Jeff Brohm Press Conference- Nebraska Week

Coach Brohm stepped to the mic today following the win against Boston College and discussed the win as well as the upcoming game against Nebraska. Let’s take a look at some highlights shall we?

Discussing, the man, the myth, the legend, Rondale Moore:

You know, Rondale came in, obviously I know a lot about him. He’s carried his team whenever he’s been on it, been the focal point of that. Has handled it very well. Isn’t one of those guys that needs a lot of attention. He just goes out and works and makes play. You can see that when he scores touchdowns. He gives the ball to the referee because he’s been there numerous times before. He’s got a great work ethic. He came into camp with us and from day one, he’s been making plays, taking every rep.

You know, you’re always concerned about giving him too much to do and putting too much pressure on him, but I think he handles it well because he’s a worker, and he doesn’t get into whether his name is out there or not. He just wants to go out there and make plays, have fun and win some games. So I’m glad he’s on our team.

I don’t want to give him too much.

And ask him to do too many things. I think he actually could probably run the ball a little bit more.

We’ve been kind of giving it to him around the edge a little bit and maybe there’s a few other extra things he can do. We’ll have to be selective with it. Like I said, I think he’s been playing on the inside; every receiver has been playing on the outside. He returns kicks. He’s on special teams, he runs the ball around the edge when we ask him to. You send him in motion as a decoy numerous times and he draws a lot of attention; gets other open.

We’ll be careful with it. Yeah, there’s probably a few extra little things and wrinkles that maybe we can add to the mix.

On going on the road for the first time this season:

There’s always concerns and with us, we have a young football team at certain positions, so you want them to respond and act in the right way. As you guys have seen, it took a little while to get us going here. We’re on the road. It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be a little more hostile. You’re going to not be able to communicate as well with the noise and there’s a lot of factors that factor into it, and you can’t let it throw you off your game.

Yeah, I’m always concerned about how our guys respond. I think the starters we have on our team now, guys that are playing, they haven’t played a whole lot in the past. Yes, it’s going to be a new environment for them and this is going to be a great venue for them to go and showcase what they are all about and see if they can keep their poise and composure and still make plays.

On Markus Bailey getting 10 tackles:

I thought it was probably his best performance this year-to-date. I think we found a way to put him in the box a little more. I think he’s more effective in there and he can make more plays and do a good job for us.

You know, I think a combination of a lot of things helped him play better. I do think we are better against the run. So that helped us, as well.

But I think our plan was good and I think where we put him in position to make plays was a better scenario for him and he was able to capitalize on it and be more disruptive.

You know, I think he feels more comfortable in that position.

First thoughts of Nebraska:

I actually think they are a talented football team. I know we played them last year. They beat us at home. I think they have a lot of people on defense with a lot of experience. They play hard and they play tough.

Kind of got stuck against a good running football team last week and they popped him on a few big runs and when that happened, it kind of snowballed from there and I’ve been there before.

It’s just one of those days. It wasn’t their best performance but they have had numerous opportunities to win before at the beginning of the season and just kind of let it slip away like we did. I get where they are at and I know they have got to come into this game extremely hungry and extremely angry, which means it’s going to be a tough opponent with that, as well.

I know they are coached well and they will come out ready to play in front of our home crowd and I know they will be licking their chops for us.

I’m just gonna include the entirety of the question and answer here:

Q. Scott Frost was quoted after the Michigan game saying, we get a game that we can win. Don’t know if you were aware of that, but your reaction to that, and is that something that you will share with your team, if your team doesn’t already know it?HEAD COACH JEFF BROEHM: Well, you’re correct. I think that obviously he was talking after a loss that he didn’t like very much. So I get it. But no, I think everything that’s said is heard, and our team needs to respond and understand that we’ve got to show up ready to play and this team will be licking their chops trying to get us.

On the play of the entire defensive backfield:

It was much improved. I think they worked hard. Had a good week of practice. You know, they improved upon the weaknesses we had. We worked hard at it. They put in the work. We had a better plan. They executed it.

Yes, you’re correct, it’s not going to be the best passing team we play. I think for us, you know, we had a little hard time against teams that spread it out and throw the football and that will be the true test of where we’re at.

So we have to make sure we’re ready for that this week and moving forward and while it’s important to defend the run and stop it, I definitely want to do that; we’ve got to defend the pass, too. We can’t allow teams to spread the people and throw the ball all over the place. I’m sure that will try to happen this week and in the future.

Our guys worked hard. They improved. I thought they were in better position. I thought they played with better leverage but we still have a ways to go and we’ll still be much more tested than in that game.

Is Brohm still planning to play both QBs?

David will be our starter in this game. He’s played well the last two weeks and he’s taken advantage of his opportunity, and Elijah is still coming back from his setback, and we’ll make sure he’s ready to go in case we need him. We’ll take it from there, but I’m confident in both guys.

What’s the next step for the defense?

Well, we’ve got a ways to go. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. I think our coaches worked extremely hard to put in a better plan to put our guys in a position to succeed. I think our guys practiced extremely hard to get better at our weaknesses.

And then we played a team that, you know, my opinion, were better against in the first place and then we found a way to get a lead and make them do things that they aren’t great at and that played right into our hands. A lot of combinations played to our favor.

To me, the next step is playing a team that can throw the ball and spread you out and be effective in defending the pass and while it’s important to stop the run and do what we can to do that and make teams throw it, we’ve got to defend the pass and we’ve got to defend the pass against a team that is he effective throwing the football and we’ve got to have balance and make sure we’re doing both.

So that’s what I think has to happen, and we’ll be challenged in the rest of the season on that, and until I see that, will I feel more comfortable -- but we did a good job of loading the box and stopping what the last team did effective, but now it’s about being a balanced defense that can stop the pass, as well.