Nov. 1, 2016 Brendan Mahon | Jr. | Tackle
Q. This offense seems to have come a long way in a short period of time. Do you think there's been a turning point? What has been the biggest change in that time period?
BM: I don't think there's been a big turning point. I think just this team and everyone is kind of buying in, everyone is clicking. The coaches, the players, everyone is gelling. It's a family. We're working really hard. Success keeps coming.
We're just going to keep working hard week-to-week and preparing for our opponents like we've been preparing, and hoping the outcome is what we'd like to see.
Q. Scouting services talk pretty high about you, Pro Football Focus had you as the best tackle in the country after the Ohio State game. Do you pay attention to things like that?
BM: I mean, a little bit. It's nice as an offensive lineman once in a while to get commended for your efforts. The main goal is to win football games, to do whatever I have to do to win for this team, put the team in the best spot it can be to win.
So I'm just doing whatever the team needs me to do. Do my job, win football games.
Q. James Franklin said last season you asked to be moved to tackle. What made you want to make that switch? Was there a moment where you thought you were comfortable?
BM: I pretty much left it open with the coaches, putting me wherever they needed me to go, trying to get the team, put the team in the best situation it could be.
So left tackle, right tackle, guard, center, wherever I need to go to help this team win I'll go.
Q. What have you seen specifically on film from Iowa and their front seven? What do you need to do as a line to be successful as you have been?
BM: Iowa is a very physical football team. They have great guys up front, linebackers. They're a solid team all around.
All week we're going to work on being physical, playing hard, just preparing the best we can.
Q. It really seems like the line and you have developed and grown up this year. What are some of the things you really zeroed in on?
BM: I think the biggest change this year, I'm sure you've all noticed from how we've been playing, everyone has really bought in and gelled. That all has to do with Coach Limegrover and everything he's brought to the table. He believes in all of us, we believe in him. There's a trust between all of us and him.
Everything he says, we take it and run with it and focus with it that week and really respect what he has to say.
Q. How did you end up at Penn State? What made you want to come here?
BM: Penn State, this place, this atmosphere, kind of speaks for itself. I remember my first visit here, driving over, coming from New Jersey. So Route 80. I can't really remember that road there. Coming over the hill, you see Beaver Stadium. It takes a moment to set in. I was like, Wow, that place is huge. That would be amazing to play in front of all those people.
I fell in love with the atmosphere here and all the fans and everything. It's just one big family, community. Even though I was recruited and committed to [former head coach Bill] O'Brien, I fell in love with this place for a lot more than just the coaches. There's so much this place has to offer with school and football, as a community as a whole.
I'm very happy with where we are. The new coaches, I love all the new coaches, Coach Limegrover, Coach Moor, Coach Franklin. I think this year we've really seen a big step from all of us because we've all become close and started trusting each other.
It is a family now. This team is mostly successful because of our work ethic and how much we believe in each other.
Q. What is it about Coach Limegrover's style that you have bought into this year that maybe hasn't happened in the past?
BM: I think the biggest thing with Coach Limegrover is how much he truly cares for all of us. You really feel like almost a dad, somebody who really cares about your well-being, not only on the field but off the field, as well.
Q. You were saying the closeness. When did you notice this team was a little different? At what point did you realize this was a group that was going to move this thing along?
BM: Definitely during camp this year I think was the biggest notice. Everyone, their whole attitude, how they approached things, was completely different.
I think Coach Franklin, all the coaches, they really were working on that the past couple years, the whole family and trust thing. It took a little while for everyone to buy in, to be honest.
Now that everyone has bought in, we can completely trust each other, we're working hard, we hold a standard for each other, it's obviously showing on Saturdays. Let's hope it keeps up.
Q. It's hard for people to buy in. James has spoken about that before. Why do you think that was? There's something you do where you hug each other. I'm sure that was a little different, right?
BM: I think the biggest thing was people -- actually, when you're being recruited, it's a me, me, me thing. When you get here, it takes people a little while to realize it's a team, you're not just being recruited to be recruited. It's a team game.
To come in here and be a high recruit, it's a different step taking from being recruited to being coached now. I think that takes some time for some people. Some of the older guys are stepping up as leaders, helping transition younger guys into a family and molding it into something that it hasn't been in the past.
Q. Is it eye-opening when you're a highly recruited guy, then a new staff comes in and it's square one? Is there a little I don't want to say skepticism, but maybe you're questioning yourself?
BM: There's not much uncertainty. It just changed. As humans, I don't think everyone feels the change the same. Coach O'Brien and Coach Franklin are polar opposites. I obviously loved Coach O'Brien. The change was something I wasn't familiar with. That turned out to be an extreme positive at this point.
It's just that transition period. I think all programs deal with it. I think it's nice to finally see all of us finally turning it into a positive, buying in, and we're winning football games.
Q. You talked about the buy-in with Coach Limegrover. How about physically? Was there anything you changed with your footwork early in the season?
BM: I can't really say I really changed anything. I kind of changed my mentality. I think we all changed our mentality, started seeing Saturdays as more fun, enjoying ourselves and playing the game we love instead of playing tense on Saturday, let loose, trust our preparation all week, just let loose on Saturdays and play our game.
Q. From day one Saquon Barkley has talked about the line, protection. What does it mean to have his confidence?
BM: I've said in previous interviews, Saquon, you look down in space, you see him, you kind of know what the end result is going to be. Having a guy like that behind you that is an eraser, he can erase mistakes that happened up front, turn it into a gain. That for the whole offensive line is a huge confidence booster on Saturdays when we're lining up against teams like Iowa, Ohio State and such.
Like I said, Saquon gives a lot to this football team and this family we have here. We kind of bounce off of each other. His success and our success go hand-in-hand.
Q. Defensive schemes. You face a lot of different varieties. Are there ones you feel like maybe the offensive line matches up better against than others or is it something different from scheme alone?
BM: It's definitely different from scheme alone. Obviously we prepare week for week for whatever team has defensively, their defensive scheme towards us. It's just preparation each week to what we're going to see on Saturdays.
Q. They say you're your toughest critic. What do you do when you're in the film room? Watch it once? Beat yourself up over it?
BM: Do you forget anything over here? (laughter)
Obviously, Sunday come in and watch the film, critique yourself, learn from that so it doesn't happen again. Knock on wood, it hasn't happened since, so let's keep the head up.
The whole offensive line does that, really goes into film with an open mind and learning from it, not taking it personally, Coach Limegrover's coaching points, go into next week and take it into practice.
Q. Saquon Barkley's 81-yarder, how often do you watch that?
BM: There's definitely ones that make up for the not-so-good plays. Since you remember it perfectly, the two weeks in a row. But definitely watch a guy like Saquon making big, long touchdowns. Any touchdown, it kind of makes up for all the hard work you put in, some of the mistakes you made. It's nice to see and watch on Sundays, definitely.
Q. How has Connor McGovern's pass protection improved?
BM: Definitely he's become a lot more confident in his play, run and pass game, just being comfortable in there is a big positive and helps out a lot on Saturdays.
Andre Robinson | R-Fr. | Running Back
Q. James Franklin mentioned how guys focus on ball control, ball security so much. What is the drill like at practice? Give us a sense how much is that drilled into you?
AR: Coach is pretty crazy with the ball security. Rightly so. First thing he says to the running backs is the ball, the ball, the ball. Ball security is big in practice. We definitely go 100 percent in that. The running backs, he started having us stay after practice to do extra ball control with each other.
Ball security is huge. We didn't have any turnovers last week, but that's huge in winning close games.
Q. What happens when you do have a fumble?
AR: Not good. Mentally and physically, it just messes your head up a little bit. Luckily we haven't had too many this year. That's definitely something we're trying to get down to zero, or as low as possible.
Q. As a new guy last year, when you came in, could you sense this team was pretty close then or maybe being on its way? What is it like being a new guy coming in? Easy to fit in right away or tough?
AR: It's pretty easy. You get pretty close with your class coming in. Probably midway through the season, you get close with everybody.
I would say this year's team is probably a little bit closer than last year's team. Everybody has bought into the coaches' messages and everything. Everybody really cares about each other and loves each other.
Q. How much do you savor the opportunities that you have gotten this season? How do you think those can build to more opportunity later?
AR: Every opportunity I get I try to take advantage of. The touchdowns were being in the right place at the right time. Definitely every opportunity I'm grateful for. Try to make the most of them, get myself more opportunities in the future.
Q. Guys were saying they could sense the closeness this summer, that this team was a little different. Obviously every team has different chemistry. Is there an instance that stands out to you in the summer?
AR: One instance that stuck out to me in the summer, is holding each other accountable, we were running conditioning after summer workouts. A player, not a strength coach, called a player out for not touching a line. Brandon Bell. Everyone else was like, "We're fine."
He said, No, if we want to be the team we want to be, we have to run this extra one, make up for it.
Q. Brandon Bell doesn't say much usually?
AR: Yeah, he does a little bit. He actually gave us a pregame pump-up speech before Ohio State actually. That was just a really, really good example of leadership and holding each other accountable on his part.
Q. Are you still working on two-back sets in the offense?
Andre Robinson: That's still on the game plan. We still practice that every week. We're doing a lot of extra stuff, especially with the empty sets, motioning guys in the backfield and everything. Yeah, that's definitely a possibility and is in the game plan every week.
Q. How did you end up rooming with Saquon Barkley?
AR: During the recruiting process, we talked a little bit. Thought it would be in each other's best interest to room with each other. We got pretty close through that, yeah.
Q. How do you make each other better?
AR: He helps me a lot more because he has a lot more experience than I do. I'm really, really grateful for the help he's given me. But I kind of help him when he comes off the field, if I see things that he doesn't see, he'll ask me what coverage it looked like there, what blitzes they're bringing, stuff like that. It's hard to pay attention to everything while you're on the field playing. I try to help out as much as I can from what I see from the sidelines.
Q. You mentioned the plays where the running back is doing a lot of motioning. Is that something that was not in the offense at all in the summer and has been added?
AR: We installed that as soon as we installed the offense in the spring. Different defenses call for us to do different things. Last week especially it worked really, really well for us.
Q. What have you seen open up from it?
AR: I just think it spreads the defense out a little more. I don't think they really expected it. We hadn't done it much. Last week especially. Even Ohio State it worked, but last week it worked really, really well.
Q. Back to Saquon. What kind of roommate is he like?
AR: He's a good roommate. He might be a little messy. Back when we were in the dorms, he got a lot of texts. He'd always had his ringer on. That was annoying. Now we're in the apartments, our own rooms. We get along good.
Q. Anybody cook?
AR: We both cook. We both try to cook. I think I'm a little better cook, but neither of us is too great.
Q. All the backs scored on Saturday. Talk about as a group how excited you get?
AR: That was awesome. I was probably more excited for the other guys scoring than I was myself. That was something we had in our minds all week, that we wanted everyone to contribute to the game, wanted everyone to get in the end zone. We were able to do that. That's pretty awesome.
I don't know how many schools can say they got all their running backs in the end zone. We were really, really happy about that.
Q. What is the recruiting pipeline from the Harrisburg area like?
AR: I kind of had a relationship with [former Penn State tight end] Adam Breneman from playing against him in high school and things like that. That helped me get there. I think central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg is a pretty talent-filled area. Good connection there. I know there are some recruits committed here that are big-time prospects from that area now. That's definitely like a pipeline we want to keep going because of the talent in that area.
Q. Do you talk to Adam Breneman at all?
AR: I literally talked to him. He saw that I was doing the press conference this week. I talk to him probably every week. He's doing really, really well this week, him and my quarterback midgets, Andrew Ford are both at UMass. I try to watch their games whenever I can. They're both doing very well.
Q. Have you talked to [former Penn State running back] Akeel Lynch recently?
AR: I haven't talked to him actually since he announced. I talked to him towards the end of camp at the beginning of the season. You hate to see that. Obviously for his sake, for his future, his life going forward, he made the right decision.
I know it's hard for anyone to walk away from a game that they love.