Josh Mitchell Press Conference Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Monday, Nov. 17, 2014
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pre-Minnesota

Josh Mitchell
Senior, Defensive Back
On mistakes during Wisconsin game
“I just told the guys that we have to keep preparing and controlling what we can control. The result that we put out there was not what we wanted. We have a bitter taste in our mouth, obviously as competitors. But we have two more games to play and two more games to prove to ourselves what kind of team we really are.”

On watching film after the Wisconsin game
“It was not easy to watch that film. But you just have to realize the mistakes you made, grade your effort, and get better. All you can do is get better. When you hit rock bottom like that, there is nowhere else to go but up. You just have to keep guys motivated.”

On evaluating mistakes when watching film
“With the mistakes we were making, they aren’t just mind blowing things that we can’t fix. As a player you have to be able to man up and watch the film and evaluate your performance and then go out there and practice better. Practice leads into games and all you can do is wait to get to practice and develop and get better.”

On Minnesota’s game plan after watching Wisconsin film
“They (Minnesota) run the ball a lot and Wisconsin ran the ball a lot. After watching that film, I would imagine that they’re (Minnesota) going to try and duplicate some of the things that Wisconsin did. For them, it looks like a recipe for success. So we need to fix the little things that need to be fixed.”

On making improvements at this point in the season
“You just take the coaching. All you can do is take the coaching. We have proven that we know how to do things correctly. We were making plays at the beginning of the game, so it’s not like we can’t do them. When you watch film, you see that you did something right the first time and then you messed up the second time and you see as a player that you are capable of taking the right steps to make plays. You just can’t get demoralized and think, “Oh, it’s late in the season I can’t fix these mistakes.”

On tackling in the back
“We weren’t rallying to the football enough. You can’t put someone in a one-on-one space with a good back and give them 15 yards of field to work with and expect them to make that tackle. You have to rally to the football. Early in the game we did, late in the game we didn’t.”

On what Senior Day means
“It is a true test of what you have been through in your career and what you can put on the field. You get one last game to play in Memorial Stadium and you only get so many games to play out there. The last game in that stadium is your opportunity to show yourself and fans what kind of player you have been in your career. The result that you put out there is ultimately what you’re going to live with for the rest of your life."

On Senior Day
“It hasn’t really hit me yet. People have brought it up and asked me about it. As far as my feelings towards everything right now, I am just taking it day by day and trying to get to this next game. I am sure when I get to the tunnel it’ll hit me then, and I will be able to reflect then. But right now I am just focused on being a leader and bringing my teammates up and making myself a better player.”

On players who have stepped up
“Jake Cotton stepped up in the meeting yesterday and said a few words. The majority of the guys who have been through something like that before, like myself, (Corey) Cooper, Ameer (Abdullah), we were there in 2012 when we didn’t put the performance out there that we should have. We just talk to the young guys and let them know that it’s not the end of the world. They have time to fix that, we all have time to fix that. But you don’t want to get to the end of your career and let one game define you.”

On mental and physical mistakes
“I would say it is mental as far as if you’re just going to let yourself quit. But really, when watching a lot of film, it was mostly technique things that we did early in the game and then as the game went on we got comfortable and thought we could do things our own way. When you try to do things your own way, this game will humble you fast. When the ball started rolling, we just weren’t making any plays to get any momentum back. When the momentum shifts to one team, it is hard to get it back.”

On players losing confidence throughout the game
“I can’t speak for the offense because I wasn’t in their huddle. What I saw from my teammates on the defensive side, wasn’t that guys lost their confidence. I didn’t see guys out there with their heads down that just looked like they couldn’t do anything. Guys were motivated and they wanted to go out there and keep trying to give a good performance, but it wasn’t rolling for us. We weren’t doing what we needed to do. But guys didn’t give up, they didn’t quit. I don’t think guys lost their confidence, I just think guys weren’t executing their technique.

On getting comfortable during the Wisconsin game
“I think that we went up 17-3 and we created turnovers early in the game. Yeah, there was a little bit of comfort, maybe, because we felt like we were smacking them in the mouth and we’re going to keep doing the same thing. Then when it completely flips on you like it did, it didn’t gradually get bad, it just got ugly really quick, there wasn’t much momentum for us to have. Then when you take the field just to go out there and think, “don’t mess up,” then you’re not going to make any plays.”

On wearing the Blackshirts
“Personally, no I don’t think we should. I think they stand for something better than what we put out there on film. I think it would be a disgrace to the former players who earned a right to wear them.”