%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)
Casey Thompson
Nebraska Quarterback
Pre-Illinois
Press Conference
On Illinois’ defense
“They’re a really good defense with athletes across the board. Top in the Big Ten and top in the country. Their stats stand out on paper. They have good size and athleticism on the depth chart as well. I think they are averaging giving up eight points a game. They are really good on third down. They do a good job of creating a lot of pressure up front. They do a good job in the backend. I know some of their defensive backs have recognition. I would say they have good size, speed and athleticism. I’m sure that they’re feeling good, but we like what we have as well and are excited about the matchup.”
On what he did during the bye week
“I watched a lot of film and got a chance to get in the training room a lot to work on my body and recover and get some good work on the field. Then they let us go home on Thursday, and I had a chance to workout on Thursday and get a good lift in. I went home over the weekend to spend some time with my family. I watched some college football, and then I came back here and got after it on Sunday. It was a good bye week for us. It was timely. We all needed it for sure. It was good for me to get a lot of treatment and work on some mobility and flexibility stuff. Just trying to get my body back right. We usually play good coming off the bye week as a team. I’m very excited and today’s practice was very good, and I felt good out there today.”
On Illinois' pass coverage
“They do a good job of doing man and zone coverage. Most of their interceptions have come from just playing really good man coverage. Their defensive backs have good ball skills and make plays on the football. They have 12 turnovers now, but watching the film they probably should have a little more. They dropped a couple interceptions, so they could have 15 to 20. Not a lot of teams have had success passing the ball, but we have good receivers and explosive players on offense, so I’m excited about the matchup and the opportunity. We’ll be ready to go.”
On what he expects the upcoming opponents will do in pass defense against Trey Palmer
“When Trey (Palmer) gets going, it opens up the pass game because he is explosive and he has really good yards after a catch. He is fast, but Trey does a good job at just running his routes and running hard, so sometimes he may attract two defenders and that allows us to find more open receivers and other people will come open. Illinois so far they have done a good job at playing the coverage that they play and most teams that we go against they just run their base defense. I do not know if Illinois will adjust mid-game to how Trey performs or not. It depends on if we execute or not, so it will be interesting to see if they will stay in their game plan or will come out of it double Trey or do things that way. We will see how it goes and we will be ready to have answers for any covers that they put out on the field, but I am anticipating that they are just going to line up and play one-on-one with Trey and we will see who wins on Saturday. We are excited about the matchup and Trey is ready for the opportunity. He has been looking really good at practice, and he is getting better and better each week with each game. Trey has all the confidence in the world. We have great chemistry right now, and Trey as good as he has played he is actually getting better at his route running and he is getting better at catching the balls and he is doing a good job at tracking the deep balls. When you are fast like that when you are running full speed it is not easy to track those deep balls and he is doing a good job at that and it starts in practice so I like where we are at.”
NU Athletic Communications