Tanner Farmer Quotes

Nebraska Football 
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Monday, Aug. 27, 2018
Pre-Akron

Tanner Farmer
Senior, Offensive Lineman

On how it feels for it to finally be game week
“Oh, it’s awesome. I can’t wait. This is senior year. We have been busting our butts in the offseason, winter conditioning, summer, fall camp, so we are all pretty excited. There’s so much excitement right now and I just can’t wait.”

On freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez as the starter
“I think Adrian is going to do just fine. The coaches chose him because he’s the guy that is ready for this job. The offensive line is going to block for him, the receivers are going to get open for him and the running backs are going to run for him. It’s an entire unit. Everybody has got to do their job so he can do his job to the best of his ability, and I feel like he is ready for it.”

On what he looks for in a quarterback to be a leader on the field
“I love it whenever the quarterback is nice to his offensive linemen. He’s got to treat us nice, but just a guy who is decisive. He’s comfortable back there and if he’s got to throw it away, he’s got to throw it away. I just want a great guy back there. Just a nice guy, to me, but at the same time he’s amped up and he’s ready to attack.”

On the challenge of being a leader as a freshman
“We have leaders all over the team. We have leaders on the offensive line. We have leaders in the receivers. We have leaders in the running backs. He’s not going to have to worry about being the only guy that leads out there. He’s going to be a leader in his own right, because he is the quarterback and he is the leader of our offense, but he doesn’t need to worry too much about us. The offensive line will pick itself up. If we have issues, he will talk to us. We will pick ourselves up. He doesn’t need to worry about that.”

On the tempo of the offense
“Fast. Real fast. Hopefully the refs can keep up.”

On the team’s physicality
“We are definitely physical up front. We’re blocking to the whistle. Not only do we have to be fast and strong, we have got to have endurance. We’ve got to be able to run those guys down and get them on their heels. Whenever they’re on their heels, we’ve got to step on their necks and bring it. It’s everything, and we’re going to be bringing it. Don’t worry.”

On what position he thinks he will be playing
“I’m not sure. I have been working some at center in practice. I’m ready to work there if they need me. I will be starting at guard, I’m pretty sure. As far as after that, I don’t know.”

On how he’s feeling
“I come up here and say I’m excited and I can’t wait, but to be honest with you, the feeling is indescribable. I can’t think of the words to really use to describe how I feel. How excited I am, how ready I am, there are no words for it. That’s how I feel this year."

On the reason for his excitement
“It’s everything. Everything is coming together. I’m a senior too, this year. This is my last year at Nebraska. We have a lot of great, talented guys. All the work that we’ve been putting in, I see the potential that we have and what can happen this year. So being a part of that is something special. It’s something that can’t be described.”

On what he tells the guys that didn’t land where they wanted to on the depth chart
“Just keep on working. Keep on working hard, keep on putting in the work. I was on scout team for two years, and then I just busted my butt and the next thing I know I was a starter the next year. I went from scout team to starter. Just keep working as hard as you can. It’s going to click eventually, it’s going to click. Sometimes it takes longer for others but it will happen if you just keep on putting in the work.”

On if it will be tough for him to lock in and focus on his assignments for the opener
“No, not at all.”

On helping the team stay calm
“We are preparing right now and the way we are preparing is if anything does go wrong, we’re going to fall back on our habits. Our habits right now are being perfect. We have good technique. We’re knowing the game plan. We understand what our guys are going to do, the guys that we’re going against, what they tend to do and their tendencies. It’s not going to be a problem calming guys down.”

On senior running back Devine Ozigbo
“He’s just a hard worker. Devine comes in day in and day out and works his butt off. He’s a very unselfish guy and he’s a great teammate and individual. He worked hard and like I said, whenever you put in the work, you’ll get what you deserve.”

On the excitement of the fans
“I can definitely feel it. On social media, you’re seeing it. Everybody posts about everything and stuff like that. I’ve had to tone down back on that because it’s a little bit of a distraction, but we love it. We draw off the excitement from the fans and we love the support. It’s amazing just to be a part of that.”

On having an experienced offensive line
“I think it definitely helps. Cole [Conrad], [Jerald Foster] and I, we are all seniors. We’ve all had a lot of playing time and we’ve been here. We are all excited but we are able to go into this and not be overwhelmed by it, and we are able to calm down the other guys and just ground them a little bit. They see us and they kind of draw off of how we act and what we do. So I think that’s a good thing."