Nebraska Player Quotes vs McNeese State

Nebraska vs. McNeese State
Nebraska Player Quotes
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014

Senior I-Back Ameer Abdullah
On the final touchdown
"We were doing a lot of man-to-man on third-and-long, so I saw an opportunity to go isolation with the linebacker so I wanted to make the most of it. So I caught the ball, cut back and scored.

On extra adrenaline at the end of a game
"Adrenaline kind of kicks in in those heated moments like that. I didnt expect the game to come out like that today. Very disappointed right now. But yes, you definitely get a little extra energy at the end. I don't know if it's God pushing you or what."

On main disappointments of the game
"Football is a game that I love, that I have a lot of respect for, but the respect as a whole from the team needs to go up. Respect of the opponent, respect of our game plan, taking it seriously, and just executing. That all goes into respecting the game. I feel like our level of respect for the game this week was not good enough. It definitely showed. That's on me as a captain. I have to assist that as the week goes on, but I was reluctant to say something, and I promise that it is the last time that will happen."

On the kick-off return late in the game
"If it was my choice, I'd be on (kick-off return) every time. But the coaches wanted a little breathing room so they put me in. We needed a big play. I tried my best to stay up, and maybe take it to the house. We had a good scheme call, and I just took it."

On comparison to the Northwestern game last season
"Unfortunately the plays were very similar. It's too early in the season to be playing that close. I hold this team to a very high standard. I have a lot of respect for McNeese State, but I believe we are a better ballclub than them. We didn't respect the game. McNeese State doesn't care who they are playing, they respect the game. But I expect us to take the game to the next level next week."

On breaking five tackles
"I was just trying to get to the end zone. It's kind of a blur now. Didn't realize I broke five tackles, but glad I did. Glad I got the score because it was the icing on the cake, and I really put the game out of reach. The football gods were definitely on our side today. We got very lucky. But starting tomorrow we are going to bring a different attitude."

On mindset during the game
"We were sputtering out all game. We couldn't run the ball. They did a heckuva job against our running game. I only have (54) yards rushing and they had (178) rushing, majority from the quarterback, and that's just how it's going to be. I expect teams to key in on me. We need Tommy (Armstrong) to be efficient all year. But we need to be better on both sides of the ball up front. Like I said, it just comes back to respecting the game and we didn't do that today."

On preparation during the week
"This week, we didn't prepare with as much enthusiasm as we did the week before. That's on me as a captain. I'm going to nip that in the butt starting tomorrow with a fresh slate and with Fresno State, I assure you that won't be the case."

On main disappointments
"You can always find positives, but for me it was a loss. I felt like I didn't acheive what I wanted to do. I didn't do enough for the team, and I'm sure a lot of guys would say that. We have high expectations for this year and we're going to play some pretty gaudy defenses this year. Today was not what we wanted to do, and it will not take us where we need to be. It was a good wake-up call, and I'm glad it happened early. I'm very happy we got the win but it is not good enough."

On the hype
"I've said it before, "you can't drink the Kool-Aid," which means you can't get up and think you can take your foot off the gas pedal. You've got to get up and keep getting better. And we are not there."

On the fans and student section
"The student section was really loud and we need those guys' support because all of those things play into the game of football. A game like this as a fan, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of negative things to say but I still want to let them know that we appreciate their support."

Senior Cornerback Josh Mitchell
On the last half of the game
"We weren't focused. We just weren't ready. We took those guys too lightly and they came ready to play."

On learning about the team today
"Just like Ameer (Abdullah) said today, we aren't good enough yet to take anybody lightly. We're not there, we're not even close. All we can do is bring it at practice and just not talk about it, but be about it."

On preparation during the week
"We weren't focused at practice and it showed in the game today. The game speaks for itself."

On role as a captain
"It is my job as a leader and as captain to speak up and not take it when guys just say "I'll fix it." That's not good enough."

On being tied during second half
"It is my job to say, "We didn't expect to be in a dog fight, but we are. And you're either going to step up to the occasion or not." We got the win today, but, we put that on film."

On reaction to Ameer Abdullah's touchdown
"There's a reason why he's one of the best players in the nation. That was just Ameer being Ameer."

On Ameer Abdullah's post-game locker room speech
"He (Abdullah) just said that we're not good enough. He let guys know that what we did today is on film and we can either come back this week and prepare hard for the next week or not."

On McNeese State's confidence
"They came ready to work today. They didn't just come out here to be another team that gets blown out. We didn't match their energy."

Sophomore Punter Sam Foltz
On his performance
"Special teams comes down to 18 percent of the game, and I wanted to be that 18 percent of the game to make the difference. IIt worked out well for me today."

On rolling out and punting to the 2-yard line
"That was true luck. I just sent that ball up and got the right hop. Luck was on my side today. On the roll-offs, we work on the roll-offs everyday in practice so we were prepared for that."

On how much more focused he is knowing how important the punts are
"It's kind of the same as every other game. Obviously as a punter, you get limited chances anyways, so whenever you get your chance out there, you want to make the most of it. Today, I got a lot of opportunities to help the team out and put them in a good position. It worked out well."

On what the team worked on this past week
"We've been solid all fall camp and all the first two weeks. After the first game, we only had two punts. Our guys weren't used to a lot of work on the field. Today, I don't even know how many punts we had but there was a lot of times we were pinning them deep and guys were getting down there in coverage. It was really good to see."

Sophomore Wide Receiver Jordan Westerkamp
On Ameer Abdullah's big play at the end
"It was awesome. Ameer's a phenomenal player, and he never gave up on that play. It was a great team effort. This entire game, I'm proud of our guys for not giving up obviously. Expected to do a little better and we made a lot of mistakes so we're just going to have to get in the film room and try to correct these mistakes. We have a big opponent coming up next week, so we just have to get better."

On being quarterback Tommy Armstrong's "go-to" receiver
"We made some plays out there today. We left some out there as well. For the most part our offense was kind of slacking a little bit today, trouble with the blitz a little bit. We really couldn't get anything established but we're going to head in there, we're going to work and get better and be ready for next week."

On why things couldn't get established
"I just think we didn't really show up to play. I totally respect McNeese State. They came out and they brought it, so I completely respect that program. We were lucky to get away with win today."

On final touchdown
"A streak was called and it hit Ameer and he broke three or four tackles. We were just trying to make a play. There were a couple of huge blocks by our wideouts. We were very fortunate to have Ameer."

On the one-handed catch
"Tommy had a great ball. Corner route and I was able to make the grab. This game did not go the way we wanted it to. McNeese came out and brought it. We have to get in the film room like I said."

On injured wide receivers
"I'm not exactly sure what happened to them but it's the nature of the game. I obviously feel terrible for those guys when they have injuries like that. The next guy has to be ready to go, has to step up."

Senior Offensive Lineman Jake Cotton
On his clipping penalty
"I can't comment on the call. I haven't seen it so we'll see. I know I'm going to look at the film as soon as I get home just like everybody here."

On sideline attitude in the fourth quarter
"Guys were upbeat. Guys were saying 'Let's go. We have to do this,' and they made it happen."

Sophomore Quarterback Tommy Armstrong
On when he sensed Ameer Abdullah would take the game
"After he made the spin move, where he had two blocks in front of him."

On what was going through his head
"You know you just have to take into consideration that he's a playmaker. If he's going on with the mike, he just has to realize there's a possibility of getting a first down. That was the main focus, getting a first down. But it turned into four or five yard gain into a touchdown. I just have to applaud him for being the playmaker that he is."

On what he learned about his team today
"I learned that we fought at the end. We've just got to take into consideration that we can't take a week off. I felt like we prepared the right way, but we just have (to) shoulder... I take blame for our offense not doing what we're supposed to be doing. We had a bunch of plays out there that we left on the field. We had flags, false-starts, dropped balls, overthrown balls, and that all starts off of me. I just want to come out and say that I take full responsibility for it, because it starts off with me. It starts off with me being able to go out there and call the right plays and put my teammates in the right positions. I felt like I didn't do that. I felt like I let my offense down. And our defense saved us a few times here and there by getting stops, and we just have to make sure that we respect the game the right way. I feel like we didn't do that this week."

On his reads on Abdullah's play at the end
"We ran into everybody on goals. We tried to see if we could get two up on the safeties but we realized that they were carrying guys. Ameer was one-on-one with the mike linebacker. I felt like he could get the first down when everybody was running with the receivers. I felt like if I could take one-on-one with Ameer on any mike linebacker out there on defense then I was going to take that. I even told him, I said, "Hey, if I see backs and numbers I'm going to get you the ball. And he said, "Alright."." So I threw it to him and he made that play."

On if he told Abdullah that before the possession
"Yes, by studying film we knew that in certain situations, they were going to some type of two, just to stop the pass. We just had to make sure that we got the right reads. I even told him, I said, "If they try to stop the pass, I have to go to you. Just expect the ball if they do that' and he said, 'alright.'.""

On if he thought today was a positive experience
"It's always positive getting a win, but at the same time it's just disappointing. I'm more disappointed in myself than I am with this team. Seeing everything that happened, it's just a disappointment like I said. I feel like we let coaches down and we prepared the right way in the beginning of the week, but I felt like we just didn't take that out on the field. Mistakes killed us. We went three-and-out a few times when we shouldn't have. We just didn't take care of the football. It's not good enough. We're not good enough to do that. We just have to look at this game as, what if it's Michigan State, what if it's Wisconsin? We can't play this way. It's McNeese State but we survived. But if we go into Wisconsin playing like that it's not going to look pretty. I won't be a re-run of the Big Ten Championship."

On the read on the reception, what he thought Jordan (Westerkamp) was going to do
"It was just a whiff. I had to read, it's two-on-two, they're playing man-to-man. Their safety was off and I didn't realize it. The outside guy has a slant. It was a bad read by me. He had the little stutter and the safety came off of him and pretty much figured out that that was going down. And I threw it early just thinking that he was going to bite down on it but he didn't. He just set there, threw the ball right into his hands. I take blame for that as well. I just have to make smarter decisions and that's one that came back to haunt me."

On if there were times when he predetermined where he was going to go
"It happened a few times. Just by seeing the defense I knew going into the game that they were going to read my eyes, and I let that get away from me a few times. It came back to haunt me. I knew certain jobs were going to be open by the defense that they were playing, but you just have to realize that when you know it's going to be open, don't look at it. That's what I did. I stared down a few receivers here and there and got lucky on certain things. Like dropped passes and dropped interceptions. I just have to take it to the film room and learn from it and fix my mistakes and go out for next week."

Sophomore Defensive Back Nate Gerry
On what happened to the defense in the last quarter
"I think there was a lack of focus. A lack of communication. We started out the beginning of the week where we didn't really take practice with the energy we had last week. Our preparation was low. It wasn't as good like it was last week. It kind of bit us in the butt towards the end of the game. The middle of the game I guess there was a lack of focus, lack of communication.

On plays that McNeese State ran that surprised him
"There was a couple, but there aren't really any plays we can't handle, being able to apply our rules and concepts. Coach Bo's (Pelini) defense, you know, that's one of the good things about it. Anything that someone gives you, you can just fall back in your rules and concepts."

On the younger players not getting caught up in the hype after the first game
"I think Ameer kind of drills us every week. You have to respect the game. It really doesn't matter who you're playing. The hype, I knew watching the film that they were good. They had a lot of skill and guys who could run. I just think it all comes down to respecting the game. Starting with the young guys, I feel like some of the other guys, we need to hit a little harder on preparation and focus. Bring energy onto the practice field so it will carry on and make the games easier."

On what he did after the pass that could have been a touchdown
"Watching film. It's one of those plays that going on situations that they kind of do, there's no boot off of it. That was my job to read the quarterback. It would have been nice if I would have caught it but I got it down and I guess that's what we needed."

On if there was a sense of change in the sideline after the game became tied
"It was a shock. In my head I thought we were going to score. Trying to get the defense going, we're about to be out there. Couple plays, I felt like Ameer (Abdullah) or someone was going to punch it in. It turned direction. That's just football. Things happen. I feel like the defense responded well. Couple series after that once they started to get some things rolling they kept on rolling. We just had to dig down deep and try to stop them. We didn't win first down that much and that kind of put us on our heels a little bit."

On if McNeese State players were hard to tackle
"I don't think it had anything to do with them. It was bad timing on our part. That's one of the things we have to hit a lot harder in practice is tackling."