Nebraska-Maryland postgame nuggets
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule and a handful of players met with the media following Saturday’s 13-10 loss to Maryland.
Here is a full recap of what they had to say…
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule
***Rhule said the loss was “obviously disappointing.” He said the players in the locker room were “pretty upset, pretty hurt.”
***On throwing the ball on third-and-goal on the final offensive drive, they got man coverage and thought the pass was there. Rhule said the Maryland defender broke off his man and made a great play on the ball. The play on first-and-goal
Rhule said the play was executed the way it was supposed to. “He made a great play.”
***Rhule said Heinrich Haarberg injured his ankle. Nebraska’s training staff cleared him to return, but NU went with Jeff Sims. The turnovers continued to mount, and the staff thought: “Let’s give Chubba (Purdy) a shot.”
***When turnovers happen “across multiple players” as they did at QB for Nebraska, Rhule said: “You have to ask, what aren’t we getting done?”
***Going forward, Rhule said the quarterback situation would be a “day-by-day” situation. They’ll see where Haarberg’s ankle is this week. What they don’t want is to “waffle back and forth” with the practice reps this week. They’d like to have a starter in place by Tuesday.
***Rhule said Purdy was getting close to 100% off his injured groin, but it was an injury that might require surgery after the season. “If he’s the guy, we’ll coach him up the best we can.”
***Rhule said the defense was “dominant for long stretches” and then would give up an explosive play. He loved the takeaways. “I thought the defense came to play.”
***Rhule said the downhill run game was “dominant” at times, but turnovers and failed third downs killed far too many drives.
***Rhule’s message to the team was to look at this as a “team” loss and not point fingers. His first thought was, “What could I have done better?” And he wants his players to respond the same way.
***Rhule said Quinton Newsome injured his shoulder during the week. He was close to being cleared before Saturday’s game but should be ready to return to the lineup next week.
Defensive lineman Ty Robinson
***Ty Robinson said this was “a team loss,” and the defense gave up too many big plays. He said the great thing about football was that Nebraska would get another chance to improve next week.
***Robinson said he wants Nebraska to channel the energy and intensity it had to finish the Illinois game. That was his message to the team when they huddled up between the third and fourth quarters.
***Robinson said the defense’s focus coming out of halftime was creating more turnovers.
Nebraska center Ben Scott
***Ben Scott said the offense was “rolling” on their final drive, and Maryland’s defense was starting to wear down. To have it end like that was obviously disappointing.
***Scott said it didn’t matter which quarterback was in the game. The offensive line feels comfortable with any of them under center.
***Scott said the key for Nebraska with all the turnovers was maintaining a “what’s next mentality.”
“We’re really bought into that.”
Linebacker Javin Wright
***Javin Wright called Taulia Tagovailoa a good quarterback with “a bunch of athletes” around him.
***Wright said the mood in the locker room was “sad” and “disappointing,” but he was confident that Nebraska would return next week focused on going 1-0.
***Wright said the defense viewed coming back after NU turnovers as “a chance to show how great we really are.” They look at it as an opportunity.
