Nebraska Huskers football: Fordham postgame nuggets

Here is a full recap of what Nebraska’s players and coaches had to say following their 52-7 win over Fordham on Saturday…

***Frost said Oliver Martin had “a little injury” that was “not anything that’s going to keep him out for a long time.”

***Frost said all the running backs did good things, but they still need to establish the run game better earlier in the game. He said doing that was “a team effort.”

***Frost said Adrian Martinez “made a couple little boo-boos early, but I also thought he made some fantastic plays… He’s never going to be perfect, but nobody should expect him to.”

***Frost said overall he thought NU was a lot better with taking care of the football and doing “the little things” better than last week.

***Frost said having fans back in the stands was incredible. “(Memorial Stadium) was a dismal place without them last year.”

***Frost said today was progress because they won, and “we did a lot of good things.” He thinks they’ll learn more about themselves next week vs. Buffalo, but this was a good start.

***Frost said they teach their punt returners to “catch the football no matter what,” and if not, “when the ball hits the ground, you have to make a smart decision.” He thought Cam Taylor-Britt should have either caught the punt or let it bounce on his muffed punt.

***Frost Logan Smothers played well and “thinks through the game really well” despite his fumble. He didn’t want to talk much about the QB situation behind Martinez. “Let’s focus on the things we need to focus on here.”

***Overall, Frost said Saturday’s win accomplished what Nebraska wanted.

“We needed it,” he said. “We had such a good camp.”

***Stepp was definitely impressed with his first Memorial Stadium experience as a Husker.

“I haven’t seen a fan base like this – ever.”

***Stepp said Nebraska played like the team they’d been all offseason on Saturday after struggling at Illinois.

***Stepp said the running backs “had a chip on our shoulder” all summer with how many questions people had about the room going into the season. He said having so many guys get in and play well was a great boost to the unit.

“We emptied the clip in the RB room today.”

***Stepp said the running backs “don’t get jealous” when other guys have success.

***Toure said his goal was to be Martinez’s “go-to target,” but he knows NU has a “deep, deep receiving corps” with a lot of talent to work with.

***Toure said the chemistry between him and Martinez today was just like it had been all offseason. He said Saturday was “all of that coming to fruition” in the game.

***Toure said NU needed a win like this, and the team knew they were going to “do what we were supposed to do.” Now the goal was to keep that level of play going next week.

***Martinez said the early interceptions and blocked field goal provided a big lift for the offense after struggling early.

Then being able to drive down the field and score right before the half and then to start the third quarter was a huge confidence booster.

***Martinez said, “I have a lot of trust in Samori,” and he was “glad we got to showcase that today.”

He said a big piece of the passing game is trust between quarterback and receivers, “and I trust him.”

***Martinez said he was “a little bit calmer” today compared to last week, and he stayed focused on his fundamentals and trusted his teammates.

***Williams his two interceptions resulted from his preparation all this week and even going back to the offseason, including some drill work he did back home with his dad.

***Williams performances like that were why he wanted to come back for another season, so he could showcase the type of player he believes he is.

“If someone hadn’t seen me play, I want to give them a show.”

***Domann said his first career interception was a “blessing” and hopefully wouldn’t be his last one.

***Domann said getting a win and moving on from Illinois meant “everything,” but he added there was still a lot to correct. “We’re on to Buffalo.”

***Domann said he’s felt that teams have been running away from him over the past two games, but he’s just made sure to stay ready for when the ball does come his way.

***Domann said today was “a program game” to show what they’re made of “from the top down” on the roster. Getting “real reps when it counts … does something to your psyche.”

He said all the young guys who played today were better now than they were before the game.