%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Nebraska_N'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%20163%20152'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%20163%20152;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill:%23FFFFFF;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M159.1,144c-2.3,0-4.1,1.8-4.1,4s1.8,4,4,4s4-1.8,4-4S161.2,144,159.1,144z%20M159,151.2c-1.8,0-3.2-1.4-3.2-3.2%20s1.4-3.2,3.2-3.2c1.7,0,3.2,1.5,3.2,3.2C162.2,149.8,160.8,151.2,159,151.2z'/%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M157.4,145.6h1.4c0.6,0,0.8,0,1.1,0.2c0.4,0.2,0.6,0.6,0.6,1.1c0,0.4-0.1,0.7-0.3,1c-0.1,0.2-0.3,0.2-0.6,0.4%20h-0.1l1.1,2.1h-0.8l-1-2h-0.6v2h-0.8L157.4,145.6L157.4,145.6z%20M158.6,147.7c0,0,0.3,0,0.4,0c0.4-0.1,0.6-0.3,0.6-0.8%20c0-0.3-0.1-0.5-0.4-0.6c-0.1,0-0.1,0-0.6,0h-0.4v1.4L158.6,147.7L158.6,147.7z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M147,0H93h-5v5v35v5h5h5v24.8L55.2,2.3L53.7,0H51H5H0v5v35v5h5h5v62H5H0v5v35v5h5h54h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V82.2%20l42.8,67.5l1.5,2.3h2.7h46h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V45h5h5v-5V5V0H147z%20M150,5v35v3h-3h-7v66h7h3v3v35v3h-3h-46h-1.6l-0.9-1.4L52,75.3%20V109h7h3v3v35v3h-3H5H2v-3v-35v-3h3h7V43H5H2v-3V5V2h3h46h1.7l0.9,1.4L100,76.7V43h-7h-3v-3V5V2h3h54h3V5z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M103,87L103,87L51,5H5v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0c0,3.3,0,68.7,0,72l0,0c-2.2,0-10,0-10,0v35h54v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0%20c0-2.6,0-47,0-47l52,82h46v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0c0-3.3,0-68.7,0-72c2.2,0,10,0,10,0V5H93v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0%20C103,42.6,103,87,103,87z'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Monday, Sept. 10, 2018
Pre-Troy
Devine Ozigbo
Senior, Running Back
On the team’s approach with possible quarterback issues
“That’s obviously the case and something we’re going to have to face, but I don’t think we are approaching things any differently. I think we’re just going to go out there and make sure every position gets the little things that they need to fix corrected, because that’s pretty much what you find out, it’s kind of what resulted in the game. Just a bunch of little things here and there from a bunch of different guys, so that’s kind of, we didn’t really worry about who’s going to be out there, we have confidence in everybody, so we just know when we’re out there we need to get our little things right. We’ll be a lot better come Saturday.”
On quarterback Adrian Martinez
“I think Adrian is a playmaker. Like I said, we have a lot of confidence in all of them, but I really think Adrian can get the job done, if it’s on him this week. We’re going to let him ride, and I feel like he’s going to impress a lot of people.”
On if Adrian Martinez practiced with the team this morning
“No, he didn’t practice today, he just took off.”
On how the team addressed a fumble during the Colorado game
“It’s something that no one feels worse about than you. So you know, there’s nothing anyone can come over and make you want to go and do a little better. So we were all like “all right, you know, next play, that happened, get over it, let’s bounce back, let’s recover. We need you next drive.” But like I said, nobody feels worse about it than you, so nobody was really harping on or trying to get on you about it, because that’ll just make things worse.”
On moving on from a fumble
“For me, personally, they always tell you to forget about it, but if it happens to me I try to keep it, just as a reminder, don’t let it happen again. I don’t really try to change the way I play, but ball security is an emphasis and something we have to make sure we do a better job of, but yeah we do things at practice to help with our ball security, like we have some drills and stuff that we go through, but yeah, I guess it’s based on who you are, some guys, it works better to forget about, but for me, I kind of, keep it with me just so it won’t happen again.”
On becoming more of a power runner
“I definitely think I got a bunch of help from the O-line. There were a bunch of times where I kind of just got myself in position to where it was a stalemate, and just waited for them to come. And I feel like they did a way better job than I've ever seen before, whenever we got into a stalemate of just pushing our backs, so that’s definitely big.”
On his improvement over the offseason
“I feel like I’m in better shape, I just feel stronger overall as a person, so I definitely feel like it’s transferred onto the field.”
On how the team took the loss
“I was talking to D-Cap after the game, he said that you could even see the locker room, like this is different. We see the good things we did, but like this loss hurt. It just hit a little harder, like we know what we need to do and we’re willing to make those changes in practice to get it done for next week. It wasn’t like we didn’t do that in the past, but you can just tell it’s a different intensity about this one.”
On if 300 yards rushing is the goal for every week
“We set a standard, we might as well keep living up to it every week, or try to make it better. We’re going to run the ball as much as we can. We have a lot of guys that can do it, so we might as well get everybody touches.”
On if there were even more opportunities for yards against Colorado
“There always is, our job and our goal is to minimize those left opportunities. So we definitely watched the film and there were definitely things that everyone could have done a little better, or there were some holes that were here. We had good runs but they could have been better and things like that. I feel like that’s something to be hopeful and happy about because we did pretty well with what we did, but there’s so much more out there we can get.”
On if he was worried about hisMrole when Scott Frost took over as coach
“Not really. I was more relieved. my biggest thing was our fresh start. Because I feel like I’ve always been a guy that is bigger, so people say ‘he’s a bigger so he’s a big back.’ I’ve never really considered myself a big back, I’ve just been my size. I want to play football, I don’t care. Obviously it matters to your coaches, but I’ll play football for anybody, as long as I get a chance to play football. So I was just happy to get a fresh start and go out there, and I knew I was going to have to make some changes, but I thought if I can play football then I’ll make those changes.”
On what changes he had to make coming into this season
“Probably just like, better eating habits, just things like that. Just nutrition and body-wise, because I had to fit the mold they were looking for, so after those changes were made, it was just playing football at that point.”
On the changes to his nutrition
“I love food, food tastes great, so I’m not going to stop eating the things I like, but one thing I definitely started to do is portion control. So if I eat something, I just eat less of it, instead of just eating until I’m stuffed. I’ll just have my things and eat it, and once I’m done with that, it’s over.”
On the defense getting Blackshirts
“All those guys deserve it. It was just great seeing the way our defense played Saturday, like I’ve never seen our defense play like that. And that was really cool to watch and all those boys, they’ve been working real hard, so it’s definitely cool to see them earn those Blackshirts, so a couple guys got them, and it’ll just make everyone else a little more hungry to get them, so it’s only going to get better for us.”
On if film will help the backs improve
“Honestly, it’s less of the film and more of just actually playing a game, like him (Maurice Washington) getting in there and running around and just seeing how it’s going to feel when everything’s fully live and when everything matters, that is one thing I think Saturday helped Maurice and everyone on this team over. But yeah, the film, watching and seeing him against other people definitely helps get your head around the speed of the game and how it’s really going to go.”
On if they knew the rotation going into the game
“I think the only thing we knew for sure was Greg (Bell) was going to go out there first. And we just kind of had ideas, but Coach Held was really good at keeping us updated with like, who’s going in next, and this package is coming up. We’re all just kind of on our toes, and we kind of had a good idea, like right before to get a little bit more reps right before you got in there.”
On motivation when new running backs came in the program
“Like I said, I wanted to play, so it didn’t matter who they brought, they could’ve brought a hundred running backs, I don’t think I would have changed, I would try to be the starter. Those guys are good and they definitely made it more competitive and everyone just stepped up their game, so I definitely think it helped. I feel like I’m a pretty self-motivated person, but if they bring talented guys in there, you’re going to have to be better than them to do, so it pushed everybody.”
On what he knows about Troy
“I know they’re a fast and they have some really athletic guys and stuff like that, so we’re just going to have to work against their speed with ours and try to use our muscle and things like that. But I know they are going to be well-coached and things like that. We’re going to have to work for it.”
On Tre Bryant’s retirement
“It was definitely good to see him get out there and play and definitely just like do what he could. He obviously loved playing the game, it just took too much out of him. I talked to Tre all the time, me and Tre talk, like, we were good friends while he was on the team and we’re still good friends after. I hit him up on the weekends, and when we play Xbox I’m trying to play with him and stuff like that but, it was definitely good to see him get a chance and everyone understood and everybody was happy for him that he came out there and did the best he could.”