Michigan State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes: Nebraska
9/26/2026 9:50:00 PM | Football
Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald
Opening Statement…
All right, thanks, everybody, for being here tonight. First of all, a really special start to the game honoring three that we've lost: two Spartans and a Cornhusker. To have the commemorative coin with Mike Sadler and Sam Foltz apart of it, something that Jim Delany started a number of years ago, it was obviously sad to lose those guys, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families. I believe Karen (Sadler) was at the game today, and then also we lost Mylan Hicks shortly after, and I believe his mom was here, Renee Hill. So, we lift them up in our thoughts and prayers. We talked to our guys and educated them on the tragedies that all three guys faced, and hopefully, just by honoring those young men and those families, give them a little comfort, or at least a great memory of the three that they lost.
Segueing to the football game, obviously, congratulations to Nebraska. They've got a very good football team. I said that when I stood up here earlier in the week, and we made enough mistakes to make it easy for them. We lost the turnover battle 3-0. Obviously, not starting fast was something that we felt like we needed to do, and we did not do that. And then the late touchdown that we gave up in the second quarter put us back, now we're in chase mode again.
I thought we responded at halftime and came out and moved the ball, but then the turnovers were costly, to say the least. To lose a turnover battle 3-0 against a team as explosive as they are is not going to give you an opportunity to win the football game. Beyond that, we've just got to play with more discipline. The amount of penalties and areas where we're just not executing clean enough is on me. It's my responsibility. Like I told the guys after the game, I believe in them, we're going to stick together, and we're going to get to work on getting those things fixed and corrected. But the key thing is we've got to stick together, so that's what I expect that they'll do.
So, with that, I'll answer all your questions.
On whether a team can win when losing the turnover battle 3-0 and getting out-sacked 6-0…
Yeah, score touchdowns, right? We didn't do that on drives. But no, you can't beat yourself. I've said this now, and obviously it's my responsibility to get it fixed. We turned the ball over, we had untimely penalties, we block a punt, we get called for holding. Those things you can't do and expect to win games.
On if he got a clear look at the holding call on the blocked punt…
We played so poorly. It doesn't matter. We need to play cleaner, play better. It's on us. It's on me.
On the injury situation with running back Cam Edwards and linebacker Jordan Hall, and keeping morale up with the "next man up" mentality…
I don't have an update for you. We'll obviously be getting further testing and things of that nature here throughout the next couple days, so I don't have anything to update on that. Obviously, the guys didn't finish the game.
Early in my time here, maybe Day 1 or Week 1, I said we're going to need everybody. When I made that statement, I meant that everybody's got to get ready to play. My challenge to the guys in the locker room afterwards was: some of you may have gotten your first taste of playing football at this level and in the Big Ten, and my hope is that's a motivator to help them continue to get better. But it's just a next-man-up mentality, and that's what I expect our guys will do.
On where the team goes from here after starting Big Ten play 0-1 and dealing with injuries…
We go into a new week. We've got a lot of football left. We've played four games, right? We've got eight left. And we'll get to work. That's what you do: you fix the things you can correct. We've got to take care of the ball, got to get the ball out of our hands, we've got to block better at the point of attack, we've got to call better calls. Defensively, we've got to execute. We can't get untimely penalties. Can't get untimely penalties in the kick game, right? You guys saw it. We've got to stop beating ourselves. You can't beat two teams and expect to win a Big Ten game.
On transferring his enthusiasm and positivity to the team for Monday's practice…
If they don't show up that way, then I'll probably tell them to leave and go home. Go back to your dorm, go back to your apartment, we'll play with the ones we've got. I don't anticipate that happening. We're going to attack this thing. I knew what I was getting into when I came here. We're rebuilding a program, and it's one step at a time.
Patience as a competitor is awful, and I don't have any patience. So, I'll get to work tonight. I'll grade everything, find the solutions that I see, meet with the staff tomorrow, and we'll get right to work together on game plans starting Monday morning. That's what you do: win or lose, it's the same thing. You get back to work.
On how he would describe the team's identity four weeks in compared to the standard they want to reach…
I think we're a work in progress. I've said that now for a month. We're working through areas that we've got to get better at fundamentally, and we're not quite there yet. That's on us as coaches. We've got to make sure we're putting our guys in the best position to be successful, and then they've got to learn and grow from each rep they get. And then we've just got to stick together and keep fighting.
On asking for patience from himself and the fan base during a rebuild…
I can't ask the fans to do anything else besides show up, have a great time, and be our 12th man. I can't ask them to do anything other than that, and I appreciate that they have for three great home games, so we're very thankful for that.
I'm not a noise listener. Even when I told you last week about the "rat poison," there was no listening to that. And when you lose a tough game the way we did tonight, you just got to stay the course, and that's what we'll do.
On having only one offensive touchdown for the second straight week and finding offensive consistency…
Well, we've got to take care of the football first. We can't be across the 50 and turn the ball over or push ourselves back. I've got to look at the tape to see exactly why some of those sacks happened. Is it on us as a staff, did we ask them to do some things where we held the ball, did we get beat, or did they beat the protection? It kind of falls into those categories. And then we'll put together a plan and make sure we get that corrected and fixed.
On what led to costly self-inflicted penalties down the stretch after playing cleaner in previous weeks…
I think just a lack of focus and discipline, and that's on me as the head coach. We've been really good up to this point, and we lost our cool at times. I thought we overreacted at times, and the rest of it will be things I've got to look at on tape. But those are the ones that I saw.
On evaluating quarterback Alessio Milivojevic's performance, pass protection, and decision-making…
I've got to look at the tape and get a sense of where those errors were that maybe we had offensively. That's the way it works for the head coach and the quarterback: you get way too much credit, and the blame is what it is. If you can't handle it, then you shouldn't be in the role. He's a really intelligent young man that really cares, and I know he'll work his tail off to get it right.
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On defensive edge rusher Kenny Soares Jr. losing his cool on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as a captain…
Like I said, a lack of focus and a lack of discipline will get you beat, and that's a play that we can't have.
On the positives and bright spots he saw to build on moving forward…
I thought Jaziun Patterson ran his tail off. I thought he ran with some physicality and some violence. I thought there were times that we moved the ball very efficiently. Offensively, we just got across the 50 and they did a great job of not allowing us to get points.
There were some things that happened that were one block away or a better decision on a punt return where we blocked it, things of that nature. I told them we're just going to keep pounding the rock, man. I told them in the locker room: keep pounding it, keep pounding it, and eventually it breaks. You never know which one it's going to be, but we've just got to keep pounding.
On Jayden Savoury's overturned sideline catch and the impact of the replay review…
I thought there were two plays that looked very similar. That's all I'll say. From my vantage point and the replays I saw, one was upheld, and one supposedly had indisputable video evidence. That's the barometer, the threshold that has to be met and over, and that's what they ruled. I look forward to seeing the angles that they saw that were indisputable video evidence, because I did not see that on the replays that I had access to. But that was a heck of a catch by Jayden.
On whether the team was responding during that juncture in the second half…
We kept fighting. You guys were in the building: there was no fold. We were beating ourselves, and the guys kept battling. We're going to be fine. We're not fine right now, but we're going to be fine. We're going to build a program on bedrock. We're not there yet, but it's just going to be a relentless pursuit of getting there.
I believe in these guys. We've just got to get them to play cleaner, play smarter, and play with more discipline. You can't do the things we're doing right now and expect to win. We'll look at the guys, and if there are continual things from the same guys, then jobs are on the line. We'll just keep playing more guys.
I also want to credit Nebraska. I thought they played very well. They've got a player-of-the-year-level quarterback back there, and he made some plays with his legs and did a nice job.
I appreciate you guys covering us. Have a great night. Thanks so much. I'll see you this week. Go Green.
Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule
Opening statement…
Well, first of all, thanks for coming all this way. First of all, credit to Michigan State. I thought they had a good plan. We watched them against Notre Dame. We knew how frustrating their defense would be. I think (Michigan State Defensive Coordinator) Joe Rossi does a great job.Â
I'd be remiss if I first, I hope, I talked to tailback Cam Edwards at halftime as he was walking out. I hope he's okay. He's a great player for them. They had a couple guys go down. I certainly hope (senior linebacker) Jordan Hall is okay. He's a great kid, and we had a couple guys (with injuries as well). Obviously, (freshman running back) Jamal (Rule) went down. He tried to warm up and go back again, but he was ruled out for the game so we'll see how he is this week. I'll talk to you guys on Wednesday about it. Wednesday, or I guess we'll just release a report now. But I don't have anything else other than that. I think there was some hope that he was trying to get himself back going, so it didn't look like there was anything that was, hopefully, too bad.Â
And then, (junior wide receiver) Jacory (Barney Jr.) went down, was out for the rest of the game, and credit to D Bell (senior wide receiver Demetrius Bell), a bunch of those other guys stepping up and playing. (Junior wide receiver) Quinn Clark, I thought stepped up and really helped us in some of those runs, and (sophomore running back Isaiah) Mozee, and really, really proud of (fifth-year running back) Vince Genatone. He's a hard-nosed, blue-collar dude that plays great for us on special teams. He's been a short-yardage back for us, and for him to get in the end zone twice.Â
And for our team, there's certainly a lot to work on. But to be able to go down and score in two minutes right before the half in a Big Ten game, to be able to have – I don't, you guys probably know better than me. What six minutes left? 6:58? I don't know what it was. We had the ball. You guys might know better, but to hold the ball that long, and we really didn't want to be too aggressive early. But then when they started calling timeouts, we realized, 'hey, we're going to have to be a little bit more aggressive.' So we threw the football to get down around there. So to be able to execute those things, and then be plus three on the turnover margin on the road is not something that's very easy to do. Donnie and (senior defensive back Andrew) Marsh (Marshall) and those guys all made really good plays. So really firing up for the guys. It was a great first step, and we'll get back to next week.
On Nebraska's pass rush influencing MSU's line…Â
We brought some pressures. We let a few off the hook. I mean right before the one touchdown drive here, we had them third-and-18, and we ran past the quarterbacks. So there's still some of those things that are hurting us, but when we brought pressure, we were able to hold up. They made some nice plays in the passing game. They're very similar to what Indiana's doing. It's sort of running, locking the box, and if you bring support, they block it. If you pressure, they're going to check the play, and so there was a lot of times in that down, but getting past the 30-yard line where we just had said, 'Okay, that's it. Let's just go play man.' They haven't been a tempo organization. They went tempo. (Associate Head) Coach (Phil) Snow, the best there is. On Monday, he was like, 'You better practice tempo,' and so we did. Can't say that necessarily always showed up, but I did like the rush of those guys. I did like them affecting the quarterback. They did a nice job on their end to try to minimize some of that stuff, and we wish we'd come away with two or three more kept them in the pocket some more.
On the turnover margin…Â
We kind of came in at halftime, and whatever the score was at halftime, we were up by 13 or 17 or whatever, guys were saying like, 'Hey, it's 0-0, it's 0-0,' and I challenged them on that. I was like, 'Get all of that out of your mind! Like, it doesn't matter what the score is. Like, just why would the score ever affect how we play? I don't care if we're up by 30, down by 30, or 0-0.' I just made the point in there, Troy gave me a couple scores where guys were up and came back. I just said to them, 'just play.' I think that's been one of the, as we've tried to grow what we're doing, we try to get them out of all of that and just be like 'hey, just attack, attack, attack.' So, that play by Marshall, you're up, a lot of guys would just sit there and let them catch that ball and just tackle them and he's not doing that like he's trusting himself. They tried to hit him on a double move early in the game, so he knocked the first one away. They ran a double move. We played it. Marshall's become a really really really good player. But I loved, to your point, the timing of it. But it wasn't like we were playing. I was happy that we weren't playing against the clock. Like we were just playing. Now offensively, it has to be a little bit more situational. That last touchdown to Genatone is kind of a situation where we were trying to take a shot in the end zone to kick the field, but we really don't want to check the ball down. But you know, Vince (Genatone) did a nice job. I think Quinn (Clark) had a nice block over there to get him into the end zone. I was sprinting down there, getting ready to call a timeout. So I think there were some things like that that were really good. But I do love the fact that I never felt our guys panic. They just kept attacking, and that's the type of team we'd like to be.
On Vince Genatone's performance…
Well, I'm assuming he'll be one of the guys who comes up here, so I don't want to speak for him. I'm not a big game-ball guy and all those things, but I did give it him, not because he walked on here, because to me he's a scholarship player. Kids 235 pounds and runs four four, but because he was in there Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night trying to improve on the shield on punt. Not him but like our whole group right because he goes over there, he played like (Michigan State graduate running back) Cam Edwards half the week right so short guard goes over there. Then he goes over and plays Cam Edwards. He gets hit to the ground and all that, and he knew what to do. I mean, we put him in there for that short yardage on that third-and-one, got the first down, and right away went to a drop back pass and like he knew exactly who to pick up, where to go, and so it's not like 'oh that's that's a cute story.' No, he went in there and executed. Again, I think I said it last week, so many people are like, 'Hey, just give me a chance. Give me a chance.' He doesn't ask me for a chance. He just, when he gets a chance, he takes advantage of it. Wish we could have done a better job on that fourth-and-one, for him becauseI thought he did a nice job. You saw Ant (senior quarterback Anthony Colandrea) come in there flying, but again, Michigan State's a tough, tough, tough physical team, and we knew that nothing would be given to us.
On Colandrea's throw in the 44-yard touchdown…Â
Yeah, what was that? The second drive or the second drive? So I mean, again, we're not, at least I'm not too concerned about 'Hey, this what happened before.' I think it's just more X's and O's to me. It's like, 'hey, they are bringing the safeties.' First play the game, they bring Mike strong. They're pressuring us, they're blitzing us. So if people are doing that, we have to find a way to throw the ball over their heads, right? And so for the rest of the game, we saw less, and then they're playing man. So we have to run our crack toss. And 'hey, they're playing too high. We have to run the ball. We have to run the quarterback.' So to me, it's Dana and Jeep and Glenn and Sad and Dekeel and all those and EJ those guys like reacting to the things that they're seeing. But if people are going to bring their safeties down to stop the run they might hold you early on in the run game, but then you have to come back and hurt them in something else. And so, you go back to Coach Osborne and that series offense he talks about. It's like, 'hey, if they're playing this, they can't stop this.' So we were able to get behind them, and then for the rest of the game, like there was way more attention paid to that to the field over route, which is a route that the same route they hit Notre Dame on last week. It's kind of a quarters beater that they don't usually give up, and it was just an amazing throw and catch. Then I saw Stacy go back. I was like, "Oh, he'll check the ball down here, and he made an illegal play. But for me, it's less emotional and more like just pure tactical. Like, 'hey, they're doing this. We have to go to this,' and then we execute it. Now, you're trying to put people in a bind. I think Anthony does a good job of that, and so does Dana.
On the driving sequence in the third quarter when it was 24-13…Â
I was going down there because the guys in the box, Sean, Pat and those guys were screaming like, he's not even on the headset and I can hear him through the headset. Like 'he didn't catch it. He didn't catch it.' So I was running down. Typically, people say he didn't catch it, and then I'm like he didn't catch it, and I put it on people, and then they're gonna get kind of quiet, and they were like 'he didn't catch it, he didn't catch it.' So I was getting ready to call timeout. Like 'Are they reviewing it? Are they reviewing it?' And really good communication from the officials. Same on, you know they called Makai's touchdown, touchdown, so we run everyone off, and then they gave me a little time there to get the guys back off the bench and run another play from the one-yard line. But I was prepared to review it if, as they were giving us feeds in the box. This year there's the TV feed is in the box. This year for the first time, we didn't have it the first three games, or maybe I think one of the three we had it right, but we didn't have it versus the MAC schools, but we have it this week. So our guys are just utilizing the technology that's allowed, and so I was prepared to call it, and I couldn't even see it. I just have to trust the guys in the box for me.
On Colandrea being able to improvise…
I think you watch a lot of college football like those are the those are the guys you win with. But I also want to say Anthony, his moxie and his toughness and, like a lot of guys when you're up 31-13 there at the end of the game and you call roll out for him and I said to him, 'just don't get hit. Like, just keep the ball in balance and make the clock run. If it's there, great. If not, just get down.' Right, and of course he cuts inside and he gets a touchdown. So I know he can handle that. I teased him about it, but we didn't want to kick a field goal at the end and have it blocked or something like – not that I think our field was going to get blocked – but that's just the situation y up by that many points, 18, run the ball, and he does extend a ton of plays. It's very challenging. But on the flip side, to their quarterback number 11, (Michigan State redshirt sophomore quarterback) Alessio (Milivojevic), he extended plays. You know what I'm saying? So I think it's always about 'Can we win in man?' We felt like we won in man, but 'Can we keep the quarterback in the pocket?' We did. We got to him a lot. He did make some, but I think even the backed-up third down, six minutes left is still a ball game. To run a quarterback draw and get the first down is awesome.Â
On the special teams and the early penalty on Michigan State…
Yeah, I mean certainly result wise you would say yeah but I mean they called defensive holding which gets somewhat open. So you take that out I thought we punted the ball well, they fumbled one of the punts, I would have loved to us getting it. Like they squib the ball down on the 50 thinking they get us inside the 15 and Isaiah (Mozee) takes it back out the 25. Those are huge, huge plays in the game. I don't know if Quinn (Clark) got his hand on that pump block or not. So I think those are really crucial plays. I mean, after a game like this, we're going to go back and be super critical of certainly everything. But I mean, the guys, this is LeVar Woods over there, right? This is Michigan State. We came here a couple years ago, and they got after us. And then, happy to see Kenneth Williams out there, but I know he got one kind of short kick. We got to the 30, but tackle him inside the 19, inside the 18. So for me, like, I think people, like, I think all of us as coaches, we see the wow plays, you know, like in special teams. But to me, it's like those little, hey, they start with the ball at the 14, they start with the ball to 15, certainly you know why they called that on the kid. And I haven't truly seen the play, and in the first couple games, people, because we have such good coverage, people are coming all out after our punts, and we have schematically and player-wise, we just kind of keep tweaking for the first of things we see, so the rest of them, like the game is a tight game. The guy's held up in the punt. We just have to continue to put a premium on protection for Archie so he can get back to hitting the balls he wants. What he's doing because he's such a great team guy is rushing and kicking it, and we worked on that this week. You know, again they dropped the ball. Wish we would have gotten that ball. It'd been great to be plus four, but we'll have to just keep accelerating it as we continue into play. But I don't want to minimize who we've went against, right? Because these guys are, Coach Woods is one of the best there is, and they've got good players. And Coach Fitzgerald has always been really good at that. We knew they were going to be physical. Kenny Sores, I mean, what a great player. Jordan Hall, pray he's okay, but they'll win a lot of games.
On Nebraska's history…Â
This respectfully, you know how I feel about you. Means nothing to me. Like my whole point to these guys are, we've been here. We played. We faced, you know, we faced a good team on the road. We went on the road. We did what we had to do. And you think about, you know, like some of the guys are there. Now I do want to, I do want to love on the guys who were here two three years ago. A couple of them sent me a quote like, "Hey, you know, we laid seeds here three years ago, that today we'll go reap. And so, I just don't think you can win in today's college football talking too much about yesterday or too much about tomorrow. It's just with this group, and so the highlights that I'm fired up about are like, got guys banged up, other guys came in, whether it's Quinn Clark or D Battle and Isaiah catching the ball in four minute. Mozee looked dynamic out there today. Mehki had some great. I'm so happy to see those guys. Luke continue. You know, I think it's just more to me that we wanted to go one and zero, but I can promise you, I can promise you, I get on this plane and watch this tape. I'm going to be in the office tomorrow morning. I'm going to watch tape one more time, and I will be on to Maryland. And I don't want to hear about – for our team. I don't. I don't want to hear too much about this game. I don't want to hear too much about last week's game. I don't want to hear too much about Maryland's other games. It's just straight tactical, because they're going to do one thing in the game and they're going to do something different. You know what I mean? And we're going to have to attack. So fired up for the guys. But you know, just like I didn't panic when everyone was saying, "Hey, I think you know, you guys are not going to be very good this year. I'm not going to start saying, "Hey, we're going to be good this year. We just were 31-13 today and we'll try to be plus one tomorrow, and so I don't know if that's boring. I know, but I've learned to be a little bit more boring.
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Michigan State Graduate Safety Nikai Martinez
I don't feel like it was anything special that they did. I think it was more on us, like little details that we were messing up. They were taking advantage. We let the quarterback get out of the pocket a few times when we weren't supposed to. I feel like it was more us than them.
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On managing back-to-back losses...
We've got to stay the course. We still have a long season left. This doesn't define who we are. We have a lot to reflect on. At the end of the day, we've got to be able to look ourselves in the mirror and be real with ourselves. We're going to be good. We just have to be able to take accountability and fix the little mistakes that we're having.
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Thoughts on momentum swings after penalties and mistakes...
First of all, we know adversity comes. We have to be able to handle that in any situation. Like I was saying earlier, it's just the little stuff that we have to fix, like little penalties. We have to be able to get off the field and stay off the field. We can't give them stuff. It's hard to win games in the Big Ten when you give them stuff.Â
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On adjusting with team injuries…
Yeah, it's the same message. Everybody has to be ready. You never know when your time is coming and expect it and be ready to prepare through the moment. And that's all I can really say about it. You have to be ready at any moment no matter if you are a scout guy, because one person goes down, you just bump up in the depth chart. Another person goes down and you bump up again. It happens fast. We definitely have trust in Dion and Caleb Wheatland and those boys. It's nothing really different communicating. We have to over communicate every play even when Jordan Hall and Brady were here. We still had the same message, it just over communicate and everybody has to hone in on their job.
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On last of clean play and feeling its impact…
Yeah, it's not like we're like, aw we just turned the ball over. It's okay we're getting another opportunity to go get a stop and get off the field again. Like it's not really the other way around to where, like we're pointing fingers at each other. It's okay defense, let's go take the opportunity to play football. Let's go play football.
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Michigan State Graduate Edge Kenny Soares Jr.
On the unsportsmanlike penalty...
I've just got to be better. I talked to my guys and told them that I didn't give my best today, and told them that tomorrow's a new day. Eight more games are guaranteed, so we have to continue on after that.
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On two games without forcing a turnover...
We've just got to be more intentional. Just being able to constantly hone in on the details and being able to take the ball away. Being able to punch the ball out, being able to go and cover.
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On lack of clean play and feeling its impact…
I feel like, you never prepare for that you just have to react to that sudden change you know. The question asked before when the offense turns the ball over the defense, it gives us more time on the field, that's more tv time for us to go out there and make a stop. That's when you have to hone in on the mistakes. You know we don't plan on the mistakes, we just go out there and do our job.
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On getting pressure on the QB early in the game and how the defense can pressure more…
Just got to work better together. You know especially give props to him, he's a good quarterback, he's great with his legs and the way that he used them, he's a great special dude. So, we just got to be better rushing as all 4, if we send blitzes, whoever and however many were sending, we have to be better with our leverage as a defensive unit. So, we're honing in on and most definitely going to get after this week.
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Redshirt sophomore quarterback Alessio Milivojevic
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On the turnover battle…
That falls on me. I have to take leadership, I have to take control, have to put the ball in the playmakers' hands, and get the ball out faster. 100% on me. Pretty mad about it right now because I know how hard our offense works, and for me to turn the ball over multiple times and then have sacks like that, it falls on my shoulders.
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On the mindset and morale on the sidelines when there are injuries…
It sucks, but it is a part of the sport. We are praying for our teammates. We don't want anyone to go down or get injured; sadly, it is a part of the sport. It is the next man up. Everyone works hard in practice, and it is the next man up when anyone goes down.
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On losing a guy like Cam Edwards- what does it mean to you emotionally…
It is tough. All I said to him was, 'I love him, I'm praying for him, and here for whatever he needs'. I am praying for a fast recovery for him. It is tough for our team to lose a guy like that.
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On the amount of penalties…
Yeah, we just need to play cleaner overall. I mean it's not something we intentionally go out there and do. We want to play our cleanest football every single week, and it's just something that happens. It's a part of the game, and we just need to clean it up for next week.
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On the touchdown drive compared to the drives that had trouble getting going…
I think on that drive, we kind of sped things up, and kind of pushed the tempo with them. I think they were getting tired a little bit, so I think speeding up helped us out on that drive, but I think ultimately going back to the end, we just need to start faster. That's one of our key points to winning is start fast and finish strong, and that's something we did neither of today, and we need to just get back to the grind and yeah, just start faster overall
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On being the bedrock part of building a program but still trying to compete…
I think as a player, you go out to win every single game. Obviously, you're trying to build up a program. Um, you know, it's obviously it's coach's first year. We want to build this program into something great, where it should be, at the top of the Big Ten, where it really should be, but as a player you want to go out and win every single game, it's unacceptable to lose the game. You know, no matter first year, tenth year, fifteenth year, of a coaches process, it's unacceptable to lose a game, but we want to win every single game."
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Graduate offensive lineman Trent Fraley
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On team moving the ball and getting negative-yardage plays on drives…
Just not how we want to play. We want to play complementary football. We want positive drives every single play. We talk about how important it is to not have negative drive plays.
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On the plan moving forward…
We know we have 24 hours to soak in the loss and get mad, but you are just trying to bounce back, watch film and see what we could have done better, and move on to Wisconsin.
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Nebraska Defensive Lineman Williams Nwaneri
On the sacks…
I say we were just coming in trying to play our brand of football, trying to play complementary football, and just you know, our DC said something like make the quarterback see ghosts. So just playing our brand of football, just getting after him.Â
On winning first Big Ten game on the road…
I say we wanted to come out here and make a statement, show everybody who we are. Going on the road and just winning the Big Ten itself is not easy. I say it's a momentum booster for us, going into the Big Ten play.Â
Nebraska Defensive Lineman Jahsear Whittington
On the sacks…
It's kind of as simple as he said. We've been really heavy on it for the last three weeks. We haven't played a Big Ten opponent like this or power four opponent, but we were still letting the quarterback get out a little bit. So that was something we emphasized: staying top shoulder, getting a hand up, and just finishing on the quarterback. And like you said, making them see ghosts. And we got a model, we don't want any quarterback finishing in the game with us.Â
On the forced turnovers…
Very important, honestly. It's the complementary, complementary football. Take the ball away, score, keep the ball out of their hands, stop the run. So I think definitely after we've been stressing about it, and it'll be days in camp, we might have gone back-to-back days getting two and two and one, so I feel like for it to actually come alive, we actually see the difference maker in me. Like after that last pick, you could just feel like it's over, and that's what we want. We want to keep punching, keep punching, keep working the cut until we just see you bleed out and just put your hands down.Â
On winning first Big Ten game on the road…
For me, honestly, I was just having fun out there. It's a Big Ten game. It's away. It's my first game in this conference. All I'm thinking about is how everybody said I was too small to be here, and I'm out there. I'm having a ball with my teammates, we're winning football games. We're violent. I don't think it gets any better than that. So I'm just blessed to be able to do it this week, be able to do it again next week, and keep doing it with the same guys.
On the strip sack…
Donnie has been the most consistent guy since I've been here. So it doesn't really surprise me. He had the same sack like that last week. It doesn't even surprise us. But Donnie, man, I tip my hat to him because he always shows up, not just showing up when the ball is there, when a play needs to be made, but shows up every day, every recovery session, every film session, every meeting. You just always want to see Donnie. So for me, I just say credit to him because his consistency has caught up with him, and now you know God is just blessing him with his plays out there. So I just hope God continues to bless him.
Nebraska Junior Running Back Mekhi Nelson
On the drive that made it 31-13…
I feel as though we just kept saying keep executing, I was telling Ant, I went up to him and I was like this is just day one install just execute the day one plays and the things will start falling into place.
On Vincent Genatone scoring…
Oh man, I'm not gonna lie. I was probably more excited for his touchdowns than I ever was for any of my touchdowns, just seeing Genatone go out there and being able to show what everybody knows, everybody and on the staff knows that he could do it. It's just really amazing. That's my brother, and like it felt like I scored.
On playing with Colandrea…
It's great. Anthony is just one hell of a player. I've never been around anybody like him. So I just know that going into games like these, I don't have to worry about him giving his all, and he doesn't have to worry about us giving him our all. When we have a backfield, including the quarterback and all of the running backs, even Kwinten Ives and Conor Booth, it just feels great having playmakers that can make plays on any given down.
On the energy from the defense…
Oh, Coach Rhule always expresses complementary football. The defense playing good, special teams playing good, and offense playing good. So when we have guys out there on the defense, out there making plays, and just having fun, doing the thing that they love. It's just it. I feel like it gives us extra motivation to be like, all right, let's capitalize on that. Let's go score. I feel as though it shows that we're not complacent. We're not like any of the other teams in the past. You know, people always want to throw things out. Oh, we haven't been four and zero since this. We haven't won a conference opener since this long. But what we like to say is that's not them, and they're not us. So just coming out here, is just as great.
Nebraska Fifth Year Running Back Vincent Genatone
On his opportunity and performance…
Yeah, I've just been praying for a long time for this, just praising God for everything that I've had, all the trials and all the success that's come with it, praying for it and just and for it to actually come through is just an amazing feeling. I really want to give a lot of credit to Coach EJ for preparing me for this. He pushes everybody in our room to be the best, and we pride ourselves on being the best running back room in the nation. And the fact that anyone of us can go out in the field and do that any time is kind of what we want to be the standard at Nebraska.
On playing with Colandrea…
I mean, I'd say the ability to extend plays and you know when we have the best receivers in the nation, you know sometimes they can't get open and for him to be able to extend the plays and make things happen at any time is a blessing for our team.
On what's going through his head right now…
Yeah, it's definitely surreal. It's not what I expected today to go like. I expected to go out on special teams, hopefully make plays out there, and just that and be a leader for the other guys. I just took the opportunities that were given to me and tried to do the best I could with it.
On how he felt scoring…
I mean, it was just exhilarating. I was just trying to get to my teammates and you know thank them because it takes 11 guys. I didn't do much. I just did my routine play just like we always do. So I was just trying to celebrate them.
Nebraska Senior Quarterback Anthony Colandrea
On the resiliency of the offense…
Yeah, shout out to these guys. They both put their tails off. All of them, all backs did. Offensive line did a great job tonight protecting. Receivers made plays down the field. I think the early struggle of the second half, we gotta we gotta fix that. We gotta clean that up, and it's awesome we get to go back in tomorrow and watch tape and clean that bad stuff up.
On the Big Ten road experience…
Yeah, no, I thought that football team was really good. Michigan State is a really good football team. Man, prayers again, they had a couple players go down, but no they had a really good football team. Their coach, he's a great coach. The defensive coordinator did a lot of good things on defense, changing stuff up, and it kind of made us just go back and just we just had to do what we do, and we kind of what Mekhi just said. Just go back to the daily basis stuff and just execute a little.
On the first touchdown…
Yeah, we had that play kind of schemed up, but it really didn't have the look that we wanted. But Kwazi had leverage in the guy. The corner kind of made a really good play coming over the top, but that was a hell of a grab by Kwazi.
On the last play in the first half…
Yeah. So when Coach Holg tempoed it, kind of like looked at him and told him about the run, because we just haven't repped it together, you know. But no, Vince did a great job getting open. As soon as I threw it to him, I'm looking at the clock. I'm like, man, go score before this thing runs out, right? But no, he made a great play right there.
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