Junior Defensive End Cameron Meredith

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

Junior Defensive End Cameron Meredith
On if he was concerned his shoulder would come back to full health
"No. I never thought that. I had trust in the doctors and the rehab. I had shoulder surgery in high school. I knew I'd come back just fine - even better actually. It's stronger than before."

On if he answered questions with his play
"In fall camp, I was a little hesitant with the shoulder, but after the first few plays, it's totally fine."

On the depth up front and their identity on the defense
"I would say we take a lot of pride in being on the defensive front for the University of Nebraska. Tons of legends have been through here and played defensive line. I think our coaches kind of harp on that. I think all of us have a responsibility to uphold that tradition and carry the team a little bit."

On what he knows about Frenso State
"They have tons of good players. Their skilled players are good. They're a pretty good football team. I know a couple of guys on the team, just being from the area. They've got some athletes. They're always a good football team."

On how much bigger of a challenge they expect from Fresno State
"Obviously Fresno State is coming in here. It's a big game for them and a big game for us too. They have a lot of really good athletes, like I said. They're going to come at us 100 percent, so we've just got to be ready for them."

On the tradition of Nebraska's defensive line
"To tell you the truth, I didn't really watch that much football in high school or even younger. I just played football because I had fun. But ever since I got here, I started watching college football a lot. Especially being a part of Nebraska. Hearing about Jason Peter, Christian Peter, and of course, (Ndamukong) Suh recently. There are just so many great names that have been through here - Grant Wistrom and stuff. And once I got here and started paying attention a little more, that's when I really got focused in on the tradition."

On what Ndamukong Suh has meant to all the guys
"He was the most dominang player in college football. And just learning from him mentality and how he looked at practice every day and the way he came out and competed. Every day in practice he'd go 100 percent every play no matter what, because he knew he was going to get better from it. I think that's what we learned from him, and what it meant to him to play here."

On the defensive line rotation
"We did quite a bit. Joe (Carter) got in. Eric (Martin) got in. Josh (Williams) got in a lot. We all rotated a pretty good amount, and I think that's pretty key for us. If we need a break, we'll go in for two series. I'll sit out for a series or two. I think that's really important."

On the percentage of snaps he played Saturday
"I would say I played about 55-60 percent of the game."

On his impressions of the Wisconsin game
"They looked like a good football team. We'll worry about them when it comes."

On getting a compliment from Jason Peters on Twitter
"I thought it meant a lot. It's humbling to hear he's watching. He's a big part of this program. He means a lot to this program and this whole state. I thought it was good that he responded to me. That was cool."

On getting a hard time from Jared Crick about not scoring on the interception
"No. I don't know what Jared's talking about. I don't think he would have scored. After the game he said, 'why didn't you score?' I said, 'I tried to, I just couldn't do it.'"

On the offensive line being physical in practice and coming off the ball
"We have a good offensive line. They come off the ball in practice just fine. There's always going to be critics for a new group because we have a lot of new guys. I thought they did pretty well. I don't really watch the offense that much, but I thought for the first game they did pretty good."

On if he thought he'd make as many big plays on Saturday
"I don't know. It just kind of falls in place. You just kind of do your job and plays will fall in place."

On the change the defense has with offenses running the hurry-up offense
"It's another factor in the game. Like last year when we played Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, they ran the hurry-up. You've definitely got to train for it during the whole week. It's a whole other aspect in the game. It's tough, but we have ways to deal with it."