Pelini Quotes on Playing Sooners

NORMAN, Okla. -- No. 4 Oklahoma hosts Nebraska at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday. ESPN has the national telecast beginning at 7 p.m. Mike Patrick will call the game with analysis from Todd Blackledge. Holly Rowe will provide commentary from the sideline.

OU held its weekly press conference on Tuesday. Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini also met with the media and complete quotes are below courtesy Nebraska Athletics Media Relations. View Sooner Gameday Central for complete information on attending the game in Norman or following TV, radio and internet coverage of the Sooners across the nation.

SoonerSports.com staff will blog live from Owen Field during Saturday's game. Throughout the evening, you can view our commentary and observations from the field, notes from the media relations staff in the press box plus fan emails and reaction during the game.

Head Coach Bo Pelini

On what stands out when he looks at Oklahoma's offense:
"They are physical up front. They have a really good offensive line. Obviously, their quarterback is very efficient. Front to back, you talk about all aspects (of their offense), they have playmakers, they have a good offensive line and they are very well-coached. They don't try to trick you. Everybody has their special plays, but they are very efficient. They are very good."

On if this is the best offensive line they'll face this year:
"I would say that. I don't know about the rest of the year, but up to this point, probably the best offense we've seen. They're good."

On how Kansas State was able to put up so many yards on Oklahoma:
"I think Oklahoma is going through some things right now, losing Ryan Reynolds hurt them. It kind of hurt their cohesiveness. He was a leader for them. I think they just gave up some big plays, which is uncharacteristic of how they play there, but they just turned a couple guys loose. It looked like they had a couple blown coverages, a couple loose assignments. It hurt them."

On what gives them the edge offensively over Texas Tech:
"I don't know that. They are different than Tech. Tech is very good offensively too, obviously. They are just a little bit different. They are a little more traditional in what they do than Tech is, which lends them to being probably a little more physical up front. Obviously, Tech's numbers and what they do speak for itself. I don't mean to downplay how good Tech is on offense because they were very good."

On how TCU and Texas contained Oklahoma's running game:
"I didn't spend as much time on the TCU game, because they are a little bit different than us. Texas is pretty good up front. They (Oklahoma) were able to move the ball pretty well on Texas. They put up 35 points, and really left some points out on the field. They're good. This group that we are playing this week is a good football team."

On if you can concentrate on going after the run or pass against them at all:
"You have to keep them off balance. You have to do some different things. You have to change some things up a bit. Obviously, the situation of the game dictates that. You can't just give them a steady dose of one thing all the time. One thing about the quarterback is that he is a smart football player. He knows where to go with the ball. They have some weapons on the outside. They have some very good weapons that line up behind the quarterback to run the football behind a big offensive line. They are very, very balanced in what they do and the problems they present. You have to have some balance on defense. There is some give and take. You have to defend the run some with less guys in the box, and there are going to be times where you need to add an extra guy in the box and take our chances outside."

On the matchup problem with Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham:
"I've been watching him since he was in high school. He's a tremendous athlete, a good football player. They do a good job getting him the football out in space. He presents problems for you, he does. He's a very good athlete and a playmaker. He's a big guy."

On what the Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry means to the game of college football:
"There is a lot of tradition in the rivalry and that is great for college football. It's changed, obviously, in recent years going to the Big 12, playing them every two years and in two-year segments. The rivalry is special to a lot of people, the fans, everything else. I don't really get caught up in all of that. It's a different time, different place for me. It's about our football team right now, but I think it's a pretty special rivalry."

On if the players need to be educated on the history of the rivalry:
"I think our players are well aware of what the rivalry means. Like I said, we kind of take it at a game-by-game basis around here, day-by-day and how we approach things. Whether it's Oklahoma or Texas, the emotion will be there and the importance is there because we are going in to play a tremendous football team. Our players understand the challenge that is lying ahead of us, and we'll approach it accordingly."

On his emotions playing against Bob Stoops:
"I won't be any different than I am for any other game. I don't change very much."

On the fact that he knows Coach Stoops so well and their relationship:
"That doesn't really change. It's not going to change our relationship. It's not going to change how I approach it. I'm sure it's not going to change how he approaches it. That is pretty irrelevant once you line up. Number one, we're not playing. That doesn't change how you do your job. I'm not playing the game and he's not playing the game. It's not like we're going to be out there banging heads against each other like we used to back at St. Pat's playing basketball. That was a lot more fierce than what we will deal with on Saturday."

On how divided the town of Youngstown, Ohio will be with this game:
"I don't know. You know what, knowing the people back home, they'll want us both to do well, that's just the way it is. We share a lot of friends and have a lot of common friends. Like I said, there are a lot of people who want to see both teams play well."

On Quarterback Sam Bradford's low passing percentage in the game against Kansas State:
"He started a little bit slow, but they had some drops in the game. They left some plays out on the field. They were able to get way ahead early. It was just kind of a strange game. In the second half, they tried to dial it back a little bit, but they were able to run the ball effectively. That was the telling tale of the game. I'm not sure what the stats were, but you watch the film and it's pretty obvious that they took control with the running game."

On how this is the kind of schedule helps when developing a program:
"I think it's pretty good. I think anytime you play good football teams, it helps you. It helps you to see where you are, where you are right now and where you want to get to. Texas Tech was obviously a good test, and this will be a bigger test. In my opinion, this is probably one of the top three or four teams in the country. You talk about top-to-bottom and how they are with talent and coaching, it gives you a good benchmark to see where you are as a football team."

On if this is the kind of schedule you want when growing a football team:
"Absolutely, if you want to be the best, you have to play against the best. I'm all for it. I'd rather play Oklahoma than I would some Division ll team. It's good for the kids, that's why you come to Nebraska, to play in games like this."

On how good their coaching staff is:
"They are very good. They are well-prepared. They are tremendous coaches and very good people. It was a tremendous experience coaching down there for a year."

On how much of an impact Bob Stoops had on his career:
"I learned a lot from him. Obviously, he's had tremendous success. Right now, I'm at a point in my career, I believe Bob has been there about 10 years, and I don't know if I've been here 10 months, so it's a little bit different. When he took over the Oklahoma program, it was very similar to the situation when I took over. I don't know if it was exactly (the same).

"One thing I do know, once the season is over, I will probably visit him about moving forward and the things that he needed to do to move forward, as I will with a lot of the guys I coached with. You learn from people, that is one thing I understand in this profession. I don't have all the answers. You learn and you grow as you move along, and my year there with him provided me with that much more ammunition to move forward in my career, as have all of my experiences."

On if he is set up to have the same fast success that Bob Stoops has had at Oklahoma:
"I sure hope so. I don't want to get into all the history there, but he won a national championship pretty much in year two. Is that going to happen here? I sure hope so. That is what we are working toward. Like I said, I focus on where we are now and where we want to get to. We're not at the level I want to be to yet, but I think we are getting better as a football team."

On if he bounced ideas off of Bob Stoops the first six months he was here:
"Not a lot. We visited some. I remember him calling me after the first month and we kind of talked after the National Championship game and after I'd been here for a while. He just called and said he didn't even remember his first month, it was so hectic. He is a friend who is always there to lend advice if I need it and ask for it."

On if there is any ounce inside of him that wants to beat Stoops:
"I like to win every game. I'm sure he'd say the same thing. It's not about Bob and I, it's about Nebraska and Oklahoma and these players and programs. Like I said, I don't really change who I play or what I do, how I approach it. There is a certain way to go about it to try and prepare your team to play the best you can possibly play every given Saturday, and that is what we are going to try to do this week. I understand we're playing against a heck of a football team. We need to play our best football, which we haven't done yet."

On if he would be in favor of pursuing a game either non-conference or conference every year with Oklahoma:
"There are so many factors involved in that. That is more of a Big 12 question. I think it would be great for the fans and great for the rivalry. Is it fair? It just depends on how they set up the rest of the schedule. That is the key to it all. Ultimately, being the head coach here at Nebraska, our number one job is winning the Big 12 North if you want to move forward.

"If you are playing Oklahoma every year, that's great for us, that's great for the rivalry, but if we're doing that then some of the other teams in the division aren't doing that. Is that the best thing for our program? I don't know that. There are a lot of other factors involved in that scenario.

"I just came from the SEC where there are certain rivalries and teams that play every year regardless of the schedule. At LSU, I loved playing Florida every year. It was fun coaching that game, it was fun for the rivalry, but ultimately, was that real fair? Not necessarily. It all depends on how they set up the rest of the schedule and what they do for the other programs and who they have to play every year, that type of thing.

"I think it'd be great for the rivalry to play Oklahoma (every year), but they'd have to set it up in a way that is fair for everybody, and it still gives us a very good opportunity to win the Big 12 North if you don't win that game every given year."

On if Michigan-Ohio State would be Michigan-Ohio State if they didn't play every year:
"No. There would be a riot, that's the truth."

On if the loss of linebacker Phillip Dillard changes anything game plan-wise:
"It doesn't change the game plan, but it changes us. He's getting better. He played a pretty good football game last week. I just feel bad for Phil, because this game would have been special because he's from the state of Oklahoma. More than likely, he won't make it to the game. I just feel bad for the kid. It's part of the deal. Oklahoma is going through that right now with losing a good football player. I don't think Phil's injury is as bad as Ryan's (Reynolds). I don't think he'll be ready for Saturday."

On Oklahoma's loss of Ryan Reynolds:
"Yeah, anytime you take a good football player out of the mix, which he is, you have to make some adjustments, especially at that position. They are going through that a little bit. They are working through it, and we'll do the same thing."

On who might fill in for Dillard:
"Depends on which personnel grouping we're in. You'll see Colton (Koehler) in there some. You'll see Wortman in there some. It depends on the personnel groupings, Cody (Glenn) can play at the MIKE (position) in some instances. Matt Holt is a guy that has shown he can step in and play some. It just depends on what personnel groupings they have in and we have in."

On what he's seen in Colton in practice:
"He does a good job. He hasn't played a lot of football. He's fairly inexperienced. He's a guy who busts his tail, comes to practice every day and we have confidence. Obviously, he's not game-tested in a lot of respects, but he went in there the other day and didn't blink an eye. He went in there and made a play to his credit. He has a good demeanor. I think he'll do well."

On if Bradford can be rattled:
"I haven't seen it. He seems like a really calm, cooled, collected guy. He's a very good decision-maker. He's very accurate in how he throws, he makes good decisions, he makes quick decisions. He is extremely well-coached. Their offensive coordinator and Josh Heuple, who coaches their quarterbacks, they do a very good job. He is very decisive in what he does. They don't get away from what they do. They kind of do what they do and let the quarterback manage it. They are just very efficient and they execute very well on a week-to-week basis."

On if the ball control style of offense is magnified this week because of what Oklahoma can do:
"Absolutely. You want to try to limit their possessions. That will be a little more of a challenge to control the clock like we have. You like to win the time of possession, obviously, the less shots you give them at you, the better, that is always the case. I've said that in coaching, the best defenses are when you are sitting on the bench. We have to be efficient and score points. That was a little disappointing last week. We moved the ball very well at times and then we left points out on the field and didn't finish drives. That's an area that we have to get fixed this week. We have to play better in every phase this week and execute more consistently in every phase to go down there and get a win."

On what has allowed his guys to be so good at that aspect of the game:
"I like the schemes. A lot of our success comes back to the quarterback. Joe just manages the game very well. He's an extension of our offensive coaches. He makes good decisions. He's been more efficient. He started off a little bit slow the other day, but he got better as the game went on. He's just so tough and competitive. He's playing at a high level. He's made some plays for us."

On the offensive play calling being about 50-50:
"I think that is where you ultimately want to be. You want to be very balanced in your attack and able to keep people off balance. That's a key of what we've been able to do. You don't want to be one-sided all the time. I think that right now we're in a good rhythm."

On if what he's noticed recently in Marlon Lucky:
"I just think the last couple of weeks Marlon has played, I can't really speak on what he did before, I think he's played his best football in the last couple of weeks, both in the running game and the passing game. I can see why he would feel pretty good about the direction of what we've been able to accomplish the last few weeks."

On if he ever sensed Lucky trying to live up to high expectations:
"You know, Marlon has a good demeanor about him. I talk about that with this football team a lot. You can't worry about what expectations are outside. You can't go through life trying to live up to other people's expectations. You have to do what you do and look at the truth and sort through and find the facts. As long as you can look at yourself in the mirror everyday in what you're trying to accomplish and putting your work into what you're trying to be, then you are OK.

"I heard John Elway say it a long time ago, if you try and go through life trying to live up to other people's expectations, sometimes they are set so high they can be unrealistic. I'm sure in Marlon's case, you're such a heroic guy coming in, that was probably the case to a certain extent."

On if Coach Osborne has shared any thoughts about the series:
"He just told me to win the game. He told me if I don't win, I'm fired so I hope we win."

On if Osborne communicated to him that it was hard for him to do that initially:
"I don't know, he's been away from coaching long enough, in his mind, he didn't lose any."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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