Blue White Illustrated

COAChSPEAK |EXCERPTS FROM BILL O'BRIEN'S WEEKLY PRESSER Bill, can you give us an update on the status of Jordan Hill and Kyle Carter for this week? Both those guys are day‑to‑day. They come in every day for treat- ment. Then, you know, we take a look at them in the training room, in the weight room, out on the field. Re- ally, that will be a later‑in‑the‑week decision – whether they can play or not. What do you see as the similari- ties between Braxton Miller and Taylor Martinez? I believe that both guys are tremen- dous athletes. They both have excel- lent speed. I believe that both of those guys have worked on their throwing mechanics and improved throwing the football. Taylor Mar- tinez has done an excellent job. I think he's completing [63] percent of his passes. He is an accurate guy, he can run, and they have great com- mand of their offense. So they're coached very well. They know what they want to do, how they want to attack things and, obviously, with both guys, it's a huge challenge for any defense. How do you expect the atmos- phere at Nebraska to differ from the other three Big Ten road games? Well, I would expect that this at- mosphere will be very loud and very intense, from what I hear. I've never been to Nebraska, but from what I hear they have respectful fans, they're loud, they cheer for their team and they appreciate an oppo- nent that plays hard and plays clean. We're really looking forward to it. Nebraska‑Penn State – that's what college football is all about. You have two big‑time college football pro- grams that have two good coaching staffs and a lot of good players. The secondary is a unit that maybe we haven't talked about as much as some of the other posi- tion groups on the team. Talk about its progress. Tim Owen I believe they're one of the most im- proved units on the team. They're very well-coached by John Butler. Anybody that's been to our practices [has seen] John coach those guys with detail and intensity. He's a teacher; he accepts nothing less than their best. So I think he's done a great job with those guys. Then you have to give them a lot of credit. Stephon Morris, Adrian Amos – they have done a really good job. Morris was one of the players in the game for us against Purdue. He's worked hard at his individual technique and he's done a really good job. Adrian has had a really good year for us. He's a big kid, he's a tough kid, [and a] fun guy to coach. Then you look at the safety posi- tion with Malcolm Willis and Jake Fagnano and Steven [Obeng- Agyapong] – these guys have played well for us. Then you look at the role [players] that are in a position like Jesse Della Valle. He's come up big in special teams for us. Then you look at freshmen like Jordan Lucas and Da'Quan Davis. These guys have improved every week. You can't say enough about the players in that position. We have three games left. Let's hope they improve, but to this point in the season, they have done everything we have asked them to do. N O V E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 2 13 seen so much more work and how much has he improved? He's improved a lot. He's played the whole season, but you have seen him over the last few weeks catch a few more balls. He's improved in his route running, and he's done every- thing we asked him to do in the run- ning game – blocks the down safety, blocks corners, blocks for the screens. He's a team guy – one of the more improved guys on our football team from a route-running stand- point, from a health standpoint, durability standpoint. He's catching the ball better, and hopefully he can continue to improve over the next three weeks. Jesse James stepped in for Kyle Carter [and did] pretty well against Purdue. How has he developed this season and what kind of potential do you think he has going for- ward? He has unlimited potential. He is a 6-foot-7, 265‑pound young kid who came out of high school early. He took a while to learn what we were trying to do, but, you know, he kept working at it. He's a hard‑working Pittsburgh kid and he is coached well by John Strollo. And he's done well in the weight room, and we're expecting big things from him over the next few years – no question. B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Why has [Brandon Moseby‑Felder] MOST IMPROVED O'Brien said the secondary is "one of the most im- proved units on the team" after al- lowing only 125 passing yards vs. Purdue last week.

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