Defensive Back DeJon Gomes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pre-Oklahoma State

On the message in practice this week as they get ready for Oklahoma State
"The message stays the same. You have to go out there and take care of business, but it starts on the practice field. Like Coach Bo (Pelini) always says, you practice how you play, so you have to prepare well during the week."

On how they are dealing with the first loss
"There's nothing you can really do about it anymore. It's in the books. You just have to go out and prepare even harder. Just learn from it and hopefully it doesn't happen again."

On how hard it is to move past the loss
"We had the weekend to think about it and dwell on it. Once you're preparing for Oklahoma State, you just have to put it behind you. It's just something you have to do. If you're thinking about it during the week, you're not able to prepare well enough and one loss could turn into two, could turn into three. It's over now, there's nothing you can do about it so there is really no need to think about it."

On if they are excited looking at how Oklahoma State passes the ball
"We're definitely looking forward to it. That quarterback throws the ball a lot, and they take a lot of deep shots. We just have to be in the right spots to make plays. They also have a really good running game. I think they're almost balanced."

On his reaction to hear that Oklahoma State's running back is 27 years old
"Actually I heard that during a game earlier in the season when I was watching them play, a couple of weeks ago against Louisiana-Lafayette. I just thought about Chris Weinke and how old he was in college. He's making plays. Age isn't really affecting him."

On how he has been used this year in the defense
"I think I'm playing in a lot of different areas, but I'm really just playing where the coaches put me and trying to be in the right spots. I guess the role kind of changes every week, but I just have to adapt to it."

On shutting down a top-ranked passing offense
"Ultimately, it comes down to us doing our responsibilities and reading our keys right, doing everything we need to do. Coach will put us in the right spots to make plays and limit their gains."

On his ability to personally stop the run this year
"Fall camp really helped me out a lot. I think I improved in that area a lot, but there is still a lot to improve as I watch film day in and day out. It helps having a really good D-line in front of you to keep the offensive line off of you and also playing next to Lavonte (David). He is really a tackling machine and has close to 100 tackles it seems like. I'm just trying to do my part."

On what he personally has to do better to stop the run
"Just read my keys and make sure they're right and read them as fast as I can."

On if he works with the linebackers at all
"I'm still with the defensive backs. I don't really work with the linebackers. It's kind of the reverse. Lavonte works with us on seven-on-seven seeing how most of the time it's six defensive backs in there, and he is the lone linebacker."

On what they see from Oklahoma State's receiver Blackman
"He's a big physical receiver, but I really have faith in our two corners shutting down anybody. Just the safeties being over the top to help them out. He makes plays."

On the missed tackles against Texas
"You just have to take a step back and look at yourself in the mirror, and really just bounce back from it. You can't miss that many tackles. It's pretty much ridiculous. Everyone has to improve on that aspect and move on."

On how painful it was to watch the game film
"It was pretty painful. We watched film on Sunday of the game. I felt personally like I didn't want to watch it even though I needed to. Some guys probably felt the same way. I'm glad we watched it and hopefully we learn something from it."

On how he would classify their emotions heading off of the Texas game and into Saturday
"It definitely was embarrassing. We missed about almost 30 tackles, which is way too many. We just have to prepare this week. I know we are all looking forward to Saturday to pretty much redeem ourselves."

On who on the defense is a vocal leader
"I think some of my teammates may look at me as a leader, but ultimately with all the experience we have as a secondary, we almost feed off each other. Any of the guys who are out there can be looked at as leaders. For the most part we don't talk too much, we just lead by example. You see a guy doing well and you want to do good so you're not the weak link pretty much."

On how much fun it is to work behind two stellar cornerbacks
"Definitely makes your job a lot easier just knowing the skill that they have and being able to shut down receivers. It makes your job easier, but you still have to be in the right spots in case they do slip up and be their eraser."

On the benefit of going on the road this weekend
"I don't know if there is a benefit. I guess so many questions have been asked about how we play better on the road. I hope that plays to our favor this weekend."

On the answer to how they play better on the road
"If I had an answer to that, I think it would just be our mentality that we go into road games thinking it is us against the world. At home it's almost like you wanted to take that mentality into it, but you know you have your fans behind you and all of that. It just played out the way it did."