The N-Sider's Five Favorite Bo Pelini Quotes

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In life, there are times when you say less, you say more. In football, there are times when you can achieve more when you practice less. At least that’s the case with Nebraska this year, and Bo Pelini (above with Ameer Abdullah) made that point in Monday’s weekly press conference.  Asked if his team is fresher this time of year than it has been in the past, Pelini had no doubt. “Well yeah, I think we are,” he said. “If you ask the players, they would tell you yes. I think it’s been a good schedule. I wasn’t sure going in how I was going to like it, and I like it for a lot of different reasons. But yeah, I think we are a little bit fresher.”

That’s good news for Nebraska as the Huskers prepare to host Purdue Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. kickoff before taking a week off.  Following a bye week, Nebraska plays at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium before returning home to host Minnesota. After that, the Huskers will complete the stretch drive of their regular-season in the annual Heroes Game at Iowa. “Fresh” will be the keynote word in a week-by-week question that can apply to each of the final four games.  With that in mind, let’s link the first of The N-Sider’s Five Favorite Bo Pelini Quotes to why “fresh” is as important to football teams this time of year as garden vegetables are to supermarkets. Let’s finish the thought:

5) On why it’s important to be fresh going into the remaining games of the season: “Well, it gets to be a long year,” Pelini said. “What people forget is that these kids have full-class schedules and whatever else going on. It can be not just a physical grind, but a mental grind. The fresher you can keep them, the better off you are. Sometimes, it’s as much a mental thing as it is a physical thing.” That’s why Pelini has shortened practices this fall, chopping 30 minutes a day off walk-thru sessions and keeping practices around 90 minutes long. Here’s hoping that cutting 25 percent off the normal practice period will produce 25 percent fresher bodies and help the Huskers climb at least 25-percent higher in the ratings.

4) On what Bo recalls from recruiting sophomore defensive tackle Maliek Collins and what kept Collins under the radar: “We thought he was really talented right from the get-go,” Pelini said. “He’s a guy who wrestled…a big, explosive, talented athlete who was raw, like most guys at that age. I thought there was a very high end to him. We don’t hit a lot of things right, but we hit that one right…he’s really talented…a really good player right now and can become a great player.” Pelini also said that assistant John Garrison does a great job doing his homework while recruiting in the Kansas City area. “He identified Maliek and it didn’t take very long for us to watch the film and say, ‘Wow, this guy’s pretty special,’” Pelini said.

 3) On what Bo thinks of Purdue: “I think they’re a well-coached football team that’s gotten better,” Pelini said. “You watch where they were a year ago compared to now and it’s like night and day. That doesn’t surprise me. (Head Coach) Darrell Hazell is a heckuva coach, and they have some really good coaches on that staff.” Pelini called offensive coach John Shoop “a really good coach” who’s been around a long time. “They do a good job defensively, too,” Pelini said. “It’s a program that’s on the rise, and I think they’re going to continue to get better (because of) good coaching…the kids play very hard…they’re very sound in what they do.”

2) On what Bo thought about senior cornerback Josh Mitchell’s lateral pass play: “You know, I was dumbfounded when I saw him do what he did. I don’t know. I love Josh, but like I said, what was he thinking?” Pelini pointed out that the football is still live on a blocked PAT. “There’s no change of possession involved,” Pelini said, theorizing that somehow, a “certain level of insanity kicked in” and Mitchell “reverted back to ‘Hey, keep the ball alive on a PAT.’ But it was a field goal. Number one, we as coaches (need to) make a coaching point like that and make sure that they completely understand what you’re saying. Josh understood it. But in the heat of the moment, some voice in his head had Coach Pelini telling him to keep the ball alive. We all have those little voices in our head all the time…some more than others. Josh had one right at that point.”

1) A double bonus here with two questions about Ameer Abdullah. 1-A on if it bugs Bo that Ameer is not in some people’s top five in the Heisman race: “Does it bug me? Yeah, it does a little bit. I could talk for half an hour on that whole situation and how that goes,” Pelini said. “That’s not just this year, but year after year. I take that with a little bit of a grain of salt. I mean just watch the film. That’s all you’ve got to do.” 1-B On if Abdullah and the team understand the significance of passing two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin’s all-purpose yardage mark: “Is Ameer even aware of that? I don’t know,” Pelini said. “That’s for later on when it’s over. Passing a guy like what Archie was able to do. That caught my attention obviously because I was thinking about calling Archie up and saying, ‘See, you weren’t as good as you thought you were.’ No, Archie’s a great guy. But obviously growing up in Ohio, it sure caught my attention.”

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