We heard from a few players on Saturday night after the Huskers 26-17 loss to Ohio State. Samori Touré, Adrian Martinez, Garrett Nelson, Myles Farmer and Cam Taylor-Britt all met with the media.
Here are selected questions and answers from the player’s time with the media.
Junior quarterback Adrian Martinez
On his decision to play despite multiple injuries:
“More information, I am sure, will be disclosed after the season and I will go more in depth there. But really It was a tough choice and I wanted to do it for my teammates and wanted to do for our team, simple as that and continue to fight and lead the guys. It is really as simple as that for me. Essentially, they did not know what it was like. My face was numb and swollen. Finish the game. After the game, a couple days later, found out what it was and then the decision to come to play came about a day later.”
On losing so many close games:
“It is tough. At the end of the day, I am proud of our guys for continuing to fight. Proud of the way we had each other’s backs out there, stuck together through everything, through the noise through whatever. It’s about the brotherhood and the brotherhood is strong here in Nebraska. We believe in each other so we are going to keep pressing on. Yes, it hurts. Yes, it’s another top team that we’ve lost a close game to and a game that we felt we had the chance to win. There’s nothing else to do but to continue to press on and learn from this game.”
On continuing to fight despite not being eligible for postseason:
“It was tough. It was really tough. It’s incredibly tough. It’s my fourth year here and the past three years, we haven’t made postseason play. It hurts and knowing it’s not just me that puts things on the line here physically, mentally, emotionally, whatever it may be. I mean, it’s our program. There are tons of guys sacrificing. I’m just one of those guys and it hurts. I know how much time and the commitment we put into this. Hard work from top down and it’s not easy swallowing that result. But we do have two more games that we are looking forward to. Trophy games that we’re going to go attack. We have no other option.”
Freshman defensive back Myles Farmer
On Nebraska’s defensive performance against Ohio State:
“I want to say that we impressed ourselves. I mean we do that every weekend. We said that we played at our highest level today and it might have been because of the team that we were playing. We did a lot of great things today in the secondary and as a defense. I’m really happy about that.”
On personal progress made over the past few weeks:
“I would say that I have matured a lot over these past two weeks. For me, I’m more focused on my preparation and that process. Watching more film, asking more questions and being more focused at practice.”
On his patience level with Nebraska’s current record:
“I really don’t know. I don’t really pay attention to that. I just keep playing football every weekend. That’s why I’m here. I just go out and enjoy being able to play every weekend.”
Sophomore outside linebacker Garrett Nelson
On Nebraska’s overall defensive performance:
“We got caught in the act of being ourselves. That is what we do. That is what we practice every day. We rep that, we understand our jobs. We have some of the best players in the nation on our team. We have some of the best coaches in the nation on our team coaching us up teaching us what we need to do. I love playing with those guys. They are bringing as much as I do and we feed off of each other when we make plays. It is a phenomenal group of guys and coaches to be around every day. Usually I am the pretty fired up one with those guys. When I am feeling down or I need a boost those guys are there to give it. They are the best teammates in the world. We played really well today. That is how we play, that is how we practice. We expect that every game but I love those guys to death. We played really well today.”
On Nebraska linebacker JoJo Domann:
“Coming back for a sixth year, staying this long and giving what he gives to this program speaks volumes to the person he is. He is one of the best guys I know personally. He is one of the best players I know in the nation. He has meant a lot to me as a leader and as a player. [He] taught me how to lead, taught me how to play hard, taught me a lot of things about football and about life. He was one of my first really good friends here when I came to college and he is a top-tier guy.”
On Nebraska’s final two games:
“We have not had a trophy in here for a while, so to run across the field and go grab those trophies from those guys would be huge. Two of the biggest rivals right at the end of the season. Playing with pride, playing for the trophies, playing for each other.”
Senior wide receiver Samori Toure
On gaining confidence from his performance against Ohio State:
“I think it’s just the attitude that we had as an offense. We never got too down on ourselves. We obviously had the mentality that we want to score every time we touched the ball, but it doesn’t always work out like that. So, I think I would attribute that to the offense just staying in it and keeping our heads up and keep working.”
On playing with Adrian Martinez:
“He’s one of the toughest players that I’ve ever played with. One of the best leaders. I tell him, ‘I will go to bat for you every day. I always have your back no matter what.’ And I mean that. It shows that he’s tough and he’s a leader on this team. Not a lot of players will fracture their jaw and miss one drive, then come back and lead the team almost to a victory. Not many players can do that and especially not many quarterbacks. So that’s something that gained a lot of respect for me. Keep going a little more, just sticking with it, allowing the quarterback to get through his reads. It’s not going to be every game where you have opportunities like that. I just tried to make the most of my opportunities. Last week, I had a tough one that I feel like that’s a play I could have made and could have made a difference in the game. I didn’t want to let that sit over my head. I was waiting to bounce back and I did that.”
On seeing improvements from spring camp to right now for the Huskers:
“Yes, definitely. This isn’t the record that we planned. We’ve had plenty of opportunities to make this whole season flip. Instead of 3-and-7, 7-and-3. It could have been that easy, but we just have to make the plays when it matters and just finish games. And I think we’re making progress, we’re not quite there yet.”
Junior Defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt
On assessing quality of play:
“Just try to play our best defense we can. I believe we did a great job. They were supposed to go 49 a game. They got nowhere near 49.”
On how Nebraska’s defense held up:
“We have to help the offense out. Third downs are critical. We have to get off the field on third downs. We started to do that as the game went on, but at the beginning we were just playing so many plays. That is really it. We have to get off the field.”
On being close to winning:
“It is very frustrating and not for just me. All the guys that came back, we came back for a reason. Some guys, I do not think understand that we want to win. You have to put in everything to win. Put everything on the line. Like I told the guys last week, it does not matter how many games we have we still have to play football. We have been playing this game since we were little, why give up now? We are trying to get those trophies across the field against Wisconsin and Iowa.”
On some teammates having trouble getting the message:
“[They are] young. We are trying to teach them the culture of being a Blackshirt on defense. For some of the young guys on offense, they have their thing but it is still the culture we have to build around everybody the whole team. It is there but just a little bit more because you can see it is always one play or something in the game.”
On Adrian Martinez and JoJo Domann playing hurt:
“He loves the game of football. He loves his sport. He loves his game. He loves this team. Same goes for Adrian. Those guys put everything on the line. I say everything. Adrian has a broken jaw, it is crazy. A lot of people do not go back out there and play this physical sport like that. JoJo has his bumps and bruises. He gets back out there without any doubt about it. Never complaining about anything and always about the team.”
Greg is the Recruiting Analyst for Hail Varsity and has covered Husker athletics since 2013. He has always had a passion for sports while growing up in the Chicago area. As he got older and had to hang up his cleats and sneakers, he realized his passion for sports went beyond just watching and attending games. He has covered many events from the Rose Bowl to championship boxing matches. If he’s not talking sports, he’s hovering over his grill. He is married to an amazing woman, Kim, and they have a dog that barks when Greg yells at the TV during games.
