%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
Pre-Rutgers
Monday, Dec. 14, 2020
Press Conference Video
On playing at Rutgers Friday and looking ahead
“Yeah, we found out about the short week yesterday afternoon, so we brought the guys in for a quick meeting last night, practice this morning, and we’ll have meetings again tonight. Try to sandwich it in as well as we can with travel. I think all of us in the building are kind of used to . taking things on the fly right now 'cause everything's just been up in the air all year. We're not worried about after this week really. Will have time to figure all those things out after this game. We gotta get ready for this one.”
On struggling in the passing game
“There's a little thing here and there again, and that keeps plaguing our offense. You know I said it after the game. You know, I really felt like we were kind of turning a corner 'cause practice had been really sharp for the last three weeks and last week was really sharp. Just a little thing here and there. We started the game off so bad by not hitting a simple play that killed the drive, had a tipped interception that killed another drive, a bad punt. We didn't protect well enough and we missed some open guys. We had some guys running open. I think the receivers are doing a lot better job this year of getting the spots and getting there fast and being where they're supposed to be. We gotta protect a little better and we gotta make sure we don't miss him.”
On the confidence of Adrian Martinez
“Confidence? Yeah. I think that's a little bit with our whole offense if I’m being honest. The guys need to trust it, believe it and go make it happen. When you have success that leads to confidence that confidence leads to more success and that wheel needs to spin a little faster for us right now. Adrian [Martinez] had stacked two really good weeks together. He made some really good throws, especially when we gave him time to make those throws. You know, just some of the downfield things that we schemed up that were there and we didn't hit. You know a couple of times there was a guy standing in his little lap and he couldn't follow through. So it's just the continued improvement of consistency and execution.”
On having a short week along with signing day
“Uh, you know, we're busy, we've been busy since March or April, really. So you know guys have been at this a long time, but we did a good job getting the majority of the people we want to get signed, committed and feel great about the group that we think we're going to sign on Wednesday. With all the other pieces we've added and the overall improvement of talent, this group has a chance to make us even better and make us special. We'll focus a lot of time this week on two different things.”
On leaving space open in the class for transfers
“Definitely. We factor that in and we're starting to get the feeling inside the locker room and on the field and within the team that we want. Without dissenters and without guys not being 100% bought in and all-in and so you have to be careful about who you bring in and add to that as it's getting close to where we want it to be. Somebody told me that over 10 days last week there's been 120 or something guys going to the portal. There's not going to be spots for all those guys, so we'll probably like we always do keep a couple spots in our back pocket, and if we find the right guy, we might think about it. Otherwise, there are walk-ons on this team that deserve to be on scholarship as well.”
On good practices not translating to wins
“The improvement of practice this year led to better play. We played better, executed better at Iowa, we played better, executed better at Purdue. Maybe take the way we started the game when we're not a team confident enough yet when we start the game. The way we started it. You know, sometimes guys can maybe just look around and wait for somebody else to fix it or think here we go again, mistakes. That being said and you know after the first quarter we ended the first quarter we turned it on and scored on two straight drives and executed well. It's just one little thing here and one little thing there, and it's gotta be more consistent. A lot of it Saturday was some of the young players, I called a lot of those guys last night. For young guys in the Big 10, I think some of those guys are doing an exceptional job, but it's just not consistent enough yet and that's what killed us Saturday.”
On the reason for offensive problems in the second half
“I don't know the answer to that really. We're diving into that too. I don't remember that being an issue until this year. We do actually pretty well on first drives the second half and then things sputter so you know. I don't think it's a conditioning thing. I think our guys are in shape, I don't think it's a strength thing. Our focus has gotten better. You know I went back and watched the Northwestern game. We just made mistakes in the second half. You know, had the ball on their three and didn't execute right and threw an interception on two different drives down there and I think it's kind of just a little more of the same. Just being able to focus, concentrate, do your job and execute for four quarters.”
On if the second half is about coaching adjustments
“There's something to that, absolutely. You know a lot of times some of the adjustments we make at halftime, we probably already made in the first half. If we're getting something different in the game than what we expected, those things happen between series too. Like I said, I think we've done pretty well on first drives coming out of the break with some of the adjustments we've made. You know all that being said, what the team is doing is usually what they do the whole game, so some of it is probably adjustments, but I think a lot of us, just like I said, consistency making sure we can play 60 minutes of guys getting their jobs done.”
On if patience is being tested
“It's being tested. Nobody's more anxious than me. The kids are too, the kids want to get this done. We lost one game this year and I had several young kids come into my office after the game when I was in there watching it and make sure I was OK. We got a lot of guys that are dying to get this thing right. The coaching staff is I am, you know I talked about progress after the game. That's obvious to us in the building, but that doesn't matter 'cause it's gotta turn into wins and everybody is anxious for that to happen. You know, I, I think we've gotten caught up on strength conditioning and we're not getting pushed around like we did year one. I think the defense has played well enough in almost every game this year for us to win. The attitudes are better, the kids caring about one another is better, the overall talents is better just a lot of it's young. So we see the progress, but I can talk about that all I want until me and the coaching staff and the kids get it turned. The progress, it matters, but the results have come.”
On splitting reps between Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey
“It's been split reps last week. Adrian missed a practice with his shoulder so Luke got a lot that day and we made up for that a little the following day with Adrian.”
On recruiting locally this year with less ability to travel
“Yeah, I think that's been important. This class is potentially going to be a lot more regional than some other classes that we've had. We're farther away from a lot of talent than a lot of schools .I think our average kid probably comes from about as far away as anywhere in the country. We're lucky that there's been some really good talent the last couple years in Nebraska and locally and in the region, and those kids need to be the heart and soul of what we're building.”
On coaching against Noah Vedral and having to adjust play-calling because of his familiarity with the Husker offense
“Yeah, we've discussed that a lot. We're going to try to make sure that we defend against anything like that as much as we can. You know I care a lot about Noah and he did a lot for us and put a lot of effort into working hard for us and I want what's best for him. But we'll try to protect ourselves on Friday.”
On if he’s followed Noah Vedral’s season at Rutgers
“Yeah, I've been able to watch a little 'cause we've had common opponents, and I've gotta watch a couple games. He looks like the player that we thought he was when we recruited him and knew he was when he was here.”
On Brendan Jaimes level of play this season
“Yeah, Jaimes has been really solid for us. He's a good player. I think he has a good future in football and he's been an important piece.”
On Adrian’s shoulder injury carrying over into missed throws against Minnesota
“I don't want to make excuses for us or me or him or anybody else. When things are there, we gotta do a good job with the coaching staff and quarterback and the entire team. He did come back later last week and threw it great all week. I mean we were hitting everything in practice and just three or four throws that would have made a big difference if we hit him and we didn't, and you know that can happen in any game. Then we gotta make sure that there's not a D lineman in his lap when he's trying to make those throws and some of those things too. But I got a lot of confidence in those guys and we'll keep working with them 'cause it you know we need to be able to hit those things.”
On why Luke McCaffrey isn’t playing at another position
“Because he had to take a lot of reps at quarterback. You know our plan was to play him more in the Purdue game and Adrian got hot. And then in that last game our plan was to play more. He'll play some there this week too.”
On if circumstances haven’t allowed for more playing time for McCaffrey
“Yeah, that's part of it. And you know every rep we give him a running back or somewhere else and we're taking away from other guys that are trying to get ready at that position too so you know in certain games there's been packages for him where we're going to run certain plays with him. That just gets a little heavy when you have, you know, a lot of packages with Wan’Dale [Robinson] at running back or Wan’Dale at receiver and Luke here and Luke there, and that slows down our rhythm a little bit too. We're going to be a better team when we can largely keep the same guys on the field and just call everything that we have.”
On frustration with the receiver and running back positions
“Yeah, it's been getting them up to speed. If I've been frustrated with anything, and I talked about that some, but a lot of the receivers that are starting to make us a better team just missed time and it wasn't their fault. To me if you look at this season the teams that are exceeding expectations or the veteran teams and that makes sense. I mean, teams didn't have spring ball, they didn't have fall camp, they weren't around coaches all summer. A lot of our receivers and running backs have been on the sideline for health issues and other things and just their development has been slower than I want it to be. Yeah, we got the talent in the program right now that I think can win and win a lot in this league. We gotta get them refined and I agree with you, the just kind of the musical chairs of who's playing this week and who's playing this week and not being able to stack reps on reps with the same key guys, has kind of slowed down our progress a little bit.”
On finishing up the season
“You know you can see the light at the end of the tunnel now usually that that happens in, you know, week eight or nine of the season. We are close to the end now so that the kids just need to have a final kick here. It's been a long year in a lot of ways for everybody, not just here. A lot of uncertainty. You know that I'm sure that this is the case everywhere. The kids that I see really kind of struggling to keep the same health and vitality are the young guys, and usually have freshmen hit a wall at some point. But those guys went out to practice today and gave us everything they got, and we will do everything we can to get him fresh and ready to go for this last one.”
On the Rutgers Defense
“Really active, do a lot of things, tackle well, play really hard and are well coached there. Really veteran too. When you look at the number of upperclassmen and seniors that are playing for them and they've been together and around each other a lot. But I think this coaching staff has come in and made them better and as you watch their season, they've gotten better and better each week. Definitely going to be a big challenge for our offense, especially coming off a game where we didn't play up to our standards.”
On Freshman quarterback Logan Smothers
“Logan is a good player. You know he has a little bit of work to do still, but what I really like about him is his ability to see the field to make decisions. He makes really quick, decisive decisions, gets the ball out of his hand, and he's a really good athlete. So really one of the key things for quarterbacks in this system, if they're going to excel, is being able to kind of think fast and be one step ahead of the game and I definitely see that trait from him.”
NU Athletic Communications