Oct. 4, 2016 Jordan Smith | Sr. | S
Q. Coach Franklin said that you gave the pregame speech in the hotel on Friday and really pumped the team up. I know some of that was personal but is there any part you can tell us?
JS: I just told the guys that the main thing that we want to do this weekend is go out and get a win, and that would be the most important thing.
Q. Why was that so important to you to share that with your teammates?
JS: Because I love those guys. I love my teammates. My teammates mean the world to me. They are such a great group of guys. I don't know where I would be without them honestly, just from the talks that me and my teammates have, to the times we share, the moments, the experiences, they are amazing. They are the ones that make the Penn State experience so amazing.
Q. Is there anything that any of them have taught you specifically that you're able to share?
JS: Yeah, a lot of them have taught me to laugh even through the tough times. Laugh and smile even through the tough times.
Q. Can you share your recruiting story? You're an upper classman, who recruited you, what made you decide to come here?
JS: Bill O'Brien recruited me back in 2012 and 2013. I ended up enrolling early and the rest is history I guess.
Q. On the bond that you guys share as teammates, do you think that's gotten stronger, based on some of the stuff you guys have been through as a team early this season with injuries?
JS: I like to think that our bond was very strong even before all the adversity that we had to overcome. We just gel so well and we all get along so well. The adversity doesn't really affect our bond.
Q. Just curious what Bill [O'Brien] would have talked to you about. What did they sell you on, because obviously that was a tough time for the program?
JS: Coach O'Brien was very honest with me throughout the recruiting process. He told me that the main thing that he wants to stress to me is that I'm going to come to this university and graduate. He made that a point of emphasis. I thank him for that.
He didn't come into my home and tell me that I was going to be this or he's going to take me here. No, he was very honest and very open with me and told me that the one thing that we're going to focus on is you graduating, and your play is going to speak for itself.
Q. Did he have to do hard selling?
JS: No, he didn't have to do hard selling at all. I already knew about Penn State's program; the alumni, the university, the campus. I heard so much from Stephon Morris, just working out around him...back in the Washington, D.C. area.
Q. Obviously we've seen all the injuries that you guys have had this season. A guy like Grant [Haley], we've seen him on the headset earlier this year. How has he helped with you your development or who do you credit with helping you so far this year?
JS: Grant is my little brother, but I would say that all my development comes from Roman Morris, Stephon Morris's father. He and Troy Vincent Sr. taught me everything I know before I got here. Just the talks and criticism that they give me throughout the year, throughout the past seasons has helped me grow up.
Q. What was their critique on you on Saturday?
JS: They told me I did -- they are coaches still at the end of the day, so they try to pick out some things that they thought I could have done better. But they told me I played really well.
Q. I know you and Marcus Allen go way back. Can you describe the relationship you guys have with the Maryland team?
JS: Like you said, Marcus and I are both from the same area. We worked out together for probably three years before we came to Penn State. We do know a lot of guys on the Maryland team. It's going to make the game that much more fun. It's also another opportunity for us to come out and play together as a team and work towards getting a win.
Q. What was Marcus [Allen] like back when you two were younger? We see a super high-energy guy. Was he always like that?
JS: Oh, yeah, that's him. That's Marcus to the T. Marcus is a fun guy. He keeps us laughing and keeps us going. He keeps the energy up in the room, but keeps us light in the room, as well. He's great to be around. I love him. I love that boy.
Q. Same guy on the field then that we see?
HS: Oh, yeah. He's the same guy on the field.
Q. What is your one funniest memory of Marcus Allen from the time you've known him?
JS: I would say all the dancing moments. Every time he dances, it's hilarious. He loves dancing. He loves making guys laugh. I think that's the best quality about him. He is always looking to put a smile on someone's face.
DeAndre Thompkins | So. | WR
Q. Trace McSorley has quickly developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in comeback situations. Does that speak to his personality at all? Or what do you see in third quarters from him?
DT: Mostly it is his composure. As a team we work on it [pressure sitautions] every day in practice. He's one of those guys that just takes that situation and runs with it no matter what the time is, the score, who we are playing, it doesn't matter. He stays in the moment, does the best he can and tries to eliminate his mistakes and that carries on to the field.
Q. What about third quarter adjustments?
DT: No, that's just a great credit to our coaching staff, how well they communicate to Trace and how good their relationship is. He understands Coach Moorhead and what he wants in the offense, and I think that speaks to the coaching staff and the relationship with [Moorhead] and Trace.
Q. I was going to ask what Trace is like in the huddle, but you guys don't huddle, so on the sideline before you're come onto the field what's he like in that scenario?
DT: He's really calm. He just wants as much information as he can get to go into the drive and be successful. He demands a lot out of us. One thing he asks us from every drive is that we just go out there and play hard. He's the kind of guy that takes the reigns and runs with it.
Q. Did he have anything specific to say before you went out there to try to force that overtime on Saturday?
DT: Not really. We deal with it every day in practice. We hear from him every day in practice but mostly just go out there and play hard and believe that we can win.
Q. Coach was trying to explain to us about the slow starts and he's trying to put his finger on it. Is there any reason as to why it takes you guys awhile to get going, anything you think is the reason?
DT: I just think it's the adjustments. We go out there, we have our plan, and sometimes the plan doesn't work out quite as well. Then, we have to work on our adjustments. It can also be execution. Guys have to do their job the best way they can to make the play be successful every time.
Q. Mike Gesicki had said after the game that he feels you're a momentum-based offense. Would you agree with that? Is it a momentum thing?
DT: I think every team is a momentum-based offense. Whenever your crowd or your team is at a higher level than it was coming into the game, you feed off of that. So I don't think it's just us solely. I think that's every offense. We just feed off of it differently than a lot of other teams do.
Q. James has said he's not really a big locker room speech guy and Trace is pretty calm. Is there someone that you guys look to when you need to be pumped up?
DT: Coach Moorhead is a guy who has endless quotes. I think he has a library in his head of just quotes he can pull out no matter what. He's a fiery-type guy, high-energy, and he feeds off of us. Coach Franklin doesn't give us a pep talk right before we go out, but you can always count on Coach Moorhead to put a spark on everybody when we get ready to go out and play.
Q. Any quotes you remember in particular?
DT: Coach Moorhead and I have this little thing that we go on, that we come at each other with a quote every Thursday. So we have endless quotes that we go back and forth.
Q. You just tell them to each other or text each other?
DT: Yeah, I'll just come into the meeting and he'll have a quote and I'll have a quote and we'll see how well each other are prepared.
Q. So who won the quote battle last week?
DT: I did obviously. I don't lose.
Q. You've caught four balls this year that have gone over 20 yards in the air, that's tied for the most in the Big Ten. Can you explain the art of catching the deep ball and have you always been good at it?
DT: I wasn't aware, honestly. But coming into college, contested catches and deep catches were something that I needed to work on. So I worked on it relentlessly and obviously it's paying off.
Mostly it is just focus and being in the moment and not trying to freak out when the ball comes your way. You have to know that you prepared the whole week for this and that your time has come, and you have the time to capitalize on it.
Whether you go out there and freak out or you go out and rely on your training that you've worked so hard for each and every day, I pride myself on that and so do a lot of our receivers.
Q. Did you freak out?
DT: I just felt uncomfortable. I was a smaller guy, so going against bigger defensive backs when the ball is in the air, I'm already at a disadvantage, so [I would think,] what do I do. Now it's more of a mentality thing. Now I know that no matter how big the pressure I'm going against, no matter how good [the defenders] are, in my mind, they still can't stop me from catching the ball. It's more of a mind-set and a preparation thing.
Q. Coach mentioned Saeed [Blacknall] is going to be back this Saturday against Maryland. What do you expect your role to be now that he has not played since the opener?
DT: We all contribute. We have a lot of guys that can factor into the game and Saeed is a part of that. We just have a bunch of guys that can contribute. We have a rotation and a bunch of guys that can come in and fulfill roles that a lot of the other guys can roll into, too.
It's just another guy that's going to come in and be a factor for us, and that's my brother, so you know, I hope he comes in and does just as good a job as he was doing when he left.
Q. How does a receiver block it all out and concentrate when the ball in the air? Do you block out the noise or do you hear the noise as an athlete out there?
DT: I mean, it's 107,000 people. You can't really block all that out. But, you hear the noise, of course, but you know it's a home game. You're used to it. For the most part, the preparation overrides everything. So when you're in the game and the ball is in the air, a punt or a deep ball, you've seen that ball get thrown to you all week, so when the ball is in the air, it's kind of like an I've-already-been-here, I've-already-done-this mentality.
So when the ball is in the air, you don't really freak out because you've seen that look so many times. Only difference is you're in a stadium and not at Lasch Building.
Q. Now that you've admitted that you hear the crowd, have you guys noticed that it's a little different when Joey Julius is about to kick off? Wondering what it's like on the sideline now that this whole thing has kind of snowballed with him.
DT: He's just a guy that is a lightning bolt waiting to happen. You know he's going to fly down there. He's not scared of anything. So we all are holding our breath on the sideline just waiting to see what's going to happen, because we know at any point, he could be one of those guys that can fly down there and take somebody's helmet off.
So we have noticed the difference as far as the excitement for kickoff, but for the most part as a team, we are excited every time the ball is in the air. So whenever kickoff comes on, we know that something is about to get ready to happen.
Q. It looked like after Joey got underhooked to the ground that people were giving him pointers on how to to prevent that. Is that something that you guys would do after looking at that on tape?
DT: I mean, it's football, so.
Q. It was not a terribly serious question.
DT: I know what you mean. Joey doesn't get any reps at Mike linebacker, so it's kind of hard for him to get in that situation and try to out-power some guy that has been blocking his whole life, you know what I mean.
So you just give your own guys pointers to help with the things they have never seen in their life. Just try to help the guy out so he's more successful and not being stuck on some guy trying to get off and not knowing how to do it.
Q. You guys have some really talented cornerbacks. From your estimation, what makes John [Reid] so good at what he does read and also what makes Grant [Haley] so valuable?
DT: Those two guys have very two different techniques. I can say one thing about John, he's a guy that studies a lot. He watches film, constantly watching every rep. That's one of the guys that I worked with during the off-season and I kind of got that preparation standpoint from him and fed off that.
You know, he's just a guy that knows what you're going to do before you do it. That's how much film he watches. He knows if you have a certain route, where you're going to be at, what your feet will be doing, what you like to do and what you don't like to do. He's going to eliminate those things that you like to do and what you're good at, and that's one of the things he does very well is pick off what you do very well and try to eliminate that.
Grant is just a freak. He's athletic, gifted, and relies on that a lot. But he also has technique. He's worked on that. He's one of the guys that if he gets stuck in a tough situation, his athleticism is going to get him out nine times out of 10, and it's just fun to watch him. When he makes a good play in practice, you can just tell that that he knew what was going to happen. When he needs to make a jump or make an interception. He just does it somehow, some way.