Sept. 17, 2008
23 - Kevin Kelly, Sr., Placekicker
Q: How important is it to have a smooth transition from the snap to the hold to the kick?
A: Just as Coach (Paterno) said, it's tough to find guys sometimes. Sometimes you have to find guys from other positions and that's what we done this year. Larry Federoff is working with punts and Andrew Pitz working with field goals and so far they've been spectacular. It's going to start with the snap every time and really the snapper and the holder have the hardest job, so once the ball is down, I have the easy job. So, the long snapper is the most critical part.
Q: How much did you enjoy getting the kick at the end of the first half last week (52 yard field goal at Syracuse), not a pressure situation, but did you see yourself as in a pressure situation?
A: I enjoyed it a lot, especially even the week before, right before the half too, it was a 60 yarder, both of them. Like you said, it's not too much of a pressure situation, but it's still points on the board that can be put on and it's a longer field goal and I've had some trouble with that. So, it's just a good challenge and I'm glad that I made it.
Q: How much confidence did you get (from the 52-yard FG)? You didn't make that 60 yard kick, but you were only a yard short. Did that give you some confidence that you could make it?
A: Yeah, definitely the thing that I really took away from it was that it was right down the middle. That was the thing that, obviously, I need to work at with on my longer field goals is my accuracy and so far they have been down the middle. So, that was one thing that I really took away from it. The other thing was I hit it pretty well, so if I get the opportunity again, hopefully it goes little better.
Q: When people think of strength and conditioning, they usually don't think of the kicker as the first player. But with that in mind what does John Thomas do with you specifically to help get you stronger and bigger?
A: John Thomas and also Jeremy Scott, they've been huge for me. When I came in, I was a little heavier, didn't really run or stretch that much, but they really focused on the stretching, the running and the lifting has helped out a lot too, I think, even more so than the running. Just taking every thing 100 percent every time I go in and working with Jeremy and JT earlier in my career, because they focused on the perfect reps and all that stuff so, it has definitely made me a lot stronger and in a lot better shape than I was when I first came here.
Q: What is the difference between a great snap and one that isn't so good?
A: It's very small; especially at this level. Even when you get to the NFL you'll see it all the time. But, I think the big thing is that we are at a set distance for field goals at about seven to about seven and a half yards and the big thing for Jeremy (Boone) that helps him out so much is that Andrew (Pitz) gets the ball laces out or maybe a quarter of the way to the side. He never puts it laces back so that Jeremy has to spin the ball all the way around. That's a thing that has really helped out is Andrew is really consistent with the rotation on the ball. Anybody can pretty much snap the ball back in a spiral and with some speed, but to be able to get it to the same spot every time is really big.
Q: Kickers aren't really considered part of the team as a leader or anything like that but you're a senior. What can you say to the other guys to maybe not get too hot on yourselves with these past three games?
A: Well, it's kind of tough for me just because I'm not really a vocal person anyway. Every time when I played soccer and baseball, and then when I started playing football in high school, it was just I'll go out there and I'll make a kick and maybe that'll help out or if I miss one the way I react and help out if someone else makes a mistake. You just can't get too high or too low. So, I think more just leading by example just because I'm not that vocal, but I think now that I've been around so long that I can step up in certain situations if it's needed.
Q: What's the difference in kicking a 35-yard kick against someone like Coastal Carolina and then have to lineup against Ohio State for a 35-yard kick at their stadium?
A: Anymore, I don't really see much of a difference. My freshman year, I could definitely tell the difference. You can just feel the people on top of you. It's not necessarily that I'm really focused on the noise or any of that, but the whole atmosphere is definitely different. But, through all the practices that we have had and Coach Paterno always getting on top of us...that's probably the worst thing. That's worse than 110,000 people at Ohio State.
Q: You've had a lot more success in the coverage game this year. What have you been doing specifically on your kicks to have that occur?
A: To be honest, I don't think it has anything really to do with my kicks. I think it just has to do with the guys we have. It's a lot of the guys that we had on the team last year and we as a unit didn't do a good job. I think they really took that and used it as motivation. You'll see when you watch on film; guys are just flying down the field. I mean maybe my balls are going a little bit higher but I think it's just the fact that guys are really focused on not letting things happen that happened last year.
Q: You're 11 field goals away from being the Big Ten's all-time leader. Have you thought much about that?
A: Not at all. That's actually the first time I've heard of that. That's pretty cool, but I mean it isn't really a huge, huge deal. I just want to go out and make all the kicks I can make. Every opportunity I'm going to get, I'm going to try and make and I've been fortunate enough to have enough opportunities here to hopefully get to that level. Otherwise, it's just going out and making every kick.
2 - Derrick Williams, Sr., Wide Receiver
Q: Being a senior, after three easy wins and another non-conference game coming up, how do you make sure the other guys stay focused and concentrate all the time?
A: By just not being satisfied with what we have done. Every time we look at film, we see things that we can improve on. We are taking it one game at a time and we have a long season in front of us. We still have a lot of tough teams that we have to play and this week's game is going to be a big test for us with Temple.
Q: How is your arm feeling from Saturday?
A: It's still a little sore right now, but with time I think it's going to get back to normal.
Q: With the White Out game going on next week, in primetime, do you talk with the guys to keep them focused?
A: Just getting ready for Temple is way more important than what Illinois will be. We really have to focus on this Temple team. They have a great team and that's going to be another step that we have to take. We have to start off with Temple and they're a great team. When we look at the film, they should be 3-0 right now. We know they are going to come in here and play very hard and they have a lot of experience.
Q: Joe said you guys haven't really faced any adversity yet. Is there anything that you can do in practice or to help simulate what it's going to be like when you are in a tight game?
A: Well, to be honest, I hope we never get into a tight game, but it does happen. All we can do in practice is to practice hard and going against I think our toughest competition is in practice right now and that's a good thing because what we go through, the tough things in practice, it will carry over to the game when something comes up pretty close.
Q: Last week, Jordan (Norwood) was talking about when you, Deon (Butler), Justin (King), and Jordan came in prior to that first season they were sitting around talking about what it's going to be like to play at this level and being a little bit nervous. Can you go back and give us your thoughts on what was going through your mind then and can you believe that this year is your last?
A: When we came in as freshmen, we were all nervous of what was being asked of you. When we first got here we were just little runts. We definitely couldn't imagine ourselves to be where we are right now. We definitely carried each other and helped each other get better over the years.
Q: What were your impressions of Jordan and Deon? No one really knew much about them. They weren't really highly-recruited guys, like you and Justin were. How long did it take you to realize what kind of players they were?
A: Jordan and I got really close. The first moment when I walked on campus we started working out together and everything. So, I knew Jordan was a special talent. With Deon, Deon was from the metropolitan area where I'm from so I knew a little bit about Deon, we were All-Met, but I knew all of them were good. To play at this level you have to be good.
Q: Was this the type of offense you expected when you came in four years ago, putting up 50 points a game and 500 yards?
A: Definitely. I saw the talent we had four years ago and I saw the talent of my class and I knew that we could do some special things. The thing is we still haven't really put in anything in yet.
Q: This team looks like it's starting to get on a roll. How much excitement is building in the locker room and around campus, surrounding the team with what you guys can do?
A: It's a lot of excitement. The guys are really feeling good about the team and that's a good thing because everyone has faith in one another. We all say that if we are in a war we trust the guys that have our backs. I know my teammates are going to be fighting just like I'm going to be fighting for them. We know that we have a special unit and we know we can do some special things this year.
Q: How much do you guys bounce stuff off of each other as senior receivers? Maybe some advise and constructive criticism rather than just having one leader?
A: We definitely bounce ideas off each other. I think Mike McQueary is the head guy. He tells it the way he wants us to do it and we just try to fine tune it a different way. Mike has done a great job with building this receiving corps; building the younger guys and having us help them as much as we can to.
Q: Is it tough to adjust to (Daryll) Clark or (Pat) Devlin whenever they switch?
A: I don't think it's tough because we work with them every day of the week. We all worked in the off-season and we can pretty much go with either one of those three. All of them can get the job done.
Q: How important is blocking for receivers and how much better have you gotten at blocking, since you didn't really do too much blocking in high school?
A: I did not really do too much blocking in high school. My freshman year, I was just trying to sneak up to people so they wouldn't see me, but like I said, Mike has done a great job with just stressing the issue with blocking. If we make that key block, it could be the block that springs the running back for a touchdown. Being out there on an island with guys as quick as you it's hard to block. He just does a great job in practicing it and doing "repping" it out and we are much stronger than we were when we were freshmen and it's definitely helped this team out a lot.