Notable Quotes from Nebraska vs Missouri
There is much to be said about Nebraska's improbable fourth quarter come back at Missouri. For now, let's see what the players, coaches and national media said after the game.
Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini
"Missouri is a great team. It gives it a little more importance, but it’s just one of 12 wins for us, so I’m happy we won the football game. It was tough conditions on both teams and I’m just happy we came out with the win. Give Missouri a lot of credit, they played good football."
On whether Thursday night’s win over Missouri is the turning point for Nebraska’s season:
"I don’t get into all of that. This game, it’s just like I said, it’s just part of the process, part of where we are. We’re not going to address or handle this win any different than we do any other week. It’s on to the next game. We’ll enjoy it tonight and then we’ll get back to work, fix a lot of things that need to be fixed from that football game, get better as a football team because of what happened out there and then we got a tough test coming up in about a week-and-a-half."
On considering the option to pull quarterback Zac Lee during the game:
"No, Zac Lee, you always consider putting people in. But it was a lot more than Zac in the first three quarters, a lot of them weren’t performing well. We had some issues. We fought through it. That’s what you’ve got to do. Like I said, we showed a lot of character in every aspect of our football team today."
On Nebraska’s defense:
"(Ndamukong) Suh played his you know what off. You can add the others guys up too... Barry Turner, Cameron Meredith, Pierre Allan, Jared Crick, Baker Steinkuhler. They played hard, they played well. And you can say that about everybody that lined up on defense today. We played some pretty good football against a pretty good football team."
On what was said to turn the game around for Nebraska:
"We talked about it at halftime. We said before we walked out there on the field in the second half, we said, ‘We will not walk out of here without a win.’ And you know we just kept fighting. You can get down in situations like that, when things aren’t going your way and it’s pretty easy to feel sorry for yourself and let the game get away from you. We never let the game get away from us and we gave ourselves an opportunity to make a couple plays and we came out with a win."
Junior Nebraska Punter Alex Henery
On getting the win:
"It just shows our character, how we could pull through at the end with the win and show what this team was really made of. Even though we weren’t playing very well early on, it showed in the end. We came out with the win."
On fourth quarter play:
"The team really came together on the sideline. Everyone was up and things went the right way. No one gave up on the sideline."
Senior Nebraska Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
On the win:
"It feels great, it’s a great start to Big 12 play. It’s one of those that means a little more to us. We want to dominate the Big 12 North and start it off the right way. It was not exactly the way we wanted to win but I’ll take it. Missouri played hard but I’m really happy with the way it ended."
On his interception:
"Basically Coach gave us free rush. I stepped up to the line of scrimmage and read his eyes and he threw the ball to me. I just needed to make sure I got it to the ground and had ball security."
Junior Nebraska Cornerback Dejon Gomes
On amount of playing time:
"No I didn’t really have any idea, I thought we’d rotate it a little bit. When I got in I just had to step up for the whole team."
On his interception:
"I was watching my receiver. He broke out and I broke out with him, I was in perfect position to look back at the quarterback and the ball was right there. I thought I was going to run but they caught me somehow."
Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel
"First of all Nebraska did a great job doing the things necessary to win. I think you start with that. They’re a good football team. They deserved to win the way they played down in the end. I think when you look at a game like this, a really tough game, a defensive football game, really even into the fourth quarter, you’re going to look at some plays. Obviously, there were a couple of turnovers in the fourth quarter. Those plays are critical. But I would suggest also that there were a lot of opportunities the first three quarters. If we had done a better job of executing there on both sides of the football, it might not have gotten like that in the fourth. This is a tough loss. We’ll regroup. Part of this business is handling adversity and that’s what we’ll have to do."
On Sophomore QB Blaine Gabbert:
"He struggled a little bit but he felt he could play. You have to evaluate interceptions too. He threw one ball late and I think another ball he had was a quick passing game. What happens in a quick passing game, we cut the defense or you have to make sure that the offensive lineman are physical enough that it causes the lineman to not be able to reach up like that... that’s not his fault. That’s the linemen’s fault. In any football game you look at big plays, you’ve got turnovers, kicking game. All those things I always talk about are ultimately what happens. We had a chance to recover from it. We got that holding penalty, and were in the redzone there. It was critical, and we couldn’t make a play to get ourselves in position to win the game."
On Penalties:
"There were a zillion penalties. We were the least penalized team in the league coming in here. Like anything, you’re going to have to overcome some good calls and bad calls, it’s part of the deal. It wasn’t the penalties that dictated the outcome of the game. They had a lot of tough penalties for them too, on both sides of the ball. That’s discipline, and I’m responsible for discipline. Going into this game, I thought we were pretty disciplined. We were the least penalized team in the league. Obviously we didn’t do a good job today."
On the weather’s effect on the running game:
"Well, the passing game wasn’t very good either. It’s a little bit of both, and you’ve got to analyze all of that. In our offense though, you’re going to throw the football. If you don’t want to throw the football, you shouldn’t be in the spread. You have to throw the ball well. They ran like this against Kansas State a couple of years ago. I’m not going to blame the weather for any of this. You can execute. If you’re a defensive coach, you say it’s a defensive day. The weather certainly isn’t in your favor, but if you want to win a championship or compete for a championship you have to play in any condition. That is no excuse at all."
Sophomore Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert
On the turn-around of the game:
"It was a momentum change, but on offense, it’s our responsibility to get the ball back and score."
On the Nebraska front four:
"They’re a good football team, we saw that tonight. Their front four are extremely talented players and they executed."
Junior Missouri TB Derrick Washington
On the loss:
"It’s real tough, we were winning the whole game and we really beat ourselves."
On the running game:
"We’ve got to get the running game started to open things up for Blaine and the passing game. We’ve kind of got it going a little bit, but we didn’t really establish it much, that’s something we need to take care of."
On the weather:
"I think it took a little away from our pass game cause we didn’t really throw the ball like we wanted to, other than that it wasn’t a big problem for us at all."
Senior Missouri LB Sean Weatherspooon
On the game:
"We knew it was going to be a tough game. We weren’t really thinking we were letting them hang around, so we were just thinking we’ve got to finish, but we didn’t do the things we needed to do at the end of the game, to secure the win."
On Nebraska’s momentum:
"It wasn’t one play, they got that big play on us on defense, I’m not sure what happened, the guy got behind us and scored a touchdown. Then they got a little momentum, then their defense went out and made another play, they came back and scored again and it went on from there."
Junior Missouri CB Carl Gettis
On still winning the North:
"We still can accomplish that, we just have to win the rest of our games, we can’t worry about what anybody else does and let the chips fall where they may."
On Nebraska’s momentum:
"It happened really fast, it happened in a matter of minutes. We were up 12-0 and it seemed like we had all the momentum. Then it seemed liked it just kept coming play after play, the next thing we know, we’re down 13-12."
Media Commentary
"The fourth quarter against Missouri might have been the turning point in the Bo Pelini era." - College Football News
"Is there a better college football player in the country than Nebraska's overpowering defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh?" - NBC Sports
"Seriously, we need to be talking about Suh for Heisman." - Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples
"Not only did [Pelini] slay the program’s most obvious recent monster in Missouri, but he did it with the panache that the Cornhuskers used to play with when they were the most feared program in the Big Eight and the early stages of the Big 12." - Tim Griffin, ESPN
"Nebraska had seemingly turned an ugly night into a water color beauty." - Tom Shatel - Omaha World Herald
"Funny how Lee, the guy that ESPN commentators didn’t recognize five weeks ago, winds up outshining Gabbert" - Curt McKeever - Lincoln Journal Star
"The turnaround couldn't have been more complete, not just in a sloppy, rain-soaked game for the early lead in the division, but for the trajectory of both teams' seasons." - Matt Hinton - Dr. Saturday
"For three quarters, it looked like heart break. In the final quarter, faith was restored, thanks to a quarterback most wanted replaced and a defense playing with the passion that Husker fans were looking for." - Corn Nation
"Huskers survived, and Mizzou decided not to close. An ugly, ugly loss. Just as ugly of a win for Nebraska." - Mizzourah Blog
"While the outlooks have changed for these programs this year, their trajectories have not. This game did not define Nebraska as "better than Missouri" as a program or do anything to establish superiority or inferiority." - Rock M Nation
10/9/2009
I’ll be the first to admit I was getting more than a little anxious going into the 4th qtr. I thought the officiating was ugly. No call when Weatherspoon punched our player and Suh getting called for horse collar tackle with a good take down by the jersey. All in all a very sloppy win, but a win none the less. I feel for MU fans because I was feeling their pain until 5 minutes into the 4th.
I hope the weather is better in Lincoln for the TT game, and whatever ills the offense and special teams contracted are exercised from the Husker body. GBR!
10/9/2009
Well I cant take credit for this comment but one of the Mizz fans had it in the comment section of another blog. “Donkey Kong Suh (seriously, the man throws barrels and kills people)” I thought that was pretty good. For the first time I can ever remember I was totally consumed by Suh when we had the ball. I only watched him because I didnt want to miss the next great play. It was like watching Tiger or Jordon.
The defense is even better than I thought, the offense is worse than I thought but they have some pretty good potential and the special teams played more like special needs. I hope I dont see that from the ST again.
Great win and I stick by my ‘we are back’ comment. Anytime you can compete with anyone in the nation at any time you are back. I am not going to say we could beat anyone in the nation but we would sure give them one hell of a run for their money.
Do we really have to wait 10 days again.
10/9/2009
When will every one notice that the HUSKERS are back to Stay????? they played with no give up and well,the big 12 is the HUSKERS!!!!! Bring on TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10/9/2009
Austin—I wouldn’t be too hard on the offense. Have you ever tried catching a 10 yard hook route in a car wash or a monsoon? ;)
Seriously, things didn’t happen until the rain died down 3rd quarter. Mizzou did just as little during the same timeframe (with the exception of their long pass at the end of the half).
Frankly, I think we saw in the 4th quarter what this game would had been like in more hospitable weather. Everything clicked, the ‘Huskers were able to march down the field, and the offensive linemen were able to actually hold their blocks as they weren’t having to play full-contact Water Polo.
Mizzou can try and take away whatever they want to help themselves sleep at night. But the bottom line is that we saw who the better program was last night and likely for the next three years.
10/9/2009
“Huskers survived, and Mizzou decided not to close. An ugly, ugly loss. Just as ugly of a win for Nebraska.”
The Missouri posts here show that this program is just not ready. No entitlement in football. You play for four quarters not three. If they had won they would be feeling quite good about it. Every team has to grit out a conference win. . .
I’m sure it would’ve been spun like this:
“On a night where young Gabbert threw his first INT’s of the season and the Tiger run game couldn’t get going, Missouri showed that it still is the king of the North with a fantastic defensive performance proving that this program can still win even when it has to replace talents like Daniel, Maclin & Coffman. It may not have been as pretty as we wanted but we still proved that we can win even when the offense isn’t clicking.”
10/9/2009
Did anyone else see Weatherspoon punch the NU lineman in the back of the neck? In my line of work (Corrections) a shot like that is deadly force. Hits to the neck or top of the spine or back of the head is DEADLY FORCE. The conference needs to take a serious look at this.
10/9/2009
I’m glad the country gets to see more of Mr. Suh. That kid is an absolute freak and I hope he goes #1 in the draft next year. Some Heisman votes would be more than appropriate, too.
10/9/2009
I am ashamed to admit that my past experiences with Callahan had left me with little hope for a victory after three quarters of play. I have seen the light. Bo and his staff have truly changed the mindset of this team. When I had lost faith, the team had not. This is Bo’s team and they reflect the grit and determination of their coach. I will never put my foot through another TV, only to later learn that we had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. GBR!!
10/9/2009
Wasn’t it Craig James who chimed “Any minute now, Missouri’s going to put a boot into Nebraska and put them away.”
Or something like that.
I don’t remember if that was before or after their FG.
I like that quote. I’ll remember that one, for a few days.
10/11/2009
Matt, I couldn’t agree more. The 4th quarter the rain lightened and the offense lighted it up. Lets just think about this a minute… If it weren’t for the rain our corner would not have slipped in coverage and MU would probably not have completed that long pass that setup the TD before halftime. If not for the rain, our center would not have snapped a high snap that led to a safety. If not for the rain, we would probably would have had 3 more pics that were dropped. If not for the rain we definately would not have had 5 fumbles. If not for the rain MU would not have been able to drop 8-9 men in the box and stifle our run game (because Zach would have made them pay…as he did on the 4th quarter bomb to Paul). I know, that’s a lot of would have’s…but I think the 4th quarter, with the weather clearing a bit, certainly gave NU the advantage offensively and even made the defense more potent.