Penn State Football
Defensive Student-Athlete Quotes
vs. Iowa – October, 27 2018
Nick Scott | S | Gr./Sr.
Q: For the interception, can you describe what you are thinking and what you are seeing as things are developing?
A: Just hold on to the ball. That one was a floater. It's the easy ones you have to hold on to tight. Just because your eyes, you see the hundred yards in front of you and it's hard to focus one hundred percent on the ball. I was able to secure the catch. I tried to keep going, but I lost my footing a little bit. But, I had the ball, so it gave our offense the opportunity to put us in a better position.
Q: This was almost the third straight home loss when you guys had a double-digit lead. How do you make sense of that and what do you do now?
A: I didn't have any doubts at all. I know what kind of guys we have on our team. We were going to keep fighting regardless. If they did score I am fully confident in saying that our offensive was going to take care of business. So, close games, sure you never want to be in a real tight game, but at the same time I love it. I love being the atmosphere. I love going out there and feeling like you have something to prove. That's how our defense feels about those types of situations, and we play with a lot of grit because of that, so we were able to come out with a win.
Yetur Gross-Matos | DE | So./So.
Q: How have you felt your confidence grow especially over the past few games when you know you're putting up big numbers.
A: I don't think my confidence has grown. I have been confident the whole time so I just go out there and make plays.
Q: Franklin mentioned that [Ryan] Buckholtz and Torrence Brown have helped you with the defensive lineup. What can you say about your relationship with them?
A: They're like big brothers to me. I'm not a fast learner so to have those guys out there to help me out with defense everyday in practice is huge.
Q: What specifically do you feel that you weren't learning freshman year that you have caught onto more now?
A: Just the scheme of the defense and making adjustments during the game, I wasn't really catching on. I think that's a huge difference from last season to this season.
Q: What's been the best advice you've gotten from [Torrence] Brown and those guys?
A: Just to be patient and to not worry about making mistakes in the game. Just to play fast and play physical and just to do what I do, which is a lot of effort in plays.
Shareef Miller | DE | Sr./Jr.
Q: What does a win like this do for your guy's confidence moving forward in the season?
A: It's a great team win. Coach [Franklin]is always telling the lineman to stay on terms and we did that.
Q: How have you seen Yetur [Gross-Matos] grow and develop over the seasons and what makes him a special part of the team?
A: He just keeps grinding and working and he's been playing upfront with the defense and making plays, I'm real happy for him. He's just different. He was young, like when he was a freshman, he just got it. Only thing was when he was coming from high school to college he was learning the playbook and how to run the plays, that was setting him back but that was the only thing. He's a good listener. He's always been able to listen me and the older guys in the room.
Q: How has Torrence Brown and [Ryan Bucholz] helped you improve this season and the offense as a whole?
A: Torrence and Bucholz have really helped everybody, especially Torrence. He helped me since I came on campus and I look up to him as well. He just helps everybody on the team.
Q: How would you describe this game and the performance from the team?
A: We were able to get the win. We had some tough plays and were playing in tough situations but still came out with the win.
Q: Last five minutes of the game came down to your unit, do you like having your unit be in situations like that?
A: I like it when it comes down to our unit. Not all the time, but it's like that sometimes.
Cam Brown | LB | Jr./Jr.
Q: You and Yetur [Gross-Matos] had a great two games stat-wise, what have you seen out of him these last two games?
A: I've been seeing the same thing out of him [that] I've been seeing this whole time. He's been playing reckless, long and efficient, and he plays all out every day. We see it on the field on game day. I'm proud of him.
Q: How much easier is it when the defensive line gives a ton of pressure to the offense and how do you work with that?
A: It makes my job a lot easier. You're dropping back in coverage and snap your head back around to see the quarterback going down is a great feeling. It makes the whole defense easier and really helps everyone out.
Q: Can you sense when certain guys are going to have big games and will finish the game with big numbers or is that something you guys don't worry about?
A: I mean you can sense it when guys are making the big plays but they're not worried about stats. We are out here not playing for ourselves, we're a team. We're not playing for individual recognition so when a guy makes a big play, we're out here cheering him on but then it's onto the next play. We're not worried about stats.
Q: You guys saw over 100 plays last weekend, today you saw about 88. How does that make you feel not seeing as many?
A: I mean we're used to it by now. Every weekend we just know we have to play good defense all the time no matter how long it is. This week the offense was able to put enough numbers on the board so we just had to play our defense.
Q: The last two games you guys were able to shut down the offense late in the game. What have you learned from your two losses from Michigan State and Ohio State when finishing the game late?
A: We know the type of football that we should be playing. We should have done that those two weeks but the last two weeks we got it done. These two games show that we can get those defensive stops at the end of the game.
Amani Oruwariye | CB | Gr./Sr.
Q: Being able to end the game with the defense on the field, how much did that mean to you guys?
A: It means so much. We always talk about finish, finish, finish. It's one of our core goals every game to finish. Getting that "finish" today was great.
Q: Did you feel the defense grow up today?
A: Absolutely. We got guys all over the field making plays. John Reid making plays, we know what he can do. Nick Scott stepping up big. Garrett Taylor. [Jonathan] Sutherland. Everyone. I'm just happy for everyone.
Q: Speaking of growing up, [Yetur] Gross-Matos is a guy who was dominate today. He had tackles, four tackles for loss today. Does that surprise you at this point and what about him makes him so special?
A: It doesn't surprise me at all. We know Yetur is a freak talent. He's just getting better every week and that's scary. He's young and he's eager to learn more. He's going to continue to make plays.
John Reid | CB | Sr./Jr.
Q: What's it like to see, not only Trace back in, but goes on a 51-yard touchdown run to kind of quell any doubt that he can run it and be his same self after that injury.
A: We kind of knew when Trace came back in that whatever he was dealing with wasn't going to be an issue for him. So, when we saw him go back out there, we were thinking "It's still Trace". You didn't hear anyone on the sidelines talking about "What did he hurt?" this and that. We're still getting the same Trace.
Q: What does today do for a defenses confidence that has struggled to close out the last two home games?
A: We always believe in each other. Our confidence is always going to stay high, we won't get too high or too low, we keep it even keel. We work hard and always believe and trust each other.
Q: What's it like when you're out there in the middle of one of those long drives at the end of the game? What goes on in your mind?
A: We do two-minute situations every week at practice so it's literally the same feeling and the same vibe. We're kind of used to being in those two-minute situations. Pretty much every Wednesday practice we start off with a two-minute drill, so it's always in our routine.
