Quarterback Taylor Martinez

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Monday, Sept. 10, 2012
Pre-Arkansas State

Jr. Quarterback Taylor Martinez
On how to the team gets ready for Arkansas State
"Just move on, life goes on, and everything happens for a reason."

On what he took away from the UCLA game
"Just some of us learned our lessons not to do, this or that. We just move on from here."

On how important tempo is for the offense
"It is very important to establish a rhythm each drive. It's kind of is difficult to do that when you start out at the five or six-yard line. Or when we get 1st-and-15 or 3rd-and-long, it kind of is hard to set up a tempo."

On how UCLA changed its defense in the second half
"They didn't really change in the second half, we just started slowing down our tempo and didn't execute well.

On how much UCLA blitzed, and if that was what they saw on film
"They blitzed a lot, and everything we saw, we knew they would do."

On the current mood of the team
"The mood is great on the team so far. Like I said life goes on. We know we still have everything we want ahead of us. It was better it happened now rather than later on.

On if he thinks the offense will need to carry the team
"No, it is a team sport and I think we will do very well down the road."

On if he feels a lot of pressure leading the team
"No, not really, I think all of us feel the pressure on the offense, defense and special teams. We are all in this together.

On if he felt rushed in the second half against UCLA
"A tad bit, more than the first half. Maybe the defensive line got a little more push on our line in the second half. Other than that not really."

On Ameer Abdullah
"I think he did an excellent job and did really good."

On when the offense is backed up at the five, what kind of pressure does that put on the offense
"It is very difficult for Coach (Tim) Beck to call a game plan when we are backed up, it's kind of shortens the plays, and it's difficult for us."

On the zone read touchdown
"It just opened up and I took it."

On the safety
"It is kind of hard to judge when a defensive lineman is running full speed at you and you don't know if he is going to tackle Ameer (Abdullah) or me. I was hoping it was going to be like that touchdown, but it was the wrong decision."

On Louisiana-Monroe beating Arkansas, how does that relate to the game plan to Arkansas State
"I think what we saw against UCLA that we can't go too far ahead of ourselves and take one week at a time as a team."