Nov. 24, 2015 Austin Johnson | Jr. | DT
Q. I talked to Sean Spencer a little bit last week, and he said some really great things about you as a person. I was wondering if you could talk about him as a person.
AJ: Coach Spence is very energetic. He brings the energy to the defensive line and gets us hyped before the game. He does all that kind of stuff. Coach Franklin also asks him to speak to the whole team before the game to get us juiced up.
He's a very good coach. He's going to get on you about the stuff that you aren't doing right or [tell you] if you need to change something. He's going to be very, very strict on the details.
Q. A couple younger guys had some big plays last week. How important is that to you to see some of those younger guys step up, given that there's going to be a lot of holes coming on the defensive line next year?
AJ: It's great to see those guys take that role on and play at the level that they've been playing at [in practice]. They're very good. They just need to have that confidence and get those details down and fix the little things here and there that younger guys kind of [struggle] with.
Q. Have you given any thought to the fact that this might possibly be the end of your collegiate career? Have you thought that far yet?
AJ: No. I'm just worried about playing this year and playing this last game and winning for the seniors that rationally have this as their last [regular season] game. I want to make up for the loss that we had last year [to Michigan State].
Q. Brandon Bell told me that people tell him that he needs to smile more and lighten up. What is Brandon like around you guys? Obviously he's played through a lot this year.
AJ: Brandon is kind of a jokester, but I've known Brandon since before coming to Penn State. I have known him since we live like five years old. We lived ten minutes away from each other back home.
He's pretty cool, laid-back person. He's very chill. He's funny, just like DaeSean [Hamilton], all those guys are funny. But, I wouldn't say he smiles that much, no.
Q. Do you ever tell him he needs to smile?
AJ: No, he's fine. I don't smile that much, either.
Q. I can't remember it exactly, but you have a Ray Lewis quote on your Twitter page about greatness. What are some things that motivate you toward greatness?
AJ: I just want to play to the best of my ability. I just watch a lot of film, and seeing other players not running to the ball on other teams, that motivates me. I noticed that stuff, and I want to run to the ball and make as many plays as I can for my team because if I don't, then I know that I'll be letting them down. I don't want to let our defense down or let the whole team down. If I don't run to the ball and try to make a play or make a difference, not just in the middle but on the outside, as well, that is letting my teammates down.
Q. Your draft stock has increased significantly this season. I'm just curious, do you pay any attention to that, and what's the year been like for you?
AJ: I really don't pay that much attention to it. My mom has one of those Google alerts. She put my name in and has a Google alert, so that's pretty funny. She sends me stuff and I look at it, but I just keep on going on about my day. It's about this team. That's where I am right now. It's just about this team and making this year as good as it can be for the seniors by winning this game.
Q. Do you feel any pressure to maybe make a decision on your own playing future at some point with the season winding down? How do you put it out of your mind if you're not thinking about it?
AJ: I'm not really thinking about that at all. I'm just trying to play to the best of my ability and trying to -- like I said before, end the regular season on a good note for these seniors. I'm just trying to play to the best of my ability and make every play that I can, just trying to make the biggest difference that I possibly can on the field.
Q. I'm curious, when you realized you can play the role of spoiler this week and knock Michigan State out of the Big Ten title race. Does that have any extra incentive for you, playing the role of spoiler?
AJ: We're going to treat every game like it's the same, but obviously this is a really big game for a lot of teams, not just us. I want to win this game really bad, not just to be the spoiler, but just to make Anthony [Zettel], Carl [Nassib], and Tarow [Barney] happy. To help Kyle [Carter] and Matt [Zanellato] and all of are seniors end the regular season on a good note.
Q. Troy was just in here and he had this pretty huge smile on his face when he was talking when you guys [defensive linemen] stunt and he can see that open up so he can shoot through. What do you see out of him?
AJ: It's great to see him playing at a high level, especially [as a freshman]. He's going to have a really good career here, and it's just great to see him put all the pieces together and be that linebacker that we needed this year and to step up and be a leader back there, as well.
Geno Lewis | Jr. | WR
Q. I wanted to ask where you've seen the most improvement across which position group this season.
GL: Good question. I think a lot of the positions have made great growth as the season went on. I think our defensive line has taken another step this year, especially with [Carl] Nassib and his 15 and one-half sacks. He's been very impressive, as the whole defensive line has. [Anthony] Zettel, Austin [Johnson], Parker [Cothren], even the young guys have stepped up and made some big plays. I really think they've done a really good job.
Q. You've been on a lot of offenses throughout your career. What's the biggest challenge making a team better at the end of the year than you were at the beginning?
GL: The main thing is execution. We all have to go out there and do our jobs. Do what you're supposed to do, play to the best of your ability and go out there and make plays and take advantage of your opportunities.
Q. You have already clinched a winning record this season, but you have yet to beat a winning Big Ten or winning power five team. Do you guys need to beat Michigan State to consider this season a success?
GL: Well, personally I feel like we need to beat every team, regardless if they're ranked or not. When we go into every week we're trying to make a game plan to put ourselves in the best position to win, and this is the last regular season game, and this is a big game for us, and we want to go out there and play to the best of our ability and try to get the win.
Q. When we talk to Chris Godwin, he seems pretty quiet, pretty laid-back and low key. Is that really what Chris is like?
GL: Yeah, Chris is a pretty quiet guy, but when he's with us, he talks a little bit more. For the most part, though, he's very quiet. He just goes out and does what he's supposed to do and then moves on. He's a really good guy, though.
Q. Brandon Bell, another guy who's pretty quiet around us, but people have said that's not always the case. What's Brandon like with you guys and can you just speak a little about the preparation that he puts into his game?
GL: Brandon Bell is an awesome person and a great player. He comes out to practice and works hard each and every day. He's one of the funnier guys on the team. He jokes around a lot. He puts a smile on everyone's face, and he knows when it is time to be serious and when it is time to play around. I really enjoy having him as a teammate.
Q. Just to put you in the role of a scout for a second, when you're watching Michigan State on film, what really jumps out at you?
GL: They have a really good defensive line. They've been playing well all year. They've got some pretty good defensive backs, and their linebackers are playing well, too. I think it's going to be a great challenge and a great opportunity for us to come out and make plays.
Q. Coach talked about their defensive backs getting up in your face with a lot of press coverage. Talk about how you guys can win and get off the line and get some separation on Saturday.
GL: I feel, personally, if a defensive back wants to press and play man, it's a better opportunity for the receiver to make plays because it's basically playing one-on-one and you're on an island. I think it's a great challenge. They have a great defense right now. They're coming off a good win, but we want to go out there and make some plays.
I'm confident in our receiving corps and that we have guys in our room that are going to go out there and try to take advantage of what they show us.
Q. You got here one year before Christian Hackenberg. I'm just curious what kind of impact do you think he's had on this program, not just this year but overall, and what is it about him that also maybe impresses you the most?
GL: Christian is a great leader. I think he came in just when we needed somebody to step in [as a leader] in the quarterback role. He's been great the last three years. He's had his ups and downs, but for the most part he's been positive about everything, and I think he's a great player, a great person, and I think he's going to be very successful from here on out.
Troy Reeder | R-Fr. | LB
Q. You guys are playing a top 10 team this week in Michigan State. I'm curious, do you feel like you have anything to prove here?
TR: I think there's always something left to prove, unless you're the national champion. I think for us, we just know that the best is still yet to come. Even though this is the last game of the regular season, we know that we have more left in our tanks. We're continuing to grow and get better and better every week.
I think for us, we want to send these [seniors] out on a high note. And, for the rest of us, the returning players, we want to just end the season on a high note and go into next year with some momentum.
In terms of what we want to prove, it's just that a lot of people out there question how high of a level are we capable of playing at, and I think we've done a good job of hanging in some tight games. But, for us, I think it's time that we knock off a power five team.
Q. When you have a chance to go back and watch the film, what stood out about the tackling? It seemed like it was pretty shaky for you guys.
TR: In the Michigan game? I think we were a little disappointed because we know we're better than that. We have to bring our feet, wrap up, drive our legs, keep our head up, and get back to the fundamentals.
Q. Is it frustrating that [tackling] is still something you need to work on?
TR: Yeah, we have some young guys out there accompanied by some older guys. You can always improve on your fundamentals. I think that's something all over the country that with taking your head out of the game and stuff that you don't get to work on quite as much in practice as you did back in the day. That's on us as the players to continue to get better every week on that.
Q. Talking about tackling, you seem like a guy that every time you hit someone just about everyone feels it. Is that a sort of thing that just comes naturally? How do you get to that point in your career?
TR: I think tackling has been something since I was pretty young that didn't come natural to me. Growing up I was more of an offensive player until high school. I started off high school as a quarterback and didn't really have much interest in playing defense. But once I started to see my potential, it's something that I worked on. Like I said, fundamentally, a lot of guys have the strength. That's why WWE wrestlers can't play football. It's a lot different. Athletically being able to wrap, and roll different tackling techniques is something you work on growing up, and the older you get, the bigger and stronger and faster the backs get, so you have to continue to grow and develop.
Q. Are there situations when you know you're going to be able to hit a guy if the play comes the way that it should?
TR: Yeah, especially if we fill our gaps right, and that's something that from the stands is tough to see. It's hard to see from the stands how amazing it is on the fly as fast as it is that the defensive line takes their gaps, whether it's a stunt or just our base defense, and then you add in pullers and different movements, and it's like fitting a puzzle, and how fast guys have to think and set people up. When you get that back tight in the hole, I think that's probably the best time that you know you probably have a good chance of getting him.
Q. You got here at a unique time for a true freshman Penn State football player where the older players weren't really used to a coaching staff because the coaching staff was new so they couldn't really tell you what to expect. Can you describe that process when you're coming in and everybody is on the same slate, so to speak, and do you think it's contributed anything to the short-term development of the program where you guys did have to get on the same page maybe so quickly?
TR: I think what we're experiencing now that the program is two years in, which is really nice, is that the upperclassmen are able to get the offensive and defensive systems down. Guys like Christian [Hackenberg] can talk to the young guys about what the offense is about and teach them. You're only allowed a certain amount of hours in the week [with the coaches]. When our class came in, I can speak defensively, our starters on defense still were learning the defense through camp and it's was hard for them to teach the young guys when they're trying to learn it themselves.
I think we're getting to the point now where even our redshirt freshmen are able to help out the true freshmen. I think that's something that is going to continue to help us start each season a lot stronger in terms of being able to have our whole defensive package in by the first game. Have our whole offensive package in by the first game, and as we continue to have more and more returning starters, which we will as we continue to grow as a team, things will be less chaotic and that is just part of the experience.
Q. When you face some of the criticism, you guys all come in here with the adversity of losing players in your unit and then you face criticism down the road about tackling issues and things like that. What kinds of specific conversations do you all have with each other about these things?
TR: You know, certain things from the outside may look like we need to work on something, or sometimes there's stuff we need to work on that the outside people don't see.
That's up to our coaches and our older players to decide where we need to work to get better. I think that our coaching staff does a really great job of structuring our practices and the minimal time that we have on improving in those aspects that we feel like are the most important to helping us win.
In terms of the outside, we're focused internally. I think that's something you have to be at this level because you're going to face criticism. It could be anything, really. Just knowing that it's about you and your teammates and the coaches and in general the whole Penn State football family, what we're able to do to get better week in and week out.
Q. I wanted to ask you about tackling and hitting hard again. It seems like a lot of times that there's a certain mentality about that, or is it more that you're just going to the football and not thinking?
TR: I'd say it's kind of a mentality of don't overthink things. I would say it's more of a mentality and natural instincts that are developed in practice, and then transferred to the games. That's when you're really able to tee off on somebody. They say aim four feet through the man, so the momentum of your body carries you through the ball carrier. That is the best mentality that I could describe what I think about when I hit people.