Tuesday Press Conference

[vailhusker]

Quick hits from Chinander, Lubick and more​

ByMICHAEL BRUNTZ 3 hours ago




Here’s a quick rundown of news and notes from Tuesday’s availability:

— Nebraska running backs coach Ryan Held said that running back Rahmir Johnson, who left the loss to Minnesota with a concussion, has cleared protocol and is back practicing. Johnson ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns before exiting the loss to the Golden Gophers.

— Nebraska offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said Purdue’s defense is much improved this season, and that Nebraska will need to account for Purdue defensive end George Karlaftis, who Lubick said is as good as Michigan’s Aiden Hutchinson. Lubick said Purdue's defense doesn’t give up many big plays and the Boilermakers do a nice job of protecting against big pass plays in the secondary.

— Lubick said Nebraska is about as healthy as they’ve been this season at the wide receiver spot, noting that Omar Manning and Zavier Betts have both had good bye weeks after battling nagging injuries through the early portion of the season.


— Safety Myles Farmer is stepping into the starting role this week in place of Deontai Williams, and said the coaches have challenged him this week in practice in preparation for the bigger role. Farmer was pressed into action in place of Williams last year against Northwestern and had two first-half interceptions. Farmer said he is dialed in at practice this week, especially knowing he will see the bulk of reps at safety after being in a rotation this season with Williams and Dismuke.

— Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander thanked Nebraska fans for their thoughts and support following the death of his father before the game against Minnesota.

“I want to say thank you to the Husker Nation, including media, fans, colleagues, student athletes, all the coaches around the country just for the tweets, for the cards, for the texts and for the kind words,” Chinander said. “So thank you very much. It meant a lot. To me and the family.”

Chinander’s father was a long-time football coach and Erik Chinander said his father would have wanted him to be there for the players, and coach against the Golden Gophers. Chinander said he learned plenty about coaching and life from his father.

“I learned how to be tough,” Chinander said. I learned how to how to be a real guy. I learned how to discipline guys, but also, by the showing his visitation and his funeral, it showed how many lives he touched. And I learned how to discipline guys and be hard on them, but also how to love kids and show them how to become really good dads and really good husbands and really good brothers and really good fathers and really good people in the community. So what did I learn from him? I learned everything.”

— As for the Boilermakers, Nebraska's defense will be challenged by Purdue's passing offense. Chinander said Nebraska felt Purdue wide receiver David Bell was the Boilermakers’ most dangerous target even with Rondale Moore on the field ahead of their meeting last year.

“He’s a dangerous, dangerous weapon,” Chinander said of Bell
— Chinander said Farmer has been training for a starting role all season. He said the fact that Farmer responded well last season against Northwestern gives him confidence that Farmer will be ready to go this year. Chinander said Farmer will be backed up by Noa Pola-Gates on Saturday.

“Myles is ready to go,” Chinander said. “Miles is a really good football player. Miles knows what he's doing. He's got good eyes. He's got good feet. He's a talented football player. So I don't expect any drop off.”

 

[vailhusker]

Monday Press Conference

Nebraska Football Monday Press Conference Quick Hits​

ByMICHAEL BRUNTZ Oct 25, 1:28 PM





Here’s a quick rundown of what the fourth-year Husker head coach had to say on Monday.

— Frost said the key to red zone offense for his group is being better with its base plays. “Our basic stuff has to be a little better so we get more yards on our base stuff, which means we need to block a little better, run a little better,” Frost said.

— Nebraska’s staff was able to get a big jump on Purdue with the bye week. Frost said coming back from the bye, he saw a little spring in his team’s step as it returned to practice. He said he felt his team had gotten a bit run down after playing eight straight weeks of football to start the season. Frost said he is returning to work this week refreshed after the bye.

“I think it was good for our guys to just get refreshed,” Frost said.


— Frost said quarterback Adrian Martinez has been playing through injuries, but said the senior quarterback will be “full-go” against the Boilermakers.

— Frost said senior safety Deontai Williams will return to the field at some point this season, though he’s not sure when, after suffering a knee injury in the loss to Minnesota. The Big Red is facing a Purdue team that ranks 12th in the country in passing, and Nebraska will have Myles Farmer starting in place of Williams.

“You always want to have everybody up when you play a team like this where they’re going to throw a lot at you,” Frost said. “We’ve got to cover well and try to get to the quarterback.”

— Frost said Purdue has become one of the better defenses in the Big Ten this season. The Boilermakers come in to Saturday’s game ranked 13th in total defense in the country, allowing just 301 total yards per game.

— Frost said he expects to see the Purdue team that defeated Cockeye to come to Lincoln on Saturday, not the group that fought turnover issues in its loss to Wisconsin last week at home.

— Freshman Marques Buford has been a nice depth player for Nebraska this season in the secondary, and Frost said the true freshman has come in every day ready to attack. He said often playing early is approach, not necessarily only talent.

“That’s the mark of a freshman who is ready to play right away,” Frost said.

— Frost confirmed that offensive lineman Brant Banks has returned to practice after missing time with a hand injury.

— Frost said there’s no specific plan as of yet for when and how much freshman Thomas Fidone will play this fall. Fidone suffered an ACL injury this spring and returned to practice in recent weeks.

“I’m really excited about Thomas,” Frost said. “He’s still shaking off some rust. He’s missed a lot of reps in what we're doing. When he’s ready, and gives us a good or better chance to win than the guys we have, he’ll be out there. He has a bright future.”

— Several Husker players also were present for Monday’s press conference, including quarterback Adrian Martinez, who said he wasn’t 100 percent against Minnesota, but felt he was healthy enough to accomplish what was in the game plan against the Golden Gophers.

— Martinez said Monday that he’s reserving any decisions about his future until after the season. He said there are things that are “way more important” than what the future holds after the season.

— Sophomore walk-on Ian Boerkircher was listed as the No. 2 right tackle behind Bryce Benhart on Nebraska’s depth chart released on Monday.

 

[vailhusker]

Notable quotables from Nebraska head coach Scott Frost​

ByMICHAEL BRUNTZ 5 hours ago

Nebraska football returned to work on Monday following its first bye week of the season and eight straight weeks of games.

Husker head coach Scott Frost admitted that he was refreshed after the weekend off as the program turns its attention to Purdue and the final four games of the season.

The Huskers sit at 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in the conference with all four losses in Big Ten play coming in one-score games.

“As a staff we got a lot of time to watch them (Purdue),” Frost told reporters during his Monday press conference. “Obviously then we watched the Wisconsin game yesterday several times and it helps. I thought the guys have more of a spring in their step again. They were a little worn down and tired. That is natural with eight straight weeks and starting a week early. So I think it was good for our guys just to get refreshed.”

The Boilermakers come to Lincoln holding a 4-3 record overall and 2-2 mark in Big Ten play. Purdue knocked off then-No. 2 Cockeye two weeks ago and fell last week at home to Wisconsin.


Here’s a quick run through of what Frost had to say about the Boilermakers and other topics during his Monday press conference:

ON RED ZONE OFFENSE​

“I think you just have to be able to run base stuff and get it in. You just have to be able to block away just speaking for us. I cannot speak for everybody. Our basic stuff has to be a little better so we get more yards on just our basic stuff, which just means we need to block a little better, run a little better. You always go into a game with some schemes to try to scheme something into the endzone. Obviously there was a nine overtime game in the league. I do not think you ever have enough for something like that. You cannot have 20 of those, or you are wasting a lot of time practicing on that, so it really comes down to just being efficient at what you are doing and being a little better at it. There are good defenses in the league though.”

ON THE HEALTH OF QUARTERBACK ADRIAN MARTINEZ​

“He is good. He is going to be 100 percent. He has been dealing with quite a bit of stuff and fighting through stuff, and he is a warrior for doing it. He will be a full go.”

ON NEBRASKA'S SECONDARY VERSUS PURDUE'S PASSING OFFENSE​

“Deontai (Williams) will be back this season. I do not know when. You always want to have everybody up when you are playing a team like this. They are going to throw a lot of stuff at you. You have to be ready. You have to be disciplined, and they've got some good players everywhere, but definitely a receiver that can beat you. So we have to have eyes on him and cover well and try to get to the quarterback. I think Purdue had a good chance Saturday. I think they turned it over five times. It is hard to win that way. So I do not expect we will get that same effort from them. I expect them to come in ready to go. Another good Big Ten team. It will be a battle.”

ON PURDUE'S PERFORMANCE VERSUS Cockeye​

“There’s a lot of good teams in the league and every week any team can win. It usually just comes down to a few plays here and there. Purdue made the plays in the game for sure. Everything just went the right way for them for sure. It was a great game and we have to expect that same team to come here, too.”

ON PURDUE'S DEFENSIVE TALENT​

“He’s a good player and definitely one of the better players that we have played. I think that he has good guys around him, too. They're pass rushers, too. I’m really impressed with their linebacker, number six (Jalen Graham). They’re a good defense and have become one of the better defenses in the league, in my opinion. You really have to watch where Karlaftis is all the time and account for him. We have to battle and do the best that we can do.”

ON THE RISE OF FRESHMAN CORNER MARQUES BUFORD​

“He’s doing well. He’s one of those kids who came in mature and ready to attack. I always say that's the mark of a freshman that's going to play early. It’s not necessarily talent, but how quickly they grow up and become adults and good teammates, and he came in that way. I’m excited about him right now and in the future.”

ON HOW SOON FRESHMAN TIGHT END THOMAS FIDONE COULD GET ON THE FIELD​

“I’m really excited about Thomas. He’s still shaking a little bit of rust off. He’s missed a lot of reps and some of the stuff that we’re doing. When he's ready to play and gives us as good or better of a chance to win as the other guys, then he will be out there. He’s got a really bright future and we’ll see how quick that comes.”

ON RECRUITING DURING THE BYE WEEK​

“All the coaches hit the road. I went to a high school and to a game. The response was awesome. I was just talking to Barrett Ruud about it this morning. He’s stuck mostly locally. The response we got from coaches and administrators and students. I think that people are really proud of this team and watching this team. The response and reaction that coaches said they got on the road. It’s really tough recruiting without being able to go out and evaluate and get in front of coaches and getting into high schools. We needed this and it's a good first step.”

WHETHER THE TEAM HAS TO OVERCOME A MENTAL HURDLE​

“I think that’s pretty accurate. Human beings are habitual. When you are used to winning, I think winning becomes a little easier. When you aren’t there yet, I think it’s a little harder and maybe you are waiting on it to happen instead of making it happen. I do think that little bit of extra confidence of knowing it’s going to happen rather than hoping could probably take us to the next step. We are trying to be as psychological with the guys as we can, but they believe how good of a team they are. It’s just a matter of making the play when it counts and when it matters the most.”

ON WHETHER THE COACHES SEE IT AS HELPFUL TO HIT THE 'MAD BUTTON'​

“We don’t let you guys into practice for a lot of reasons and that’s one of them because we do hit the mad button sometimes. I hit it on Wednesday. I put them in a lot of situations Wednesday simulating the game just to try to help them experience that a little more. Not that we haven’t done that before, but we just continue to try and put them into competitive situations. This one matters, can we count on you when it counts. We did a lot of really good things. We did a couple dumb things. I wasn’t happy about it. There is a time and place for that, and certain coaches we have on staff are better at it than others, but they are getting the players to play hard. This team believes how good they are and we have another really good opponent coming in here, so we get another chance.”

 

[LoudHogRider]

Mad button?

 

[HuskerDocCo]

Mad button?

🤬

 

[LoudHogRider]

🤬

I think that’s the “Tourette’s” button, Doc. I hit that one pretty often.