Nebraska defensive backs coach Addison Williams has kept a relatively low profile this season so far. While he might not be the most recognizable face on the Huskers' staff, he's also one of the most impactful on the recruiting trail and on the field. Now he hopes he can help his charges turn things around big time on Friday night.
Williams appeared on Husker Sports Nightly earlier this week and said the Cornhuskers were putting things behind them. He also said he knows the team hasn't always stepped up in "pressure moments," but he hopes his units have figured things out ahead of the Illini game.
"It's about focusing on those details and each and everything throughout the course of practice so now they become habits as you go down this road, and you're in those situations. It's not so much the situations that matter," Williams said.
"It's you doing what you have a habit of normally doing and finishing those plays."
Addison Williams says Nebraska football must finally finish critical defensive plays
Of course, Williams also doesn't think the defense has been all that bad in those "pressure moments" throughout the season. He thinks some of the talk that the Huskers can't stand out is more that while they do their job for most of the game, it's the one moment that stands out from the pack.
"It's a position where you play 70 plays in a game, and if one or two don't go your way in those critical moments, it's like, 'Hey, did you really have a good game, did you not?'" Williams told Kyle Crooks. "But we try to see it in a bigger scope than that when we're sitting there breaking down film."
That doesn't mean Williams is excusing the defense not making the big stop when it's needed most. He understands that even if the spots that some fans thinks were a let down, really weren't, there were other moments in any game where the Blackshirts could have changed things.
"At the same time, there were so many plays earlier in the game where we had a chance to impact the game, but we necessarily didn't."
The defensive backs coach also offered an explanation that makes a lot of sense for why two of Nebraska's losses came largely from opponents switching quarterbacks in the fourth quarter.
"You got some rosters where the quarterbacks are carbon copies of each other. But the last couple weeks, those quarterbacks have been tremendously different so there's definitely an adjustment period."
Williams seems to know why Nebraska's defense hasn't always stepped up when needed most. Hopefully, he'll figure out a way to reverse that on Friday night against Illinois.
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