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Nebraska Football
Pre-Minnesota
Monday, Dec. 7, 2020
Press Conference Video
On players staying focused through the grind of this season
“I think we have more guys on the team now that love football, that certainly helps. I think we've got guys that care about each other more. They still feel like they're having fun playing and have something to prove .”
On getting Dedrick Mills back on the field
“It helped I thought he ran tough, made a couple good blocks, did a lot of good things. We've been missing him he's our only veteran back there. It’s just weird how the day worked out we weren't sure if we're going to have him and then the night before game we didn't think we're going to Marvin (Scott) so we still felt good about who we had but he went out in warmups and look good and played a big role.”
On Brenden Jaimes setting a record of consecutive starts by a Nebraska offensive lineman
“Well he's been a key piece of what we've been doing. Great kid, really good player and he’s stayed healthy. He's been committed and dedicated so we're grateful we have him.”
On the addition of Connor Culp to the 2020 roster
“It's big, we haven't been very good at that spot the first couple years here. He certainly gives us the guy that we can count on. I get less nervous when I send the field goal unit out there. We start thinking about kicking a field goal deep from farther out because of his range so it gives us a lot more confidence and glad he that he's a part of what we're doing.”
On seniors returning for the 2021 season
“I love all these seniors, great bunch of kids that have stuck it out through a lot. But I don't want to start talk about next year, we have a big game this weekend and will have all those discussions after the season.
On Dedrick Mills’s passion
“He’s just always happy, always has smile on his face. Is always positive to be around and I think that impacts the rest of the team in a positive way. Just such a likable guy and good teammate and does whatever he needs to do for the team
Update on Myles Farmer
“Myles had surgery and we won't have Myles the rest of year but the long term outlook is good.”
On responding the right way after a win
“Well you gotta learn from a win and learn from a loss. I’ve really seen our habits and a lot of things around the building get better the last couple weeks. Coming off a win you have to double down and do even more of it - make sure you're focused, focus is good, your practice habits are good, your effort is good and I expect the guys to respond well this week.”
On getting Omar Manning back in the receiver rotation this season
“I couldn't say for sure but we just gotta get him healthy and he's gonna make us a better team when he's out.”
On Minnesota having two weeks off due to COVID-19
“They're going to be fresh and ready. I'm sure they've had time to look at us, feel bad for them that they've had COVID cases that they've had. It's just a tough year. They whipped us last year up there, they did a great job with game plan, coaching and playing and certainly got the better of us. I think our guys are anxious to play I'm and I’m sure there's our too
On the uncertainty regarding week No. 9 opponents
“Count me in the group that doesn't know much. We're focused on this week, we'll worry about that later.”
On a word or two to describe the 2020 senior class
“They're tough and they’re resilient, I'd probably pick those two. They've been through a whole heck of a lot and really starting to see growth on our football team. I've been seeing it for a while and it's starting to show up on the field and those guys spearhead that so it's a tough group.”
On Adrian Martinez
“The rebound is impressive. Really I saw that improvement from both quarterbacks (Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey). When I would tell them it would be an open competition going into the Iowa game both had exceptional weeks of practice. We played both of them and our plan was to play both and the same this week. I think they’ve just been practicing better, we've been completing more balls, getting off on time, making better decisions and that's translated to the field. I don't know if what happened was a motivation - I know in my college career I had a couple negative things happen and I used that as a motivation, had a chip on my shoulder. I don't really know if that's it or if some successes has led to more confidence but either way both guys are practicing better and playing better on the field.”
On the contribution from walk-on wide receivers
“One thing we did look at is we had a bunch of guys that were close, some being young and learning some others that have been here and we kind of figured we were doing a little disservice by spreading the reps out too much so we did want to narrow it down a little bit. That group of guys you see playing has been dedicated to this. We knew our walk-on program would take a while to help us, those guys typically don't come in and play as freshmen but if you take the time developing them they're going to help and in year three I think you're starting to see a lot of those guys contribute. It was great to see Wyatt (Liewer) in the end zone and Oliver (Martin) end Levi (Falck) certainly had good games too.”
On the Matt Lubick’s influence on the offense
“He makes my life a lot easier. I can focus more on the team and attitudes and culture and things of that nature because a lot of it's getting taken care of for me. So Matt is a huge asset to us and especially to me.”
On Cam Taylor-Britt and Dicaprio Bootle
“I thought both of those guys played a really good game on Saturday, both talented. Cam did some really good things and has all year and I think he's on track to be to be one of our best players round here in a while. We're lucky to have him we're going to keep coaching him and we expect that kind of play out of those two guys every week.”
On Zavier Betts’s progress
“It’s just knowledge. I mean you know he's a freshman, he's coming on, he's talented and he just had to get comfortable with everything - know the signals, know the plays, know the details, know the routes. He still makes a mistake here and there, ran one wrong route on Saturday that didn't end up costing us, but he's a special player when we get him the ball so we gotta keep bringing those guys along. I’ve said it a bunch, we have a lot of players that really could have benefited from spring ball, fall camp, a non-conference schedule - all those things and they didn't get the luxury of any of that so we're working overtime to try to get those guys more and more comfortable with what we're doing and I think they've been improving every week.”
Follow up – on Zavier’s practice habits
“He practices hard, he goes out and does his job. It doesn't look like he's running sometimes but he’s still running fast. He doesn't have any idea how good he can be. If he stays on track and has good habits and works hard and we're going to try to convince him to that and show him how that's done.”
On playing at 11 AM for the seventh straight week
“We enjoy the 11 AM games. We’re a morning practice operation anyway so our guys are used to getting up and getting started and certainly especially on road games it's better to get home early than be flying home late at night. We win enough games down the road maybe we get moved to some other slots, but right now we're just anxious to whenever they post the time.”
On the physicality of last season’s Minnesota game
“They just out physicaled us, they executed better, they played harder than us, they beat us. We can't let that happen. They’re really good in the run game, they run right at you and run mid zone and have RPO's that are really good. The quarterback throws off that and running back is one of the best that we’ll see - really good player. Wo we gotta be ready for that on defense and gotta try to establish a run game on offense and that doesn't change week-to-week, but these guys really demand it out of you when you play Minnesota.
On signees enrolling early and if COVID effects that
“We’re comfortable with them coming early and this goes a little bit back to what we said at the beginning of season that this isn't the only place, our campus isn’t the only place with the COVID problems. Those kids have an opportunity get exposed to it no matter where they are and in fact we’ve had so few cases since the season started because our players are being disciplined doing the right things. We have them in a safe environment and like I said before I think this is the safest place for them. I don't think that's gonna be any different for a freshman coming in and yeah I feel comfortable with them coming and would encourage them to come if they want to.”
NU Athletic Communications