Doug Nester UCF Preview
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00:00 We have offensive lineman Doug Nestor.
00:03 Questions for Doug?
00:04 So, Doug, when a team goes through some disappointments,
00:06 had some adversity, is an older guy,
00:09 how do you try to be a leader and handle that?
00:11 Do you talk a lot? What do you do?
00:16 Talk a lot as in -- I do talk a lot as in, like,
00:19 going up to them individually, you know, checking on them,
00:22 how they're doing mentally and everything, you know,
00:24 making sure they're processing this the correct way
00:28 and making sure that we're staying on task each and every day
00:31 and, you know, just keep going to work.
00:32 That's all we can do.
00:34 What's going to change this week
00:38 to change the result from the last two games?
00:42 What do you guys got to do as a team?
00:45 You know, during this time of adversity,
00:47 you know, all we can do is, you know, just stick together
00:49 and make sure we're all on the same page,
00:51 you know, defense and offensively,
00:54 you know, just become a cohesive group, really,
00:57 start playing, you know, complimentary football
01:01 and just help each other out as much as we can.
01:04 Has there been any change or adjustment
01:11 just when defense has stacked the box
01:13 and trying to get CJ going more in the run game overall?
01:17 Does more of that need to happen?
01:20 I mean, we know that, yeah, you know,
01:24 teams are going to load the box
01:25 and try to do different stuff against us,
01:28 you know, because our run game is what it is.
01:31 And, you know, being able to throw the ball
01:33 like we have the past two weeks,
01:35 I think, helps set up that run game even more.
01:38 You know, so just being able to do that
01:40 throughout the rest of the season will be very beneficial.
01:44 You guys went unbalanced a ton last week, flopping tackles.
01:48 How different is that for you when you do that?
01:51 I mean, it's got to have a change, right?
01:54 Yeah, it's a little bit of a change, you know,
01:56 just coming out of a different stance and everything.
01:58 But, you know, practicing it all week helps a lot.
02:01 And so this is the second game we've done it.
02:05 So I think it was a lot better this time
02:08 and just getting used to it during the week during practice.
02:11 What's the benefit of that from an offensive scheme?
02:15 Really, you know, it brings in extra alignment.
02:17 So we bring in Nick during that stuff.
02:20 So it's really just --
02:22 you're just bringing in extra alignment
02:24 and just unbalancing the O-line
02:26 and just getting another blocker over there
02:28 just to bring, you know,
02:29 to block, you know, the loaded box that they bring.
02:34 But hearing this a lot, not just --
02:36 you just hear this watching different games and stuff.
02:38 Teams are doing a lot more gap blocking than zone blocking,
02:41 or going back to gap blocking.
02:43 What's the differences between the two,
02:44 and how much are you guys doing any of that?
02:48 Say it again?
02:50 Gap blocking and zone blocking,
02:51 the differences between the two.
02:53 So anytime I hear gap, I think of, like, counter power plays.
02:58 I think we're doing a lot of both.
03:00 You know, we're running a bit of counter
03:02 and a bit of inside zone.
03:03 Easier to block one and the other?
03:12 I feel like it's two completely different schemes in my mind.
03:16 You know, it's not easier or harder.
03:17 I think it's, you know, all about who you have on that play.
03:21 Okay.
03:24 You have a favorite play as a tackle you like?
03:30 Me, personally, I love being able to pull.
03:32 So anytime that I get to, you know, get in space or move,
03:37 so those are always my favorite plays.
03:39 Like tackle pulls around the edge,
03:41 those are one of my favorites.
03:43 And then we have guard tackle pull.
03:45 Those are always, you know, just one of my favorite plays
03:47 where I get to, you know, get my momentum going
03:49 and get into a block.
03:50 Old-school trap, stuff like that.
03:52 That's gap blocking, right?
03:54 Yeah. Yeah.
03:55 That doesn't bother you.
03:56 You like doing some of that stuff.
03:57 Yes.
03:59 Get out in space, though, and now maybe it's a defensive back.
04:03 Obviously, you've got 100 pounds plus on it,
04:06 but hard to get your hands on somebody like that.
04:09 What's the plus/minus there?
04:11 So, for those plays,
04:13 you really have to trust whoever's running the ball.
04:16 So their job is to help me set up that block as well.
04:20 So my job is really just to somehow get my hands on them
04:25 in any way and that they're going to set up the block
04:27 and read the block so I can really have a two-way go.
04:31 A little wrinkle he did with reverse motion
04:34 with the wide receiver and then use him
04:37 as the lead blocker with Garrett following.
04:39 Is that something you worked on specifically for Oklahoma State,
04:42 or is that something that's kind of been building in the package?
04:45 Yeah, we've been building that pretty much all year, I would say.
04:48 But, you know, been using it the past couple weeks,
04:51 you know, against the defenses we've been seeing.
04:54 Right, and it's kind of like a counter play, right?
04:56 Correct. Yeah.
04:58 Doug, you've played an awful lot of football games.
05:01 This is a question that probably nobody can answer,
05:03 but win and lose, similar opponents,
05:08 you win some games, you lose some games.
05:10 Have you ever figured out why some games go right
05:13 and some games go wrong?
05:16 If there's any string to it, that's attached to it?
05:20 Um, you know, it's really - I mean, especially in the Big 12,
05:27 you know, all these teams are so talented.
05:29 I say we're so close in, you know, from top to bottom,
05:34 one of the, like, closer of the power five.
05:38 But I would say it's really -
05:41 it comes down just to a few key plays,
05:44 whether or not who makes the play from either team.
05:47 You know, it's always such a close game,
05:49 and then who can make the more critical plays
05:53 during those times and who can have,
05:55 you know, like, less - I don't know the word -
06:01 less errors during those plays.
06:04 Is there anything that causes one team to do it
06:06 and one team not to?
06:08 What is it?
06:09 Is there anything that causes one team to do it
06:11 on a given Saturday where maybe they wouldn't do it
06:14 on the other Saturday, even making an error or make a play?
06:18 You know, attention to detail, how locked in the guys are,
06:22 how hard they're straining, you know,
06:24 just really who comes out to play the hardest that week.
06:27 Garrett gets a little bit of a homecoming this week,
06:32 if you will, right, going back down to Florida
06:34 and that sort of thing.
06:36 Do you think that'll be good for him?
06:37 Yeah, for sure.
06:39 You know, I know he has a lot of friends and everything
06:40 down in Florida, and they come up here as much as they can.
06:43 But, yeah, I'm sure he's going to be super excited
06:45 to get down there.
06:47 Team you're facing is eager to get their first Big 12 win,
06:52 so that's going to be -
06:54 and they played well against Oklahoma last week,
06:56 so certainly that's got your attention, right?
06:58 Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, they're a super talented team.
07:02 Haven't got too much film yet.
07:04 You know, it's just Monday, so we'll start on it
07:06 later this evening.
07:07 But, you know, I know the offense is very explosive,
07:11 and they have some super talented guys.
07:13 And defensively, I know they have a pretty solid D-line,
07:17 and just the defense overall can do their job.
07:21 More about you guys, though,
07:25 what you guys got to do to fix the things that -
07:27 I mean, you lose on a Hail Mary,
07:30 and then you're up 24-20 going into the fourth quarter
07:34 in a game that's hotly contested.
07:36 And then, you know, you drop a punt,
07:38 and then kind of the roof caves in on you.
07:41 So it's kind of a bit more about you guys a little bit, right?
07:43 Oh, yeah, for sure.
07:45 You know, we're going to practice every day,
07:46 trying to, you know, fix those mistakes
07:48 so they won't ever happen again.
07:50 Because that's the main thing. We'll have mistakes,
07:52 but just to make sure that they never come back.
07:56 So go to work this week and, you know, fix the finer details.
08:00 You know, still practice hard, everything we need to do.
08:06 Second half of your senior season,
08:08 so days are starting to wind down a little bit.
08:11 Do you think about it?
08:12 I only got two home games left in my college career.
08:16 Does that run through your head at all?
08:18 It hasn't been until about today.
08:22 I was actually - no, not you.
08:24 I actually started thinking about it earlier.
08:28 I started thinking about it earlier,
08:29 you know, thinking that it's about 30-some days
08:34 left in my college career.
08:35 Yeah. So, yeah, it's getting surreal.
08:41 You went through a senior day last year, though.
08:43 So is sort of a practice run?
08:45 I mean, you may have had some of those thoughts.
08:48 I may not be coming back last year.
08:50 So does that, I mean, make this easier or harder
08:55 that you've already done it sort of once?
08:58 It makes it a little bit harder, honestly,
09:00 because I know that this one, you know,
09:02 this senior day coming up will be the last one.
09:05 Doug, you prepare for a team that -
09:10 UCF has had some tough days against the run, right?
09:12 So when you're preparing for a team,
09:14 do you look at what you all do
09:16 that might fit into some of their weaknesses,
09:19 or do you try to find out their soft spots
09:20 and figure out how you guys can take advantage of that?
09:23 A little bit of both.
09:25 And, you know, like I said earlier,
09:28 some of the defenses that we've been playing
09:30 have shown us complete different looks
09:32 because of, you know, I feel like how we run the ball.
09:36 So we also have to account for that
09:38 because you never know what they're going to throw at us.
09:40 So we really have to, you know,
09:42 here's some possible things that they could run.
09:45 They've shown it once or twice.
09:46 So really going into that type of game plan.
09:49 All right, then going back to the change-ups teams
09:51 have thrown at you.
09:53 I imagine it just temporarily short-circuits you a little bit,
09:56 but how do you recover?
09:57 Is it on the sideline? Is it in the huddle?
09:59 Like, when does the recovery happen there?
10:03 So, yeah, I mean, it's mostly just we got to talk it through.
10:06 We have to explain everything that we saw during the drive
10:09 to, you know, Coach Moore and all the offensive coaches.
10:13 And, you know, each position group needs to do that
10:15 so they can, you know, formulate a game plan
10:17 there on the sidelines just to, you know,
10:20 the biggest thing for us is communication with the coaches.
10:23 Last week, just more even front?
10:26 Yeah, that was because all the overload stuff.
10:29 But, you know, when they're playing odd,
10:31 they've shown mostly just to play -
10:33 Oklahoma State showed mostly to play their D-ins
10:36 and no's just, like, straightforward.
10:37 But they never - they were twisting
10:40 and moving every single play,
10:41 trying to get their linebackers involved in the run game.
10:45 And safety is downhill fast.
10:48 And Houston, they spread out a shade a little bit.
10:52 Like, can they stay away from Zach?
10:53 I think a lot of people said, but anything different there?
10:55 They didn't change up too much,
10:57 as much as I thought they would.
10:59 But, yeah.
11:01 Okay, anything else for Doug?
11:09 Thank you.
11:10 All right. Thank you, sir.