Nebraska Football
vs. Fordham
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021
Press Conference Video
On settling into the game
“We settled in okay. I was frustrated at the beginning, first with their linebacker core and their skill players and their running back, quarterback and they're a good team. I'm sure they'll have a good year. We did a couple dumb things at the beginning of game, putting the ball on the ground and spitting and sputtering a little bit but ended up catching the momentum a little bit and it looked a lot better.”
On the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter
“Obviously we talked about that as a team and trying to finish the second, start third the right way. We did the exact opposite of that last week. I know they talked about that last week too and they did it and we did and those can be big turning points in games.”
On Samori Toure
“It's a long season, we saw a lot of things in camp that didn't show up last Saturday. Some of them showed this Saturday, some of the guys that we've been seeing play well and some of the good things we've seen happening so we need more of it but he's a pretty special kid.”
On Oliver Martin
“Oliver has a little injury. We decided to hold him this week, but it's not anything that’ll keep him out a long time, but it was great to see a lot of other receivers playing. We're deep in that position with guys that can make plays so keeping fresh guys on the field is going to be important.”
On the running backs
“I gotta watch the tape. I thought they all did good things, I thought we ran hard. Still want to get the run game established a little earlier and a little better. We need our base run plays to get us five or six when they're getting us two and get us 11 when they're getting to six and I think that's a team effort. It’s up front, it's backs, it's good decisions, it's all those things and when you can establish run, everything else works off of it, and we did that okay today, but it can still get better.”
On Adrian Martinez
“I thought he made a couple of boo boos early, but he also made fantastic plays. We put a lot on that kid's shoulders with the type of offense we're running. Every single play he's got it in his hands. He's making decisions, he's running, he's throwing it. He's never going to be perfect. Nobody should expect him to. We just want to eliminate the bad plays. We put a ball on the ground early on, naked on a bootleg, where the running back doesn't have an option to take in the ball, so those little things can't happen, but he's always gonna be there to make plays and he's been playing at a high level all fall so I expect that to continue that.”
On the fumble at the beginning
“I don't know if the back clamped down on it too much to fake or what happened but we’re getting him out of the pocket with the ball and the ball’s on the ground behind him. You know, I didn't see a lot of those today, that's the good thing.”
On penalties/unforced errors
“I don't think we had very many penalties. Logan (Smothers) fumbled the one but there weren't balls on the ground. We protected the ball a lot better. I've just, I'm so obsessed with making sure we don't make any of those mistakes and I know the team is too, because that's all they hear about. That's where my focus is and it shouldn't be after a win, but we have to make sure we keep doing those little things right.”
On Having fans back in Memorial Stadium
“Gosh, that felt good. Just walking out to the tunnel, even pregame with the stands half-full in pregame was special and I got a chance to walk through the tunnel at the end of the game with my sister with my wife and my son, and he was giving the fans high fives. We missed the fans, I know they missed being here but this was a dismal place without them, so I can't wait till next week.”
On the offensive pace
“I thought we utilized tempo at times, I thought it was better than it was last week. The tempo of our offense, we have to continue that. There's times we want to go fast, there's times we shouldn't. This game kind of lent itself to us going fast, and I thought they did a pretty good job of that. So, anytime we get lined up quick and steal a player, steal some yards that helps.”
On the seniors
“Those guys are pretty special to me – JoJo (Domann) and Deontai (Williams) and Marquel (Dismuke) and all those guys that decided to come back. They’re our leaders and some of our best players so I'm always happy when they have good things happen to them on the field.”
On whether or not the team made progress
“I would say so, we won a game. I thought we did a lot of really good things.”
On next week’s game
“The team coming in here next week, we’ve watched them on tape already. It's a really good team. They were in the MAC Championship last year. They've lost some pieces and added some really good pieces. We gotta have a really good week of preparation and looking forward to getting back on the field with the guys.”
On punt returns
“We tell our returners to catch the ball, no matter what. And when the ball hits the ground, you have to make a smart decision. If it's bouncing easy and a hop you can handle, and nobody's around, then we want to want to catch it and not let it bounce several yards down the field. I thought that one was a little too much in traffic and, you know, there weren't a ton of those mistakes today, but we're really going to focus hard on the ones that we did make and make sure we address them every time they come up.”
On the backup quarterbacks
“I thought that Logan (Smothers) did well, it's kind of what I've seen from him. That was a tough fight and I trust the other two kids too. Matt (Masker) got a snap there at the end. I thought Logan played really well other than putting the ball in the deck. So, he felt bad about that but he did some really good things out there. It was good to see him get some runs. He thinks through the game really well.”
On the backup quarterback competition
“Can we focus on the things we need to focus on here? Matt Masker is a really good player. (Heinrich) Haarberg is going to be a really good player. Logan (Smothers) won the number two spot through his body of work and he got the opportunity today.”
On playing backups for the first time since 2019
“We started rotating about halfway through the third quarter, and got some guys out and got some other guys in. There's guys we're gonna depend on for the stretch run and it was good to see those guys get reps. I'm really looking forward to watching the tape and seeing how those guys perform.”
On Chancellor Brewington
“We got real thin at tight end. During camp he was playing receiver, kind of stacked behind some guys at receiver and we moved him. We’re still kind of thin at that position, but I can't say enough about that kid. He came in and was gonna do whatever he could for the team. He made plays in camp and learned it quickly, and we had a little package for him today and it worked out. I’m really happy for him.”
On Ryan Greenhagan’s 30 Tackles
“Number forty seven? Yeah, I mentioned I was really impressed with their skill players, their whole team in general was really well coached, but they're skilled players. He’s a guy. I saw Logan (Smothers) scramble there at the end of the game and that kid came over and got him pretty good. I had to dodge out of the way to get hit by him, or he would’ve had 31 tackles, including one on me. But there's good players everywhere in football. I think that's why you're seeing a lot of teams beat teams that they might not have 20 years ago and compete with teams they might not have 20 years ago. There's just more football players and teams are getting them and I was impressed with a lot of their players.”
On the team needing the win
“We needed it. We had such a good camp and going into that first game, we had high hopes, and I think that the kids really believe how much progress they made and how much better of a team they are. Then game one didn't go the way we wanted it to, but that doesn't change the progress that we've made.”
On the rest of the season
“We got a tough slate of games, we got a long season. We have to keep getting better. This team's going to be able to compete with anybody that we go on the field with and then it's a matter of playing clean and making somebody else beat us, not beating ourselves.”
On the crowd energy
“It's pretty special. I couldn't help but look around at the beginning of the game and see it, and the fans were awesome going to the game and coming out through the tunnel after the game. We missed them. And there's so many good, positive, all-in fans for Nebraska and we're fighting as hard as we can for them.”
NU Athletic Communications