Nate Gerry Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Monday, Oct. 20, 2014
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pre-Rutgers

Sophomore Defensive Back Nate Gerry
On interception
“I wasn’t really surprised he threw it. I wasn’t really supposed to be involved. I was kind of more of a backside help protection and just on the release with the wideout, I got freed up a little bit and I look across the field and saw someone was running deep and I sprinted after him I guess, and the quarterback made a late decision and we got some great pressure and he just threw it up there and J-Mitch (Josh Mitchell) said I stole it from him, but I’m kind of glad I caught it because I've got a little better hands than he does.”

On penalty before play
“In my head I knew it was unnecessary on my part. I shouldn’t have extended my arms out I guess but I didn’t really think about it. I just moved on to the next play. That’s the type of mentality you've got to have.”

On difference between first and second half defensively
“I feel like we played pretty well, pretty good football. The difference between the first and second half was tackling. The week before against Michigan State, we actually tackled pretty well where initial contact we brought them down and didn’t give them those leaky yards, and I feel our defense can be really good, especially when we tackle. I feel like drives for the offense start snowballing when we give them those leaky yardages. Third and seven is different than third and four for us. We just have to be able to tackle and that’s what we didn’t do too well in the first half compared to the second half.”

On confidence on third down
“I think it’s the mentality where we just have to get off the field. We have to put our offense in positions where they can score. We can’t be putting them down at the end of the field where they have to make long drives and sometimes it’s tough for them to go 80 yards, so we try to get off the field as quick as we can. When we get them in those third and sevens, that’s when our time is time to eat. Someone has to step up and make a play, and I feel like in the second half we did a really good job of that. In the first half, we had a lot of opportunities to get off the field, we just didn’t tackle.”

On Rutgers
“We watched a little bit of them yesterday. Their quarterback is a good quarterback. He can throw the ball pretty well. I feel like I’ve seen their tight end is a pretty athletic kid. We didn’t really look at them that much just a couple plays here and there. I think they’re a pretty well(-coached) team, and I think it’s going to be a good one."