Cosgrove Quotes from Presser

[Blackshirt]

Kevin Cosgrove, Defensive Coordinator

On select Western Illinois skill players:

"85 (Reggie Gray) is a very good receiver. He has tremendous feet, good hands. He’s their go-to guy. 22 (Travis Glasford) is a very good back. He’s not a big back, but he’s very quick and elusive. He makes a lot of plays. I would say those are their two playmakers on offense."

 

On the qualities of players at Western Illinois, compared to the Big Ten Conference:

"I don’t think you can always tell that off the film. Fred Layne, their offensive lineman, is a very good player. He’s a Big 12-type player. Their offensive line does a very good job of blocking, they’re well coached. They do a good job of executing. They’re not fancy. We’ll see mostly two-back, unless they do something totally different. They’ll get into a little one-back and long situations as well as two-minute."

 

On Benard Thomas:

"That was a heck of a battle (between Thomas and Jay Moore) going in. They both practiced very well, but I would say Benard Thomas has been one of our most improved in fall camp. He’s done a tremendous turnaround since day one of spring ball. He had a very, very good camp."

 

On if he’d rather have Adam Carriker play end:

"Absolutely. That’s where we want him. Unfortunately, we were put in that situation where we had to move Adam inside, because a few of our tackles got nicked up a little bit. Everybody’s healthy right now, so our plan is to leave him back outside there. Naturally, in nickel, he’ll go back inside, because it’s good for pass rush with his size inside."

 

On Cortney Grixby:

"We expect him to play. He’s a very talented individual, a quick learner. He picked up things very fast. He’s mentally into it, and physically, I think he’s ready to play. We’re still working with him at the punt return position. He will not be the starter there, but we’re working with him there."

 

On defensive lineman Jeff McBride:

"He had a very good camp. He was playing outside for us, but because of injuries we moved him inside. We like what we see. We like his quickness. If we ever want to move, he gives us real good quickness in there. He just had a great camp, so we like what we see."

 

On Jay Moore’s role:

"Jay will play. Naturally, he’ll be starting in our nickel. Again, he’s a good football player, too. We’ll have a nice rotation on the D-line that will keep guys fresh at that end position."

 

On pass rushers in the nickel package:

"We have Benard (Thomas) and Adam (Carriker) will move inside with Jay Moore and Wali (Muhammad) outside, as well as Stewart Bradley and Bo Ruud. We’ve been working both those guys at the end position to give us that speed off the edge."

 

On the defense’s biggest strength:

"The plan is to stop the run and defend the pass. Naturally, that’s what we want to do. I think we have a very good chance to be strong against the run. And we have a very talented back end. The key is keeping them all healthy, and as in any game situation, you have to execute what’s called. Naturally, if you don’t execute, there can be breakdowns. If we execute the way we think our kids will, I think we will play very well."

 

On linebacker Barrett Ruud:

"He’s one of the leaders on defense. He’s a very good football player. He’s had a very good camp. Just his presence on the field, I think, is uplifting for the defense."

 

On the other linebackers:

"I like them. I think they’ve all improved throughout spring and fall camp. I think we’ve improved fundamentally. I think we’ve improved aggressively. We’ll se what happens on game day."

 

On if Cortney Grixby is the only freshman who may see playing time:

"As of right now, I would say yes. There will be a couple other guys we will be looking at, but not right now. But we like our two young linebackers. Actually we like all of our young players. There’s a chance we could use a couple of those guys in nickel situations, so we’re just going to wait and see what happens."

 

On attitude of the Huskers to play someone else:

"I’m sure they’re excited, I know I am. It’s time to play a game. We’ve been working hard. The kids have responded with a tremendous work ethic during fall camp, as well as spring ball. They’re prepared, now it’s time to execute, and I know they’ll be excited to get out in front of the home crowd."

 

On concerns of new staff about its first game:

"We went through it last Saturday. We had a mock game. We went through all the situations, the pre-game, the halftime. We went through all of the situations of game day. I think I’ve said this before. I’m very fortunate two of our three other staff members on defense, we’ve worked together before. I know Elmo (Elmassian) on game day, I know how he coaches. I know Bill Busch. I’ve been working with John Blake through spring ball and fall camp, and he’ll be a tremendous addition on the sideline with the kids."

 

On the excitement of joining the rich tradition at Nebraska:

"It’s why I came here. We have the chance to win a national championship in a great program traditionally, both athletically and academically. I’m very humble and proud to be in this program."

 

On feeling of being in a different place:

"There’s probably a little bit of anxiety anytime there’s change. There still is the unexpected of game day. Sometimes people respond differently when the bullets start flying. So we’ll have to see. There’s always excitement for any opening game. I think this year, especially. Working for Coach Callahan, the rest of our staff and the players that I’m around is special."

 

Nebraska fans similarities to Wisconsin fans:

"They have great fans up there (in Wisconsin). It is a great program. We never had 60,000 at a spring game, so I think the spring crowds here are better, I know that. We’ll see what happens on game day. Everything from what I understand, these are the greatest fans in the world. The thing that really impresses me is how knowledgeable people are about football around here. I’m really impressed with that."

 

 

Jay Norvell, Offensive Coordinator

Opening statement:

"We’re ready for game week. We’re playing a real quality opponent, one with a rich history, a lot of good athletes. We’re getting familiar with them. Offensively, we are excited about the challenge this week."

 

On Ryan Goodman and Beau Davis:

"We have been working with Ryan Goodman and Beau Davis both at the second quarterback position. They will continue to work that way this week. Ryan’s done a great job of learning and handling a lot of things for a young guy, and he’s got very good poise. He’s a great competitor, as you know he’s an excellent wrestler, and his qualities have been really good this far. We’re going to continue to work him this week at the No. 2 position."

 

"We want to prepare them both to play, and they both may play. Circumstances may dictate, and situations may dictate who is in the game, but we’re preparing them both as the backup."

 

On I-back David Horne:

"David’s situation for this week is still a bit up in the air. He’s obviously one of our backups, a guy we expect to contribute. As we do with all of our backups tailbacks, that position is going to be a kind of by-committee position. We’re pretty comfortable with doing that, and we think they all have specific strengths and David will have a role. It will be a specific one, and we’ll prepare him for that."

 

On wide receiver Grant Mulkey:

"Grant is a very intense, fiery kid. He really competes, and we like that about his personality. That’s one of the things about this offense. Wide receivers are really asked to do a lot of things. They have to work hard every day. They’ve done more running than they ever have, and we’ve run since the time they got on that practice field until the time they leave. They’re a little weary over the last couple weeks, but Grant has stayed in there every day. He hasn’t always felt the greatest, his legs have been sore, but he has practiced hard and made plays. We’re going to count on him as a guy to make plays for us this week."

 

On holding out plays the first week:

"We’re going to play our style of football. That’s what we want to establish this week. We want our guys to go out and play and be multi-dimensional and diverse. Run the ball, throw the ball, move the ball around. I don’t know that we’ll save things. We’re just going to go call our football. We’ve been practicing it, so let’s go play a game now."

 

"We’re going to approach it just like our first game. We’re playing an opponent we know some about, but there’s a little bit unknown factor for us. They have a new (defensive) coordinator, some new players starting that we haven’t seen much on film. We don’t know exactly what we’re going to see from them, but they don’t know exactly what they’re going to see from us either. That’s why you play the game. It’s a new season for both teams. We’ll go out and play and adjust as the game goes along."

 

On Terrence Nunn:

"Terrence is a young guy. He’s got a lot of athletic ability. But he’s still a freshman in a lot of ways. He’s made some big plays and really learned a lot in a short amount of time, which is not easy to do. Coach (Turner) Gill has done a great job of bringing him along, but he’s going to have some learning experiences, especially in his first game. It’ll be a new experience for him out there. I know he’s excited and we’ll prepare him the best we can. Some experiences you’ve got to learn on your own and learn on the field. I’m sure he’ll have some, but we expect him to play well and make plays for us."

 

Philosophy on playing freshmen:

"We’ve got a philosophy — play the best players. So we will play the best players whether they are freshmen, juniors or seniors. Terrence (Nunn) has established himself as a young guy, but as we all know as young guys get into situations they’ve never been in before it’s new to them. They’re probably going to make some mistakes. I’m sure Terrence will make his share, but it’s our job to prepare them as best as possible. So we’re going to eliminate as many as we possibly can."

 

On number of receivers to see playing time:

"We really have seven or eight guys that have all worked pretty consistently with the first two units. You could toss a coin between three or four different guys. Between Matt Schroeder, Isaiah Fluellen and Mark LeFlore, when he’s healthy, we’ve got some guys by committee that will play and we need quality reps from guys. And guys need to step up. I’m sure we’re going to learn a lot about some of our guys in game situations. We were in a spring game situation, but that’s nothing like the type of bullets we’ll see come Saturday night, and the excitement and the game day atmosphere. Guys react differently to those situations."

 

On Shamus McKoy:

"Yes, Shamus is one of the guys who is working with the varsity unit. We’ve got to keep bringing him along for his development."

 

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