Summarizing what DC Joe Rossi and OC Mike Sanford, Jr. said on Wednesday
ROSSI:
On the goal-line stand vs. Nebraska:
- Third down call was a good one
- Multiple guys at the point of attack
- Created knock-back
- On fourth down
- Reduced the edge
- Nebraska bounced the ball out to the unblocked guy (Nubin)
- Nubin did a good job of fitting down and hit the point of attack
- Fortunately, we won that battle
On limiting Adrian Martinez and his rushing output:
- Good job by players and executing our plan
- Good job by the assistant and coaching the plan
- Emphasized the lanes and worked together
- Some plays where there were spies, others there weren't
- Scout team did an awesome job throughout the week
- Always worried though because he's such a good player, but proud of the way the players handled it
Similarities and differences between Martinez and Tagovialoa:
- Adrian is bigger and more QB runs for Nebraska
- Maryland doesn't run QB quite as often
- More lateral quickness this week than last
- Both are very athletic and will hurt you out of the pocket
- Want to create situations where he stays in the pocket
Keys against Maryland's tempo:
- Getting the calls in
- Communicate the call
- Putting your eyes in the right spot
- Playing really hard
- Maryland mixes up tempo from time to time and we're prepared for that
Terps top two receivers are out, on the passing game being an emphasis over the middle of the field:
- Can't let balls down the middle
- Got to do a better job of that the rest of the year
- They always have good skill players, new guys will play bigger roles
- Their WR's are as talented of a group that we've faced
- Need to defend the middle of the field and take away their tight ends
On watching last year's game film to prepare for this year:
- Maryland has a new offensive coordinator, very similar system
- Last year's game is in their cut-ups, it's painful to watch
- We see things that hurt us last year, have to prepared for that this year
On Walley getting his highest snap count of the year and getting more time over Howard:
- Each game is it's own game
- Different circumstances each week when it comes to snaps
- Walley gets in and out of breaks really well and can accelerate drive routes
On how thankful he is to have Jack Gibbens on the roster:
- I was excited about Jack from the beginning when we added him to the roster
- He is everything we thought he was and then some
- He's a good football player, a joy to coach, and he's a great person
- He's mature, smart, works hard, and is a leader
- As far as tackling, he's up there with the best linebackers
- Blake Cashman was an outstanding tackler and Kamal Martin was very good
- Jack gets out on the perimeter a little more than Thomas Barber
SANFORD, JR.:
On passing game clicking in the first half:
- Rhythm
- Got the ball to different playmakers
- Pleased with the amount of guys that made plays
- CAB had lion's share of catches
- TE's and RB's were involved
- Boyd gets first catch, MBS made critical plays
On early down success shaping the first half rhythm:
- Huge piece to the puzzle
- Were able to stay ahead of the sticks and create explosive plays
- Didn't have as many explosive plays as we'd like (20 yards its what they like in passing game)
- Had multiple run plays that were 10+ but not in the 15 yard range (explosive play counter)
On a healthy CAB changing the passing game:
- It was big
- Having him on the field is critical because of his leadership, intangibles, and grit
- Nobody better at coming down the ball when it's in the air, it's his competitiveness
- Really excited about the next six weeks
On looking back at last year's game against Maryland to prepare for Saturday:
- Not looking at last year's film
- They have a completely different scheme and new defensive coordinator
- Last year, their defense was hard to prepare for schematically
- They are very sound in what they do
- Can tell they are in their first year with their scheme, but play very hard
- They are coming off a bye, expecting them to have all of their horses
- Guy that really makes them go is Jakorian Bennett.
- Secondary is good
- They are really athletic up front
- A lot of power forward big bodies
On the wildcat pass on 4th down:
- Tendencies are made to be broken, even better in critical moments
- Didn't think twice about it
- Staff is growing as an offense
- Had a lot of faith and confidence in that particular scheme
- Called the same play two plays earlier, but called a timeout because we didn't have the look we wanted
- Wish Kramer made it a little less exciting with his ball placement, but we'll work on that
On trick play and coming up with those during the week:
- Wanted to run it on the trick play
- Trick plays are just football plays that have a little bit of misdirection
- Have had success in the past with trick plays
- Big Ten defenses are a little different though
- More challenging to dial up a trick play as opposed to playing in the Mountain West, PAC 12, etc.
- Trick play against Nebraska obviously didn't work, will learn and grow from it
On Bryce Williams:
- Confidence in his game
- Neat to see the response of Bryce's performance in the locker room
- He's completely earned the trust of his teammates
- Was playing with great pad level
- Big moment for him to get over the hump
- Excited about ability to distribute carries to other backs that flashed during the game
- Ky Thomas was fantastic in pass protection, 10 out of 10
- Irving showed ability to get loos and keeps growing
ROSSI:
On the goal-line stand vs. Nebraska:
- Third down call was a good one
- Multiple guys at the point of attack
- Created knock-back
- On fourth down
- Reduced the edge
- Nebraska bounced the ball out to the unblocked guy (Nubin)
- Nubin did a good job of fitting down and hit the point of attack
- Fortunately, we won that battle
On limiting Adrian Martinez and his rushing output:
- Good job by players and executing our plan
- Good job by the assistant and coaching the plan
- Emphasized the lanes and worked together
- Some plays where there were spies, others there weren't
- Scout team did an awesome job throughout the week
- Always worried though because he's such a good player, but proud of the way the players handled it
Similarities and differences between Martinez and Tagovialoa:
- Adrian is bigger and more QB runs for Nebraska
- Maryland doesn't run QB quite as often
- More lateral quickness this week than last
- Both are very athletic and will hurt you out of the pocket
- Want to create situations where he stays in the pocket
Keys against Maryland's tempo:
- Getting the calls in
- Communicate the call
- Putting your eyes in the right spot
- Playing really hard
- Maryland mixes up tempo from time to time and we're prepared for that
Terps top two receivers are out, on the passing game being an emphasis over the middle of the field:
- Can't let balls down the middle
- Got to do a better job of that the rest of the year
- They always have good skill players, new guys will play bigger roles
- Their WR's are as talented of a group that we've faced
- Need to defend the middle of the field and take away their tight ends
On watching last year's game film to prepare for this year:
- Maryland has a new offensive coordinator, very similar system
- Last year's game is in their cut-ups, it's painful to watch
- We see things that hurt us last year, have to prepared for that this year
On Walley getting his highest snap count of the year and getting more time over Howard:
- Each game is it's own game
- Different circumstances each week when it comes to snaps
- Walley gets in and out of breaks really well and can accelerate drive routes
On how thankful he is to have Jack Gibbens on the roster:
- I was excited about Jack from the beginning when we added him to the roster
- He is everything we thought he was and then some
- He's a good football player, a joy to coach, and he's a great person
- He's mature, smart, works hard, and is a leader
- As far as tackling, he's up there with the best linebackers
- Blake Cashman was an outstanding tackler and Kamal Martin was very good
- Jack gets out on the perimeter a little more than Thomas Barber
SANFORD, JR.:
On passing game clicking in the first half:
- Rhythm
- Got the ball to different playmakers
- Pleased with the amount of guys that made plays
- CAB had lion's share of catches
- TE's and RB's were involved
- Boyd gets first catch, MBS made critical plays
On early down success shaping the first half rhythm:
- Huge piece to the puzzle
- Were able to stay ahead of the sticks and create explosive plays
- Didn't have as many explosive plays as we'd like (20 yards its what they like in passing game)
- Had multiple run plays that were 10+ but not in the 15 yard range (explosive play counter)
On a healthy CAB changing the passing game:
- It was big
- Having him on the field is critical because of his leadership, intangibles, and grit
- Nobody better at coming down the ball when it's in the air, it's his competitiveness
- Really excited about the next six weeks
On looking back at last year's game against Maryland to prepare for Saturday:
- Not looking at last year's film
- They have a completely different scheme and new defensive coordinator
- Last year, their defense was hard to prepare for schematically
- They are very sound in what they do
- Can tell they are in their first year with their scheme, but play very hard
- They are coming off a bye, expecting them to have all of their horses
- Guy that really makes them go is Jakorian Bennett.
- Secondary is good
- They are really athletic up front
- A lot of power forward big bodies
On the wildcat pass on 4th down:
- Tendencies are made to be broken, even better in critical moments
- Didn't think twice about it
- Staff is growing as an offense
- Had a lot of faith and confidence in that particular scheme
- Called the same play two plays earlier, but called a timeout because we didn't have the look we wanted
- Wish Kramer made it a little less exciting with his ball placement, but we'll work on that
On trick play and coming up with those during the week:
- Wanted to run it on the trick play
- Trick plays are just football plays that have a little bit of misdirection
- Have had success in the past with trick plays
- Big Ten defenses are a little different though
- More challenging to dial up a trick play as opposed to playing in the Mountain West, PAC 12, etc.
- Trick play against Nebraska obviously didn't work, will learn and grow from it
On Bryce Williams:
- Confidence in his game
- Neat to see the response of Bryce's performance in the locker room
- He's completely earned the trust of his teammates
- Was playing with great pad level
- Big moment for him to get over the hump
- Excited about ability to distribute carries to other backs that flashed during the game
- Ky Thomas was fantastic in pass protection, 10 out of 10
- Irving showed ability to get loos and keeps growing
