Nate Gerry Press Conference Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium
Monday, Nov. 10, 2014
Pre-Wisconsin

Nate Gerry
Sophomore, Safety
On focus during bye week
“We didn’t really see it as a bye week, we saw it as a “get better” week. But one thing we have to work at as a defense is our fundamentals. The way we play our defense comes down to our fundamentals and technique. If we can clean it up, we can limit our mistakes where we give up big plays at the beginning of the game and those mental lapses that we have in the middle of the game that we try to get rid of. So one thing that we really worked was our fundamentals and technique.”

On slowing down Wisconsin’s running game
“When we watch film, a lot of people miss tackles. They give them all those leaky yards which lets the offense do a little run through that puts you on your heels. So that’s one thing, as a defense, that we need to do better this week, is tackle. We can’t give up those leaky yards.”

On Wisconsin’s running backs Melvin Gordon and Corey Clement
“They’re pretty good. Melvin (Gordon) runs hard. He’s not much of a dancer. He’s more of a north to south kind of guy. He’s going to make a move. Number 6 (Corey Clement) is good, too. Once Melvin is out of the game you can’t really sit back. You never know what they could do. They can still run the ball and throw the ball with 6 in there. If we tackle well and keep them away from all those leaky yards, we will be all right.”

On Wisconsin’s quarterbacks
“On tape, one guy likes to throw the ball a little more. One guy can obviously run the ball a little better than the other can. We have to recognize who is in and whatnot. Depending on who’s in, we have to recognize what type of plays we are going to get. It’s just recognition and formations of who is in the game.”

On adjusting to Wisconsin’s game plan
“They change almost every player after every play. It’s a little different. We just have to adjust to it. That’s the type of mentality you have to have as a defense. People prepare to score points on you and we prepare to stop them. You just have to apply your rules. We don’t know what type of plays we are going to get, so we just have to apply our rules.”  

On preparing for Wisconsin
“We don’t really treat this game any differently than we have any other Saturday. That’s one thing that Coach Bo (Pelini) wanted to do, was treat every week like it’s the most important week of the season. If you don’t win the week you’re in right now, then there’s no point in playing next week. So we just have to treat this week as if it’s the biggest game of the year, like we did against Purdue. We just have to bring the right focus and mentality to practice this week.”

On playing for a trophy as Wisconsin
“I think it’s kind of cool. I just thought about that last week how we never really get to play for a trophy. So I think’s it’s kind of cool that we get to play for a trophy, but you still have to treat it like any other game. You just have to come out to win, because if you don’t, you’re not getting any trophy.”

On progress throughout the year
“As a defense we feel like we’ve gotten better. There’s always new things that come up each week. You face different types of schemes. So sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re getting better or not because we change so many things throughout the year. I feel like as a defense, and as a whole, we are improving. But we also know that there’s a lot more to us and a lot more in the tank that we haven’t shown.”

On personal progress
 “I don’t really like to talk about myself that much. I just try to do what I have to do. I try to do my job to help the defense. The type of defense we play is where you do your job and count on who’s on your left and right to do their job. I think that’s one thing our defense has done pretty well this year, is just doing their job. I try to be accountable, because I know they’re counting on me to do my job.”

On teammate Maliek Collins
“He (Maliek Collins) is just so quick. When you look at Maliek you don’t see a quick person, but then you tell me that 17 guys forfeited against him in high school wrestling and I wouldn’t want to wrestle him either. Maliek is a great player. He brings it every day. He is not the type of dude that is lackadaisical throughout the week. You see why Maliek makes plays if you watch him throughout the week.”

On Wisconsin as a rivalry game
“I personally don’t see any game as a rivalry game. Eleven people are lining up against another 11 people. You just play football. If we put our mind right and apply our rules to what we have to do it will be a good football game. I don’t really see any game as a bigger game than the other.”