Oct. 29, 2008
Lydell Sargeant, Senior, Cornerback
Q: How do you approach a bye week practice-wise? When you don't have a gameplan for a certain team what do you guys work on?
A: Just the mistakes we've made over the past nine games, especially the last game. Things we can work on and like Coach Paterno said, getting the young guys involved just in case they have to go in. We're trying to get better. As far as progression, nothing changes. We're trying to get better and work on the things we need to work on to win the next three games.
Q: Has the feeling sunk in yet from the interception (vs. Ohio State)?
A: No, to me it was just another play. I had a chance to get my hand on the ball. It's one of a lot of plays that the defense made to win the game so to me it wasn't really a big deal. It was a play that I was able to make.
Q: You're a guy that has interests outside of football. How are you going to use your time (this week)?
A: It gives you a chance to get caught up on some schoolwork and the things that some of the players do off campus. For me , I get a chance, with the election coming up next week, to work on a couple of the committees I'm on here with some guest speakers coming in. It's fun to get caught up after nine weeks of just football and managing your time as best as possible. Coach is also giving us a couple days off to get rested and caught up on everything.
Q: Without getting into specifics about the campaign, how energized do you think the student body is about this election and how educational has it been for you to be so deeply involved in the candidate's campaign?
A: I think it's another part of my life that I really enjoy. The energy on campus is great with Sarah Palin coming today and President Clinton coming tomorrow. Those two are a big part of the country with the impact they're making with the election and I think the students are really involved. We registered something like 20,000 students and that's big for us as far as getting students involved. The main focus right now is getting them out to vote.
Q: In regards as to what happened downtown with the rioting, do you have any message for your fans?
A: I think we have some of the best fans in the country. I think that what started out as a celebration turned into a couple of bad things happening. It turned out to be than just a celebration. The majority of the fans that were out there to celebrate didn't do anything bad. There were just a couple rotten eggs in the bunch and that's what turned it sour. I think it's fun to see those guys out there celebrating, but we never want anything bad to happen for the safety of people.
Q: Which committees are you involved with on campus for the election?
A: I'm on the Obama Campaign on campus and I'm also on the PSU Vote Campaign, which is a non-partisan organization that's getting students to register to vote earlier and encourage students to go out and vote on the fourth (of November).
Q: Will you go see President Clinton tomorrow night? I know you met Senator Obama when he was here in the spring.
A: I was actually planning to introduce President Clinton, but he's coming at 3:00 and I have practice, so I won't be able to make it.
Q: Can you describe the feeling on campus right now with the football team during the bye week? I'm guessing a lot of people are coming up to you guys and getting caught up in it. How do you guys balance all that?
A: It's the same every week. Like I said before, we have the best fans in the country and they're enthused just as much as we are after our victory. I don't really call it a riot because that's what it turned into. The celebration they had shows how excited they are about the season and us getting victories. I think this bye week is good so that we stop hearing people say how good of a victory it was and we start to realize the task at hand, which is three big games.
Q: Derrick Williams was very highly recruited out of high school. You're a senior now. Derrick's a senior now. Him being here and you committing here, does that influence anyone in the future? Have you seen that? Are guys energized by Derrick's commitment and success here?
A: I think recruits and guys that you want to go to Penn State are Penn State players. They're more then just good at football. They have good family background. They have good morals. Those are the type of players that Coach Paterno recruits. The guys that come here, I think it's their path that they're going to be here. I think Derrick coming here, as far as recruiting and our whole recruiting class in '05 with Derrick and Justin (King) who's now in the league, was big for the program. I think the recruits see how when you come you can really change a program. The program here is one of the best in the country. I'm sure a lot of people want to come here.
Q: I don't think you had a bye week in '06 and '07. What do you plan to do on Saturday?
A: I'm going to sleep and eat. I think over the season you lose a lot of sleep just because of schoolwork and football. All I want to do is lay down on the couch and eat some of my mom's home cooking. That's all I'm looking forward to.
Q: Are you going to be here or are you going home?
A: We get off Thursday. Thursday is our last practice. We have the weekend off so the majority of the players are going home to see their families.
Stefen Wisniewski, Sophomore, Guard
Q: What are your bye week weekend plans?
A: Pretty much the same as Lydell. Go home. I'm going to enjoy that because I haven't been there since July 4th. I'm going to enjoy sitting on the couch and watching football all day. I miss doing that. I think that's the worst part about playing college football. I miss a lot of great games. I'm excited to have a bye week so I can watch them all.
Q: Do you have DVR?
A: Oh, yeah. I miss not having that up here too. I'm going to enjoy skipping the commercials and what not.
Q: How is practice different during a by-week then say during game preparation?
A: It's a little more focused on ourselves and what we can do as opposed to the whole time talking about what the other team is going to do and how we need to adjust to that. It's a little more introspective. We're probably going to watch ourselves a lot and focus on the things we need to do rather than what kind of challenges a different team is going to present.
Q: Have you looked at the Ohio State tape yet? What did you think?
A: I think the offense played pretty well. Obviously, we didn't score as much as we have been. I think it wasn't us playing terribly, but we made little mistakes here and there that killed our drives. We had some problems on third downs, which is a down that we had been really successful at earlier in the season. I think working out some of those little problems will help us get back on track. That was the best defense we've seen so far. They played well and made things tougher than they have been all season.
Q: You pulling for Texas or Texas Tech Saturday night?
A: Texas Tech. I think we all are but we know the only thing we can control is us. We'll keep working to keep winning and let that take care of itself.
Q: Is Lydell unique in that he's so involved in the political process or are a lot of the players doing some of the same things he's doing?
A: He's definitely the most involved. I think for the most part guys are politically knowledgeable and definitely going to vote, but he's the most dedicated as far as activism.
Q: What is Jordan Norwood like? He's never a guy you hear about how loud he is. Is he ever a guy you hear too much out of?
A: I don't think I've ever heard him talk in the huddle actually. He's quiet and he goes out and gets the job done.
Q: Do you ever run into him much off the field as well?
A: He's like that off the field too. Real soft-spoken. He's a real humble guy and a great kid.
Q: Does your heart go out to those kids with the tragedy at your alma mater?
A: Yeah, I heard about that last night. I've been praying for them. I can't imagine what that's like. I haven't heard any updates today. Last I heard it's the same, that's he's in critical condition. I really can't imagine what that's like.
Q: Can you talk about your decision to come here and your dad and uncle. Did you lean on them for advice?
A: Yeah, I definitely leaned on my dad a lot. He was real objective at the beginning of the process. He went on visits with me and asked the tough questions with the coaches. He was pretty unbiased for a long time. As we started checking out schools more and more, he started towards "Penn State's the best place" and going for the Penn State plugs. He actually had a bunch of his buddies call me up and tell me Penn State's great. By the end of it he was completely biased. I understand and agree.
Q: Have you heard that Coach Paterno would like to get his hip checked out and then hit the road recruiting? You're a guy who will be here next year. Does that get the juices flowing and would you want Coach Paterno to come back and how exciting is it to hear something like that?
A: We love JoePa and if he wants to coach next year that's great. He's obviously still doing a great job. We're 9-0 and looking good. I realize there has been a lot of talk recently about getting towards the end of his coaching career. He's still doing well and succeeding. If he wants to coach another year, we don't have any problem with that.
Q: How hard is it being a football player and an honors scholar?
A: It's pretty tough. It's a lot of work outside the classroom. I think the toughest part is that I have to realize I'm not going to have a lot of free time, especially during the season. Once you realize that and get into the routine of class, practice, schoolwork, and sleep you get used to that. It's definitely a lot of work.
Q: How were Rich (Ohrnberger) and A.Q. (Shipley) the other night? Any memorable moments?
A: Do you mean after or during (the game)?
Q: During.
A: During the game, they were awesome. Rich was more fired up then I've ever seen him. Normally he's intense on gameday but he kind of stepped it up to another level of intensity, being real fired up in the huddle. He made sure we were all ready. One of the cool things about Rich is that he's really confident and believes in this team. When we were down 6-3, he came to the huddle was said, "we're going to score on this drive and we're going to try to win this football game." He was right and we did.
Q: You can't leave us hanging on what happened after the game.
A: I wasn't with them after the game. So I don't have any actual facts. I can imagine. I imagine they enjoyed themselves.