Nebraska Quarterback Taylor Martinez

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
Pre-Fresno State
Monday, Sept. 5, 2011
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)

Quarterback Taylor Martinez
On if he was at full speed for the first game
"Yeah, I guess so. I felt pretty good. I felt the best I have since the Missouri game."

On what improvements he wants to see for week two
"On the offense, maybe just speeding up the offensive tempo. Like Rex (Burkhead) just said, we have a lot of different tempos. We didn't show very much in the last game."

On how fast the tempo can be on offense
"Pretty fast, maybe pretty close to Oregon I'd say, hopefully. We really haven't run it in a game tempo, so I don't know yet."

On how he thought he played after looking at the film
"I think I did all right. I could have done a lot better at hitting the receivers, leading them a little more because I kind of threw it behind them, but I think I did decent."

On how it felt to run in the open field again
"It felt pretty good, because that's the first time I've scored since I think Kansas State. It just felt good to get into the end zone again."

On how much option he ran in high school
"Maybe like five times a game."

On if Athletic Director Tom Osborne has talked to him about running the option
"A little bit because that was his cup of tea back in the day, and he ran the option to perfection. He's talked to me a little bit about it, but other than that Coach (Tim) Beck and Joe Ganz have helped me a lot."

On what Osborne told him about the option
"Just keep attacking the defender and make the defender make a decision, and once he makes a decision either run off him or pitch off him"

On if he studied any of the old option teams from Nebraska
"A little bit. Not too much, because I think it's a little different than what they ran."

On if he talked to Coach Pelini about running the option
"No, Coach Bo hasn't. Coach Beck said he, I think he was in high school, he pitched the ball on the one yard line and the running back wasn't back there and they picked it up and ran it for a 99-yard touchdown. He said not to do that."

On what he knows about Fresno State's program
"We really haven't gotten into the game plan much. I played with one player that's on the team right now, Ben Letcher, he's a defensive end. I don't know if he's starting there right now. Other than that, they recruited me and that's pretty much it."

On what they recruited him as
"Quarterback."

On if there is any thought to taking down the number of hits he takes
"I guess so, but it's pretty much based on Coach Beck's decision. The option game depends on what they give me because their linebacker just kept flying to Rex and I kept keeping the ball every time."

On when he saw the light turn on for freshman Tyler Moore
"I think at the beginning of the game he was a little shaky. He told me after the game he was nervous throughout the whole day, but other than that I think he did a really good job for this being his first game as a true freshman."

On if he tried to calm some of the younger players down
"Yeah, on the sidelines I did a little bit and on the field I tried to talk to them. I think later on in the first quarter our whole offense kind of calmed down. I think since the opening kickoff was kind shaky because they pinned us back on the 6-yard line it kind of threw us off your whole game plan going into the game."

On if they were going to run the fullback trap on the first play no matter what
"It was pretty much based on what the defense was."

On if he ever gave Fresno State some thought when they recruited him
"No, because I was fully committed to Nebraska."