Notable quotes from Nebraska's 49-10 Saturday win over Western Kentucky.
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THEY SAID IT
“I thought Taylor did a nice job running the ball. He made some explosive plays and did some really good things. I thought he managed the football team well. I thought he threw it well and was pretty efficient.”
— NU coach Bo Pelini on Taylor Martinez
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“We have three quarterbacks who are similar athletes. They can all run, they can all throw, they can all manage the team. It’s a good situation.”
— Pelini on the quarterback run game
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“I have said it before and I’ll say it again. It’s always a daily competition around here.”
— Pelini on the QB situation going forward
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“I thought it was an absolute embarrassment. I thought it was coached poorly, that starts with me. I don’t like anything we did defensively.”
— Pelini on NU’s run defense
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“I was really relaxed during the game and before the game, too.”
— NU starting QB Taylor Martinez
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“I think Lavonte David made a lot of mistakes, as did most of our other guys.”
— Pelini on NU leading tackler Lavonte David
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“At my last high school, the first time I carried the ball I scored a touchdown. And then right when I came here I was hoping I was going to do the same thing. I was hoping to score a touchdown for Nebraska and as it happened, I just ran.”
— Martinez on his first TD run
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“(We) got a little off in the second quarter, but I definitely think we’re headed in the right direction. We’ve still got miles and miles to go.”
— NU I-back Rex Burkhead on the offense
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“You got to see his speed and how he can get downfield in a hurry. ... He is a big-play threat every time he touches the ball. He makes everyone else want to make a big play.”
— Burkhead on Martinez
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“The run game out of the shotgun formation as well as getting under center and running it every now and then, it opens up the field, opens up the defense and just creates more and more holes.”
— Burkhead on NU’s offensive identity
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“I had a feeling I was going to be in second. I knew just from the way we had been working. Being a competitor, you have to have that feeling like ‘I’m going to be next.’ That’s the kind of mentality you need to have, and I was hoping and feeling it.”
— NU QB Cody Green on the QB rotation
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“It is (different from when I got here). (Running the ball) is what we are good at.
— Green on the direction of the offense
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“Yeah, there was a lot of play that we need to improve on.”
— NU defensive back DeJon Gomes on if the defensive performance was embarrassing
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“I don’t like the outcome, but I like our football team. I feel like we’ve gotten better from where we were, and our guys didn’t quit.”
— Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart
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“You can’t give up big plays against a team like that if you stand a chance of winning.”
— Taggart on NU’s two quick scores
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“That guy got a lot of yards because we missed tackles. And if you miss tackles, that’s what’s going to happen.”
— Taggart on NU QB Taylor Martinez
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“Basically, all the positives came from the second half, and that’s when we settled down.”
— Western Kentucky running back Bobby Rainey
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“Defensively, a lot of people were shocked by the crowd. Then we started to settle down and started playing with them a little bit.”
— Western Kentucky linebacker Thomas Majors
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“He’s a pretty good athlete. They did a lot of plays that we weren’t prepared for and that we didn’t prepare for this week, and they had a lot of success running the ball with the quarterback.”
— Majors on NU QB Taylor Martinez
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