match that goes on with how he (Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder) calls a game and the type of offense they run, and they do it well. Obviously, when you have the ball you have to do something with it. It's always a challenge coaching against Coach Snyder and his staff because they do a really good job."

On the multiplicity of Kansas State's offense outside of their running game
"We'll see some things Thursday that I would anticipate that we haven't seen. He's going to try and attack you in certain areas. You have to be ready to make adjustments and be far enough along so that you can make adjustments and be real sound in what you are doing. He's going to attack you in multiple ways. They'll run the football and they have the ability to throw the ball down the field and make plays with their receivers who are good players. You have to be very sound. You have to execute well defensively."

On if he is expecting more of the unexpected for this game
"You always have to anticipate that and expect it. I expect to see something different than we've seen, and what we do every week, be ready to adjust. You can't panic in a situation like that. You just see what they're doing and try to get an idea of how they are trying to attack you and make your adjustments accordingly."

On if there is a red flag raised because of the 100-yard rushers that the defense gave up in the first couple games
"Same thing happened last year. There's a lot of times when you're winning a football game you are trying to work on things, trying to experiment with some things. Like I said, I don't get caught up in statistics and that kind of thing. A lot of it is a process to get where you want to go, and teach your guys lessons along the way. I could really care less about the statistics. I have a pretty good idea where we are run-game wise and what we have to do to handle the run. I think if you look at my track record of how we play, we're a lot different than a lot of people in how we play. You get better as you go along. We have our ways to handle the run, but we don't necessarily always call those things, especially early on when we're controlling football games."

On if part of that is not loading the box with more players
"Sometimes. You don't always have to load the box to play good run defense. We didn't always load the box last year. Like I said, there are strengths and weaknesses to every defense you call. Sometimes you're going to call things that make you a little bit stronger on the run. Early in the year when I feel like we're in control of football games I'm not necessarily calling all those things and we're not calling those things as a defense. We're experimenting with different things. There's a method to the madness. It's all a process to get you where you want to go."

On the status of Marcel Jones
"He's doing better. I think he's probable for the game."

On if Jones practiced on Saturday and Sunday
"Yes."

On how much it has helped to replace two safeties from last season with two seniors
"It depends on the packages. Obviously, P.J. Smith is like a starter for us, and I think P.J. is a sophomore. We feel pretty good about our young safeties too, but it helps always having experience back there. (DeJon) Gomes plays multiple roles for us and then having P.J. come in, and you have Anthony West that can do a lot of things for you. We have a lot options in our back end that really helps us. It keeps us versatile."

On if it's been good for P.J. Smith to ease into his role
"Yeah, but he's played pretty well. He's played at a pretty high level. Like I said, we consider him a starter. He plays a lot of snaps for us and can do a lot of different things. He's playing pretty good."

On if the staff has had a better chance to study the offense over the past week
"Oh yeah, we did that really on all ends of our team, both sides of the ball and special teams. Assess things that are good, things we need to work on. I don't think that it's we've done anything bad, but there are many things we need to fix. I don't think there is anything where we said this just doesn't work, but at the end you also say we can do this better. These wrinkles or these different things can help us be more multiple. I think it's been a very productive time this last week. I've gotten a lot out of it personally."

On if the team needed that wake-up call against South Dakota State
"I think that's the way it played out."

On what the offense could improve on
"Execution. More consistent execution, but I think you could say that well beyond the offense. You could say that offensively, defensively and special teams. I've said all along that we're a work in progress. We're not anywhere near what our potential is. There is a lot more out there for this football team."

On if he foresees an increased reliance on the passing game in conference play
"I think you have to be balanced. When you say increased reliance, you have to do what you have to do to win a football game. To me, the more balance you have the better you'll be."