Nebraska Postgame Player Quotes
vs. Michigan (Oct. 9, 2021)
Adrian Martinez, Quarterback
On the fourth-quarter fumble
“The goal obviously on a short yardage run play is to try to get the first down. I am not going to stand up here and make excuses for myself. I cannot be careless with the football. I thought the play was over. I was standing as I am standing right now, and I thought it was done. But regardless of that fact, I feel a lot of responsibility and cannot make plays like that hurt our team.”
On something being “different” about how the offense took the field on the fourth quarter drives
“I would agree, and I believe that carries over to the game in general. Not that we did not have that feeling in other games this year, but there was a genuine belief and confidence going into this game. And that same feeling was there on those two drives and the drive before that. And I truly believe it was earned confidence and knowing that we can move the ball against their defense.”
On what changed between the first half and the second
“It is hard to point to what exactly changed. I would maybe say part of it was mentality. There is a lot of talk in the locker room, but our guys are sort of like, ‘Hey we are chipping away. We know what is going to happen. We know what is going to happen.’ I think when we got that first touchdown it was like floodgates are open, let’s keep hammering them home. We know we can score on these guys. And that belief was there from the beginning of the game, it just hadn't happened yet.”
On the back-and-forth of the second half
“I think you described it perfectly. There was a lot of back and forth. But I know our guys are confident that we are going to be able to keep scoring. And we were also confident that our defense was going to be able to hold up.”
On setting things up
“There were certain plays that we ran past plays that were set up because of some of the things we were doing in the first half and allowed us really in the pass game to counter some of the things they were doing on defense.”
On Coach Frost saying he loves coaching this team
“I would agree. I would second what Coach Frost said. We have a special group. We do have guys who have a lot of confidence. And we know we are good football team. Now we need to get some more wins. And we have lost some really close, tough games, but that does not take away from the fact this is a special group of guys. Some older guys, a lot of respect for the leadership, the player-led leadership we have on this team, and I know we are going to bounce back. I know our focus is already on Minnesota.”
On the offensive line
“I know I have said it a lot, but I genuinely believe it. Whoever is in there, Coach G is going to get him right. I have faith in those guys, and I believe they did a good job tonight. You know it is a talented front they’ve got over at Michigan and they bring some blitzes and they try and kind of make things crazy and our guys did a good job in my opinion of handling that.”
On running back Rahmir Johnson
“You can tell I have faith in Rahmir. I have confidence in him and his ability to go be a fast guy and go catch that ball. I believe he had over 100 yards receiving. He is a really talented guy and showed what he could do receiving and running the ball tonight.”
On his mindset for the final series after the turnover
“We had about a minute 15 I believe around that. No timeouts. To say we cannot waste any time. If we need to clock it, all we need is a field goal. Just trying to score points regardless of how that happens. But we are throwing the ball. They got into some five-down stuff trying to bring pressure. But those are the little things going through my head and obviously we need to chunk them and get the ball downfield.”
On going for it on fourth-and-short on Nebraska’s opening drive of the game
“I am not 100 percent sure at that point what type of game it was going to be. Sometimes the Big Ten games are 17-14. You understand, I think going for a touchdown there is big for us, big momentum for us, big opportunity. And anytime you get that opportunity, I wanted it and I know our guys wanted it as well.”
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