Ameer Abdullah Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Monday, Nov. 5, 2012
Pre-Penn State

Ameer Abdullah
So., I-back, Homewood, Ala.

On the huddle after the defense gave them the ball the last time
“It was intense, you know, because the defense gave us the ball multiple times and we just found ways to ruin drives during the game so we knew we had our work cut out for us and we had to go out and execute on that particular drive.”

On the confidence with the team in the last minute that has to score
“Definitely, we have been in that situation more than once this season has really helped us out in the future situations like that. Being in that situation we are much more calm and a lot of people say that teams maybe if they were in the position last year that the outcome would have been the same and I believe in that.”

On the difference now in those situations
“Just the poise and the confidence in our team is much higher and the character on our team, the standard that we hold on each other is much higher than it was last year.”

On how is body is holding up since getting more carries since Rex (Burkhead) is out“
It’s holding up pretty well you know. Typical bumps and bruises playing football but nothing bad.”

On the physical game against Michigan State
“It was pretty physical, it was a really good defense and they brought it. They brought hats to the ball and they tackle well, but I feel like ever game is pretty physical.”

Doing anything different to recover from those physical games
“No, we recover the same as a team every Sunday we do certain things, but nothing in particular.”

How to avoid a letdown game like they have in the past years
“The sense of urgency has to pick up every week and we got to keep our foot on the gas. We just really need to keep motoring in the head a realize what’s ahead of us.”

How much success they have had against the two-minute drives by practicing against the defense
“I feel like our success has been because of that. We practice so much and we put ourselves in those situations where it’s the toughest situations we could be in. So when it comes to the game we are used to that and I feel a lot more comfortable in those situations.”

On if the offensive players look forward to being in that spot
“No, that means you’re losing and you don’t want to be in those kind of situations that means you’re losing the game. Luckily we are always ready for that.”

On importance of not giving Penn State the ball off of turnovers
“It’s always important every game especially with Penn State being No. 1 in turnover margin. We can’t give them anything, we gave Michigan State a couple turnovers. We have done that a lot this year, but definitely this game you know, they are a very well coached team, very discipline team, we can’t give them anything, we can’t give them any lead.”

On running a no-huddle offense help carry over to the fourth quarter
“Definitely, you get into a grove, being in the hurry-up offense all game and just going to the two-minute drill it’s just picking up a little more. We’ve been doing it the whole game so we were in a grove and it definitely wears down a defense like Michigan State with a lot of big guys up front.”

Anything different when being down at the end of the game then during the first part of the game
“No, not really we are just trying to execute.”

What’s your responsibility in the two-minute drill and importance to live up to that responsibility
“It’s very important, execution is key. Always go out and make sure every key I see is handled and make sure nothing gets through if I’m in pass protection or make sure I get out to my route clean if I’m going out on a route and execution is key.”

On when coaches tell him he is the go to guy this week or if Rex (Burkhead) is
“I don’t know until a certain point, Coach (Ron) Brown comes up to me and tells me during the week that they are going with me this week. There is no specific time, it’s different week-to-week really.”

On when he knew last week he was the go to guy against Michigan State
“I knew possibly Tuesday.”

On what he felt going into the Penn State game last year with everything going on with them
“The atmosphere, they were going through a lot and a tough time at that time and just their fan support and how intense the game was when you were in the game. You could just feel the energy from the crowd  and what it meant to that program and what that game really meant.”

On if he is surprised that Penn State is playing that well since what happened last year
“No, they are a solid ball club, very well coached like I said earlier. They are very disciplined and they have a lot of good players even though they had a lot of people transfer, they still have a lot of talent on their team.”

On how much time they put into the zone-read option to make it look smooth
“We work on it constantly every day. I feel like it’s definitely a double threat and when the defenses key on Taylor (Martinez) that can free me up and when they are keying on me it can free Taylor up, which you saw a lot of times.  They were going with my play fake and that’s when Taylor just broke the big one. It’s really key that we make everything look that same we don’t give any tips away that I don’t get the ball this play or Taylor isn’t keeping it this play we just try to make everything look the same and we work on that constantly.”

On if there is any special drill they do to make it look similar
“No, it’s just running the play over and over.”

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