Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Monday, Oct. 28, 2019
Purdue
Wan’Dale Robinson
Freshman, Running Back/Wide Receiver
On his relationship with Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore
“Me and Rondale know each other pretty well. We’ve trained together since I was a junior in high school. Training together we were always competing with each other and doing things like that. He was almost like a brother to me especially going through the recruiting process and asking him about what type of things he had to go through and things like that. He’s just been a really, really big help with me.”
On if he hopes Rondale Moore plays on Saturday
“Yes and no. I hope he comes back obviously because I love seeing him play. I think our games are similar, but I don’t want him to cause our defense any fits either. Either way, I’ll be happy to see him.”
On how he and Rondale Moore help each other
“We were just competing and always going back and forth with each other and that helped us out. He’s part of the reason how I even got here today and seeing how he is and how he approaches the game and things like that. He’s just been a really big help in that way.”
On how Nebraska freshman quarterback Luke McCaffrey handled the team on Saturday
“I think Luke handled the team really well. He’s a gamer. We were all a little shook when he had to go in, but at some points we had confidence in Luke so he started to play really well and we believed that we could win the game whenever he was in. Luke played really, really well on Saturday.”
On how fast McCaffrey is compared to other freshmen
“Let’s just say in the spring and winter conditioning, Luke was winning a lot of the sprints. He was faster than a lot of the guys, Luke is a burner just like everybody else. If you saw him run you wouldn’t think he was a quarterback.”
On why there was reservation when McCaffrey went in at quarterback
“Just the environment and knowing that he wasn’t the original guy going into the game, so we weren’t prepared technically for Luke to go in. As a true freshman, I had jitters going in and I know he had some jitters too, but once he calmed down and was all good he played really well.”
On McCaffrey’s personality
“It’s really upbeat, he’s really funny. If you ever just sit down and talk with him he’ll be like ‘hey anybody got any jokes?’ and that’s just kind of how he is. I love Luke to death. He’s always working hard, he’s a loving person and he cares for everybody. Luke is just what you would want in a football player and what you want in a quarterback.”
On making a big deal about Luke’s family
“Yeah we do sometimes, but at the end of the day we know Luke is his own person and we don’t want to compare him to his brothers and make him feel like he’s another McCaffrey or that we look at his brothers any different. I look at Luke like he’s one of my best friends, not like he’s Christian McCaffrey’s brother or anything like that.”
On what allows him to speak on behalf of the team culture and his older teammates
“Just knowing that we are going to be part of the change and knowing that we have to say some things that are probably going to make some people uncomfortable and that’s OK. Just at the end of the day, wanting to have the best for our team and wanting the best outcome for our team.”
On the attitude at today’s practice
“It was just focused, just making sure that we were taking care of the little details and some little things that cost us the game on Saturday. Lining up on the ball correctly and making sure that we were having the right fits on defense and things like that. Everybody making sure they’re focused and paying attention to what they need to do.”
On if talk about changing the culture will continue
“We aren’t done talking about it, but everybody knows what’s expected and what Coach Frost wants out of everybody. That’s what everybody has tried to do, just know exactly what he [Frost] wants and give everything you’ve got every play.”
On the reaction of older guys to the comments that younger players are making about attitude and culture change
“I’m sure they felt the same way as we did, not everybody was bought in. I think we are going to get to the point, especially towards the end of the season everybody is going to buy in and I think you’ll see a much different and driven Husker football team towards the end of the year.”
On the quarterback situation
“We have three quarterbacks that can go in and win us a Big Ten football game and that’s something I think a lot of teams don’t have, so that’s a really good thing that we have. All of the quarterbacks, they all have different skill-sets but they can do some of the same things and help our offense and help us win football games.”
On how he felt after Saturday
“Sore, but at the end of the day that’s what I’m going to do, if I have to take a hit, I’ll take a hit and it’s not going to phase me too much. I’ll get back up and keep going at it.”
On if the hits Saturday were harder than previous games
“I don’t really try to pay attention to how hard I’ve been hit or things like that.”
On freshmen who are coming along behind the scenes
“Rahmir Johnson, Bryce Benhart, Ethan Piper, Darien Chase, those guys are working hard every day in practice just to hopefully get their shot on Saturdays and show what they can do.”
On being tough as a smaller running back
“All my life I’ve been smaller than most of the guys tackling me. I’ve taken some hits all my life. That’s just how I’ve always been, being tough is something you can’t question. If you’re playing football you have to be tough. As a small guy I’ve always prided myself on being tough and being able to get right back up even if I get hit hard.”
On having over 20 carries Saturday
“Like I said in the press conference on Saturday, I don’t care how many times they need me to carry the ball. If that’s 30 times I’ll carry it 30 times, if it’s 10 times I’ll carry it 10 times. Whatever they need me to do I’m going to do and whatever to help our team win.”
On communication with Rondale Moore
“We text, we facetime, snapchat, we do all those things. We’re still friends at the end of the day, I’m sure we’ll talk at some point this week. I’ll try to get word if he’s playing or not, I don’t know if he’ll want me to put that out there though. That’s a really good friend of mine that I’ll always keep in touch with.”
On if there’s any trash talking with Rondale Moore
“Nah. We’ll joke around and trash talk, but it’s never really intense where we are getting under each other’s skin or anything like that.”
On training with Rondale Moore at home over breaks
“Yeah we’ll still meet up at the gym in Louisville with Chris just working on the same things that we have been since high school; breaks, catching the football and doing things like that.”
On being able to finish drives
“Usually it’s just making that one little mistake and we know that mistake and we can clean it up. We watch the film and you can tell that it’s one play away from breaking for a touchdown or keeping the drive going. We know exactly what we need to do to get in the end zone.”
On if executing is a mental thing
“Yeah I think it’s more of the focus, knowing you have to execute, and doing things the right way.”
