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BIG 12 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMEDecember 5, 2009Alex HeneryMatt O'HanlonNiles PaulBo PeliniNdamukong SuhARLINGTON, TEXAS PETER IRWIN: Coach, are you going to make an opening comment or just take questions. COACH PELINI: Congratulations to Texas, I hope they win the National Championship. It was a hard fought football game. Q. A question that begs to be asked, Bo, do you think Texas got a little bit of home cooking there at the end? COACH PELINI: No comment. Q. What was the explanation the officials gave to you? COACH PELINI: I haven't gotten an explanation. I just got it came down from the replay booth. I haven't gotten an explanation. I'm not going to answer anymore questions about officiating or about that call. Ask me about the football game. It was a hell of a football game. Q. What was Texas doing to limit the offense as well as they did tonight? COACH PELINI: Well, we couldn't get any movement up front. They limited our running game. They're a good defense, formidable group, very talented, well coached. You know, you've got to -- you know, our formula was to hang in there and have a chance to win it. We had a chance to win it at the end, and we didn't get it done. We had to play to the strengths of our football team. We did that. We made enough plays, we just were a point short. Q. Nine sacks by your defense, you hold Texas to almost 200 yards. Just talk about the effort those guys gave you out there tonight? COACH PELINI: I'm proud of that group. You know, they've been doing it all year long. It's a heck of an offense. Very talented offense. Our guys got after them. It was a tremendous effort. Like I said, it was a heck of a football game. Q. You brought in Cody Green for a little bit of time during that game, did you have the thought of keeping him in there or did you bring him in for a specific situation? COACH PELINI: We brought him in for a specific situation. We just wanted to settle Zac down for a second, and we were able to get that done. Q. I know this is probably the least of your worries right now, but do you think Suh deserves the Heisman after tonight? COACH PELINI: I'm not going -- that's, you know, I think he's the best football player in his position in the country. If that means the Heisman trophy, so be it. But, you know, what are you going to do? PETER IRWIN: Our student-athletes are going to join us. We have a question for coach on the left. Q. How do you address your team following this loss? COACH PELINI: I told them. I'm proud of them. They're champions. I'm proud of the way they put Nebraska back on the map. They just kept fighting. That's what this group has done all year long. You know, nobody gave us a chance going into that football game tonight, and I'm proud of these guys. I'm proud of these guys to my left. They fought, they fought hard. It didn't happen. You know, it's part of the game, you know. You give it your best shot, and let the chips fall where they may. But regardless of what the score is up there, I told the guys last night for the way they fought through things this year, they're champions no matter what the scoreboard says at the end. I'm proud of them. Q. Talk about the play down at the goal line in the fourth quarter. Texas is on the one-foot line, and they throw the pass to Shipley. What was the defense, what were you thinking there? COACH PELINI: Well, I could tell you what the defense is, but you guys wouldn't know what that call means. They made a play. Shipley's a heck of a player. The quarterback made a heck of a play. We should have had it covered. We didn't. They made a play, but we eventually rose up. That's the drive that I believe Gomes made the interception. And, you know, they're a good offense. They're going to make some plays, they have a lot of talent over there. You're not going to shut them down all the time. That was the big point in the game. Ultimately, we were able to get enough points to take the lead, we just weren't able to hold it. So, once again, I give Texas credit. Q. You've been in a lot of games, have you ever been in a game that ended in this manner and felt like you did? COACH PELINI: I've been in a lot of football games. I've been coaching for a long time. I've had some great wins, I've had some tough losses. It's not about me, it's about these young men. And I hurt for them. I hurt because of the effort they gave. It's not about me. It's never been about me, and never will be about me and the staff, it's about the kids. They're hurting right now, but it's part of life. You grow, and you become a better person through things like this happening to you. And ultimately it's about the effort that you give. You know, they -- I told them, every single guy in that locker room -- all you ask in life is to be able to when you're done with the football game, you can walk out of that locker room and hold your head high. And I promise you there isn't a guy on our football team that can't hold his head high and be proud of that effort we gave tonight. Q. Matt, would you just talk about the defensive effort tonight, and what you hope to do going in? And talk about the effort in general? MATT O'HANLON: Basically we just wanted to limit their play-making ability, and I think we did a pretty good job of that. You know, we could have had some key stops, maybe, in the beginning of the game, but it didn't go our way. You know, our game plan was to just try to hold them off and just have enough points on the board to win the game. At the end of the game, we didn't do that. Q. When you heard there was one second left on the clock, what did you think? What's going through your mind? MATT O'HANLON: I can't even tell you. We thought we won the game. You know, I guess he threw it out of bounds early enough, so they made the play that they needed at the end of the game to win it. So I give credit to them. Q. Can you just talk about how crucial Ndamukong Suh was? And how disruptive he was and what you saw out of him today? MATT O'HANLON: He's the staple of our defense. He makes plays that not a lot of other guys could. So for us to have him, you know, in the trenches, he plays his butt off. Like I said before, he makes a lot of plays that no one else could. So he definitely kept our defense in it. Q. Ndamukong Suh, can you just talk about how everything unfolded in that final possession of Texas getting the field goal? NDAMUKONG SUH: As far as I'm concerned, I thought the time was over, but obviously it wasn't. So they had an opportunity to kick a field goal, and from that point on our job on defensive linemen was to block that field goal. Obviously we didn't do that, so they ended up winning the game. Q. Suh, as one of the seniors on this team you've obviously played for the Huskers for a number of games now. What was the initial emotion and the way this thing worked out? NDAMUKONG SUH: My initial emotion is very unfortunate the way things unfolded. But I mean, I think this team played very, very hard, and that's what -- that's all we can really do. Like our coach says, the chips fall where they fall. Just go out there and play as hard as you can. They're going to handle the score, they're going to do everything to put us in the right position as they did. And all we have to do is go out there and play. Q. Did you see anything differently today? What do you think enabled you to be so disruptive on the line of scrimmage? NDAMUKONG SUH: That's really due to Coach J.P. and Coach Carl, the way they break down. Like I said before, the way they break down offenses and the way they teach us is just exactly how they would do it for the DB's. We understand formations and everything, and know what to expect. So that allows us to have that edge to when we see this formation or see certain things, have these keys, we can go about our business and be disruptive. That's our job to do. As long as we are coached the way we're playing, obviously good things are going to happen. Q. Alex, what was it like for you kicking the game winner and having to watch another kick go up? ALEX HENERY: I knew there was still time after I hit that, I knew there was time left. So I just made sure you guys knew that we had had to make a stop there. But I hit it well, so. Q. After you guys had gone on the field and you were celebrating and you were told to go back to the sideline, among the teammates, what was said to each other as they put the ball down for another play? NILES PAUL: A lot of us were upset. But the referees felt like there was a second left on the clock. I mean, that was their decision. That's pretty much all I can say about that. Q. You had a kickoff return and a punt return for long yardage, just talk about what worked for you on that special teams returns? NILES PAUL: I was just out there trying to make a play for my team. I seen things, people were blocking real hard, and everybody was -- I just followed my instincts. I mean, things went well. PETER IRWIN: Congratulations on a great season, and a great game tonight. End of FastScripts |
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