Notable Quotes from Nebraska vs Texas Tech

There is much to discuss about Saturday's loss to Texas Tech; play calling, lack of discipline, competition at quarterback. Here is what the players, coaches and media had to say on those topics and more.

Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini

On Texas Tech’s 82-yard fumble return

“We stopped and you can’t stop. You can’t stop on the play. I give them credit for doing it. We didn’t play good enough to win the football game in any phase of the game. We got beat. I give Texas Tech credit. We did not play good football. We didn’t play well. We got outcoached. We got outplayed. Simple as that.”

On if not having reserve I-back Rex Burkhead hurt the offense today

“No. We have plenty of capable guys out there.”

On the game

“We didn’t execute from the beginning to the end. We didn’t make plays. We didn’t execute. On offense, we didn’t come off the ball. We didn’t catch the ball. We didn’t make the right reads at quarterback. We didn’t run the ball effectively. On defense, we didn’t make plays. We had guys there, we didn’t make plays. We didn’t play well enough. You have to make plays in this game. You have to step up and make plays. We didn’t do it. It’s simple as that. You can sit there and ask all of the questions you want in the world. It comes down to we got beat because we didn’t make plays. We got outplayed and outcoached.”

On NU’s play-calling

“I thought the play-calling wasn’t bad. Always on play-calling you want some things back and there are always some things you could change, but we didn’t execute. We missed some open receivers; we didn’t play well up front. We didn’t get the ground game going like the way we thought we could. When that doesn’t happen, it’s pretty hard to call plays when you’re not executing the calls. We missed some wide open receivers. They played better than us in every phase.”

On Coach Pelini’s message at halftime

“Come on out. We need to come out and execute and play better. It’s a simple game. Do what you’re coached to do. When you’re there, execute, make the play. We gave them some things today which was very disappointing on the defensive side of the ball. We were in position to make plays and we didn’t. On offense, we didn’t play well on any phase. We didn’t play good enough. On special teams, we didn’t play good enough. We finally get a touchdown there and get within 14 points, we give up a 40-yard return. We played soft. We had too many penalties. In any phase, we didn’t play well enough to beat a good football team and they’re a good football team.”

On reserve quarterback Cody Green

“He did OK. He’s a young guy. He did some things that were good and did some things that are going to need corrected.”

On starting quarterback Zac Lee

“He didn’t execute the offense well enough. We didn’t help him as coaches well enough. Like I said, in a lot of different things we didn’t get the job done.”

Nebraska Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh

On how to describe the day

"Tough, very tough. We obviously, as a whole team, did not play well enough to win. The score reflects that. We just have to learn from this, watch film and move on."

On if they were shocked with how Texas Tech drove down the field

"I wasn’t just because it really wasn’t them, especially in that first drive. It was luck. We were obviously on the ball. It was just mistakes and things that we could have made plays on and we didn’t."

On how important it is to keep the team on the right path

"Very important. I think this team is very mature and strong as a unit. Obviously it is going to bug a lot of us, especially the guys that were playing. It’s something that happens. We knew we didn’t play well enough. We saw that in the first half. We knew we had to pick it up at some point in time. We started to, but the things weren’t clicking on both sides of the ball. It’s only our own fault. Texas Tech played well, they definitely played well. They didn’t make any mistakes, obviously and they had their chances and made the most of them."

On if there is anything that surprised him about the way Texas Tech played today

"They didn’t really pull out any new wrinkles in their offense. We just did not make plays to defend them. You have to do that, especially being defense, you have to stop them. We obviously didn’t make the plays. The important plays that led to touchdowns for them and we didn’t come up with any turnovers, which is a big thing we want to do. We want to do that every single game because that gives us a boost on defense as well as on offense."

Nebraska Offensive Lineman Jacob Hickman

On how he would explain the offense’s troubles today

"Execution was the problem. I don’t know why at this point in this game. We didn’t execute the plays that were called. If you don’t do that you’re not going to win the game."

On what you say to Zac Lee after struggling today

"I don’t think anybody out there on offense (had a good game today). You just have to say, 'Go out there and compete next week and pick it up in practice.' We obviously have to work harder, because we’re definitely not giving up. We’re going to have to get tougher on the offensive side of the ball and get better in practice. Him and Cody (Green) are just going to have to compete to make themselves better."

On if Texas Tech really stepped up today

"You have to give them credit. I’ve said all week that they are a great defense. If we slept on them we were going to get into trouble. I don’t think we slept on them, but they played the game that we expected them to play and we didn’t play ours. You have to give them credit. I am disappointed in our performance."

Nebraska Wide Receiver Khiry Cooper

On if he thought his first touchdown would come in a loss

"No, not exactly. I mean, it was a blessing to be able to get it, but it would have been nice to come out with a win also."

On how tough that one is to swallow

"It's really tough, but you still have to give credit to Texas Tech. They came in here and they played well and they did what they had to do."

On what the mood is like in the locker room

"It's just one of those things where it's hard to sink in because we know that we didn't play our best ball today."

On if he felt like it was a good week of practice leading up to the game

"Yeah, I honestly did. I I felt like we had a great week of practice. Today was just one of those days I guess and we just didn't play our best ball."

On if he feels the wide receiver position is open competition right now

"I think it's always open competition. If you go out and produce on a consistent basis then you have a opportunity to start on a consistent basis. Coach Gilmore, he's always fair about it, so if you're doing what you need to do you'll be able to play."

On what Cody Green was like when he came into the huddle

"He reacted great. He held his composure. He came in there and threw a touchdown."

On how much the momentum shifted early in the game

"I don't think it got knocked out of whack too much. We still wanted to do what we wanted to do, obviously it just didn't happen for us."

On what they need to do as a team after the loss

"We just need to come back and have a great week of practice and get ready for Iowa State."

Nebraska Defensive End Pierre Allen

On if receiving the Blackshirts is bittersweet after today

"We worked hard all season. I thought we deserved them. The coaches thought we deserved them, but I would be lying if I said (losing after getting them) didn't mean anything. If we would have won, it really would have meant something."

On how tough this loss is

"It's real tough. We had a great game plan, but we just didn't execute as a offense or a defense."

On what he thought of Texas Tech's quarterback

"He was great. The offensive line was great. He was great. He played great. He came out there and played great for them."

Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach

On quarterback Steven Sheffield's play

“I thought he played a real good first half. I thought we had a hollow spot in the middle, not just him, but the offensive unit, and then I thought he played good at the end. I think when things start going right for you, you try to make just a little extra happen, and maybe we got ahead of ourselves a little bit. But he brings a lot to the table as far as enthusiasm for the whole team.”

On if there was any doubt about how his team would respond in the atmosphere

“Not really to me. I felt that they'd come out better in the second half. It was a wild atmosphere, this is one of the greatest places in the world to play college football, there's no question as far as the setting, as far as the people. I thought whichever team our defense played for would win the game. We have blackshirts there at Texas Tech too. Every one of our guys is wearing a black shirt underneath their pads. I'm proud to say the blackshirts won this one.”

On how important it was to score on the first possession

“I think it's really important, and I think (Sheffield) was really instrumental in that. I think he does a great job just with the whole team. He is one of our captains this week. He was really instrumental in having all of our guys excited to play. Then he went over there and kind of put his money where his mouth is or whatever. That's basically one of the worst cliches I've used in a long time, I'm usually better at making them up. But anyway, he went out there and elevated his level of play, marched down there and scored. I think it electrified the whole defense, the entire offense for sure, and I think our team. After that, I think a lot of the energy involved with the first drive offensively and defensively elevated our play in the first half. And then the second half, I didn't think our defense missed a beat. I thought we had a pretty good sized hollow spot offensively, and that's too bad. We just need to coach them better and maybe it won't happen.”

On if the defensive performance on the day ranks high in his career coaching at Texas Tech

“I think so. I think it does for a couple reasons, and I think one reason it does is because, like I said, when things weren't really going our way, we were losing yards on offense as quick as we were gaining them for a period of time out there, and our defense just stepped up over and over. We tested them in about every way we could. Bad field position, good return on the punt or the kickoff, offense gets a three and out, then another three and out, when you think of this defense when you've got to make it happen, they just kept stepping up. I thought it was a real credit to our D-line, which is a real quick unit. Really I thought both D-lines had a pretty big day."

Texas Tech Wide Receiver Detron Lewis

On the game overall

"I felt we came out pretty excited. The tempo kind of went down at the start of the second half, especially for the offense, then we finally picked it up for the key drive in the fourth quarter and we put it away."

On if the team felt comfortable playing in Memorial Stadium

"Yeah we felt really comfortable. It's an exciting place to play, so we all were pretty excited to come up here and get these guys."

On not gaining yards like a typical Texas Tech offense does

"Sometimes that's just how the game's going to go. We're not always going to be able to put up the 500 yards we put up on offense to win the game. The 260 yards was good enough to get it today."

On the play of the Red Raider defense

"Give all credit to those guys. They helped us out a lot because we came out flat in the second half and those guys were just pounding them and pounding them and kept playing."

Texas Tech Quarterback Steven Sheffield

On the game overall

"It was a lot of fun. We came out excited and that was a big key to our success. If you all would've seen the locker room before the game, you would've thought it was a bunch of animals running around. That's how our program is, just letting go and letting everybody be themselves and a lot of loud music and it was good stuff. Everybody was ready to go just like we are every game and we came out riding. In the second half, the offense slumped and the defense picked up our slack. Thank God for the defense."

On if they were trying to run the clock in the second half

"A little bit. Towards the end on that last drive I was making sure the play clock was going to run down, because we had the lead and that's what you want to do when you have the lead. But at the same time it wasn't a thing that we were trying to run the clock out. We knew we needed to score and we capitalized on that and it ended up working out pretty good."

On two key third-down conversions in the first half

"A lot of times in games you can look back on third-down conversions, people who aren't doing very good at that, their scores aren't usually very good, because that's a real key play. Coach Leach always stresses that that's a key play and you know you've got to rise when it's third down because you don't want to be punting the ball the whole game. We did a good job in the first half on third downs, and in the second half we did horrible on third downs. We've got to get back to work."

On scoring on their first drive

"The touchdown on the first drive, that was good. We needed that. I just found out after the game that Nebraska was the second (scoring) defense in the country. I had no idea about that, but they played like it. They have quite a team and they played solid the whole game, defensively. But things went well for us and we came out with the win."

Media Commentary

"Let’s establish right off there are no quick fixes here. Six games into the season, Nebraska has nothing on which to hang its hat offensively. That’s on Watson." -Steve Sipple (Lincoln Journal Star)

"Shawn Watson's slump hasn't reached Cosgrovian depths, but it's approaching the point at which Pelini must make dramatic philosophical or personnel changes before next season." -Dirk Chatelain (Omaha World Herald)

"When you miss open receivers and can’t dictate the line of scrimmage, it’s pretty hard to call plays." -Curt McKeever (Lincoln Journal Star)

"Pelini gave the impression that he was absolutely stunned by his team's performance and lack of fire and execution. That's not a good sign. But it's the sign of a young head coach and an immature program that are still learning how to win and how to handle a win." -Tom Shatel (Omaha World Herald)

"Texas Tech's systematic 31-10 victory over Nebraska is indicative that there is still a wide gap between the Big 12 South and North." - Tim Griffin (ESPN)