The N-Sider's Five Favorite Bo Pelini Quotes

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Saturday marks the beginning of Big Ten Conference play with Nebraska hosting Illinois in its Homecoming game that begins at 8 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. This week, The N-Sider’s Five Favorite Bo Pelini Quotes focus on fundamentals.  First up is Nebraska’s running game, which responded well to offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s game plan and therefore has set a physical tone for the rest of the season.  On deck is Nebraska’s home crowd, which reminded me of the spirit and unremitting, relentless noise Big Red fans used to help the Huskers upset No. 1 Oklahoma, 17-14, more than a quarter century ago.  In the hole is Illinois’ top running back, who may not command the national recognition of Ameer Abdullah, but is definitively dangerous.  We save the last two spots in the Husker lineup for Ameer Abdullah, the cleanup hitter who likes to dodge single defenders, confuse double trouble, elude triple tacklers and weave his way home.  Here we go:

No. 5: On Husker plans for the run game: “To a certain extent you have to take what they can give you,” Bo said at Monday’s press conference.  “Miami might have gotten a little bit spooked early in the game. We hit a couple passes on them … we were running the ball effectively … we’re going to stay with it. We were going to mix in the play action stuff when we needed to, but I thought Tim (Beck) called a heckuva game.”

No. 4: On the crowd atmosphere against Miami:  “I thought this crowd was phenomenal … it was a tremendous atmosphere … it’s a tremendous advantage. I hope to see that every week,” Pelini said.  “I challenged our team; I challenged the crowd. Let’s make sure it’s that way every week.  You can’t ride the highs and lows in this deal. You can’t pick and choose. It’s got to be the same approach every week.”

No. 3: On defending Illinois junior running back Josh Ferguson: “He’s a really good football player … one of the better backs in the conference,” Pelini said.  “He’s elusive; he’s quick. He’s quick to bounce the football … he runs with really good vision.  He’s a good all-around player.  Their staff looks to feature him.  It doesn’t take a long time looking on film to recognize that this guy is a good player."

No. 2: On what stuck out about Ameer Abdullah’s performance:  “I don’t know if the first guy brought him down all night.  I don’t remember many times you can say that.  He continues to show why he is who he is.  He was possessed … he ran like he always does.  He ended up on top of a lot of people.  Anybody out there who says he isn’t big enough, that he doesn’t run big, they need to take a good, hard look at that film.”

No. 1: On where Ameer belongs in the Heisman Trophy watch: “Anybody who pays attention has him in the top five.  You’ve got to not be paying attention and not watching to not recognize the type of year he’s having so far.  That’s my opinion.  I’m a little biased.  I had a front-row seat for a pretty good performance.  One thing about Ameer: You know what you’re going to get … he’s wired … a tremendous competitor.”

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