Tommy Armstrong Jr. Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Monday, Oct. 27, 2014
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pre-Purdue

Sophomore Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr.
On going into the next game
“We are always hungry. We just have to make sure that we stay consistent like Coach Bo (Pelini) has always told us. We started off the game (against Rutgers) the right way. We had the right attitude going into the game. I just feel like we got too comfortable. We got too relaxed. We took the game for granted and we just have to make sure that we are playing with the right attitude. We found ourselves making mistakes here and there. We had a lack of communication on and off the field. It all starts off with me. We just have to make sure that we fix it. That’s our plan going into this week and then our bye week after that. We have a tough next four games. It’s going to determine where we take our season and where we are going to go from there.”

On shorter practice schedule this year
“I feel a lot fresher. Honestly, I don’t even feel like we played any games this week. I’m glad we are on this routine. It is helping us as a unit, and we can get our legs under us each week.”

On playing better during the second half in games this season
“It has helped being able to talk to my coaches and making sure that we put things on the board that I understand and that our offense understands. We use what Coach (Tim) Beck sees from up top and put both of them together to get a great understanding of a game plan for the second half. That has helped me a lot. I just have to make sure that I have that right mentality from the beginning of the game. It all starts off with me.”

On mistakes in the Rutgers game
“We killed ourselves on certain drives. Just the bonehead decisions. There were flags here and there that stopped us from having first downs. We just have to learn from it and drive on and fix the mistakes.”

On playing Purdue this Saturday
“Honestly they are a great team this year. We have to respect that. We have to prepare the right way. They look a lot different from last year. They have some of the same guys, but they play a lot harder. They are a tough team. They have been putting up points on offense and their defense has been doing a great job of stopping certain offenses. We have to put ourselves in the right situation heading into this week.”

On last year's game at Purdue
“I know they threw a lot at me. There were a lot of things that I anticipated seeing, but I didn’t see them at all. I know now that I need to be ready for anything. Last year I was young, so they threw a lot at me and I wasn’t ready. But I have seen a lot of defenses so I am prepared for it, I just have to have a plan for it. Let’s put it this way, it’s like studying for a test and you thought it was a unit one test but it was unit two. So all the stuff you studied was totally different. So that’s pretty much how it was. I studied a bunch of film that they had ran in previous weeks. But they came out with a whole different game plan for our offense. But now that I have seen a bunch of defenses I can prepare.”

On the rankings
“I’ve told our offense and our team, respect is only given when it’s due. We have to keep winning. That’s the only way that we are going to earn respect here in Nebraska.”