Penn State Football
Paul Chryst Postgame Press Conference
vs. Wisconsin – November 10, 2018
Paul Chryst | Wisconsin Head Coach
Opening Statement
Well I certainly appreciate all the players do leading up to this. In the end I was proud of the effort and all that, but we didn't do enough, didn't make enough plays to win this game. I thought defensively we did a lot of good things and gave us a chance offensively. We've got to be better on third down. We ended up not being able to do really anything throwing the ball and we've got to help them there. Early, we got off to a good start, and then they answered with a score, and then on the next third and short we had the quarterback-center exchange. Credit to Penn State, that's a good football team and to beat them you have to do more than what we did.
Q: When you run the ball for 250 yards, isn't that a winning formula? What's wrong with the passing game?
A: Yeah it's going to give you a chance. You have to execute it. You guys see it. Early we gave up some pressures, that's not just on the line, that's got to be on winning downfield. We didn't throw the ball a ton early and I think we had a number of pressure sacks, so not good enough there. You see it; it took us a while to get in the red zone. We did have a couple of chances. We're missing on a couple throws, and you've got to be able to win on some things. I guess we've just got to execute better.
Q: You mentioned you didn't throw it early but there were still pressures and sacks. Does that affect you as a play-caller and say "look we can't protect, we need to do something else."
A: We knew coming in it's a good defense and statistically backs it up. You saw that before, you knew coming in, so you wind up being smart on some of the things you're doing. Early, we're running a should-be play-action because we're in the heavier sets and play-action with the tight end can't seal the edge and all of a sudden there's some pressure on the quarterback there, so I think it does affect you some, but you also got enough different things you can go to. In the end, for an offense to get rhythm you have to get first downs and we didn't do that. We weren't great on third down so it's hard to get into a rhythm. That's a credit also to their defense. It's a good defense and we did some good things offensively but not nearly enough and not consistent.
Q: There was a sequence on that series where you had a false start, snap infraction, false start. Those are three guys you trust up front. Does that look to you like a team that's ill-prepared, is that what the perception is?
A: No, it's the guys that jump.
Q: Paul, what's the message to your guys when you lose your third game in five weeks and a lot of the preseason goals are starting to slip away?
A: You got two different questions right there. What you tell the players is you tell them the truth and you appreciate what they're putting into it, and to win these games you got to do some things to help win those games. It comes down to the game. We have every player, every unit, every team going into the season, we've got what we want to do. It doesn't always align with what everybody else is talking about. We're clear and guys know you want to maximize the opportunity this season. We've still got a chance to do that. There's no question that what comes out of if you do this if you do that. This team's earned the right to be bowl-eligible. Really it's about trying to maximize the season first, and we got two games left in it, the regular season, so it's how can we finish this out the best we can.
Q: Does Jack's [Coan] inexperience give you pause, as a play-caller, to throw the ball, especially in a setting like this?
A: I think it's as much where you're at, what's happening in the game. I've appreciated how Jack's prepared and come in. He's had two starts and played the second half. It'd be wrong if you'd said it's changing. This one doesn't fall all on Jack I guess is the point I'm making. He's in there, he's part of the offense and you appreciate what he's doing. Just like anything no one guy can do it all, positively or negatively, is the reason for it. I appreciate the way he's competed and been in it, seeing things. I think it's always hard on a quarterback when early you get hit, you're not doing some things, and you can look back. It'll be interesting to watch where there throws to go to or not. It's hard to tell exactly on the sideline. We've got to learn from the things in this game, and get an opportunity to apply it, work on them and get better.
Q: You said this one doesn't fall all on Jack [Coan], since you've been back, you really haven't experienced a season quite like this. If you were to evaluate the coaches, and how that's gone offensively, do you feel like you guys have given these guys the best chance opportunity to go out and win from an offensive standpoint?
A: Well you certainly do right now. I mean you're not going into this thing and saying anything but that. There's times I think, at this point, what do we have right now and how can we help them this week and do we do that. That's the challenge and that's the opportunity every week: you get to do that. At the end of the season you're going to take a look at some bigger things. You always do. Right now it's where are we at, what are we doing? What are we doing well, how can we help them a little bit more? How does that apply to the team that you're playing, and how does it compliment your defense, and all that.
Q: Paul can you explain your thought process at the end of the first half where you ran, but then you went for the play action on third down. What were you kind of thinking there?
A: Well first thing is you were backed up, so they had three timeouts. Can we hold onto that and not give it away? Then we got a chance, got some breathing room and thought we had a chance for a hit and maybe get some points out of it.
Q: It seemed like the defense played ok, I don't know if you agree with that assessment. Do you need, especially in a game like this, more big plays out of them to turn the momentum, maybe put you guys in better positions?
A: Well I think they did do some really good things. Some of the ones that you'd take back that you wish you'd have again. I think it was one of their scoring drives, third-and-17, third-and-18. Those are hard. I think anyone, it doesn't matter where it comes from, offense, defense, or special teams. When you're playing a game like that, absolutely a spark here or something to change the momentum, to change the game, and we didn't have enough of those. We had [a spark] right at the end, it was a good turnover. We thought we had one where we stopped them with the [fumble] and then it got overturned. Wherever it comes from, I think to beat good teams, not just on the road but anywhere, you've got to make those plays, and we're not making enough of them.
Q: Paul, as a coach or player, when you're either tied or within a score, how frustrating is a quarterback-center exchange fumble, or a fake punt and unsportsmanlike. When you make those plays who knows what happens.
A: I mean they're all parts of it. The quarterback-center exchange that's the starting point. That's the first thing you're going to do in spring ball, or in fall camp. Those are frustrating to everyone. They're frustrating to Jack [Coan] and Tyler [Biadasz]. You don't give yourself any chance to see what will happen. Those are examples of when you are in a close game, or when you are playing a good opponent it just makes it that much harder to win. The first thing is not beating yourself and then it gives you the best chance to beat the opponent. When you have some of those, when you have any type of turnovers, it makes it a little bit harder and those start stacking up. That's where we just got to help ourselves. As coaches we've got to help them, and everyone owns it. The game part of it is not complicated. You got to make plays and execute to give yourself a chance. The games we've won we've done that, and the games we've lost we look back at and we haven't made enough plays whether it's offense, defense, or special teams.
Q: How do you think these guys are handling or have handled disappointment? What message can you give them to say "even though were in this situation now, there is something to play for." How do you spin this?
A: You don't have to spin it for these guys. From the get-go we've been straightforward with everything. We're all on the same page with the messaging. It's clear that way. We have leaders on this team that help it, so I don't worry with that part. I'm not saying it's easy. Especially when you put it all out there. You look around and there's great examples on this team of the way you need to approach it to make the most of each moment. We didn't win today and that's frustrating, and yet we've got more opportunities, and how do we help them, and how do we make the most of that.
Q: The third and one with about five minutes to go. You called timeout, what happened there?
A: We were kind of waiting to see what personnel group was going to come. Early in the game they switched what they've been doing and went with a heavier six down linemen. So we were waiting to see what we were going to have and we had no chance so I didn't want to risk anything. If we don't get it there the rest of the time doesn't matter so that's what happened. I didn't want us rushing. All of a sudden you're hurrying and rushing to it. Kind of knew once it took them a while to get them there, and get an idea of what it was I knew we were going to take a timeout. I thought it was important to be settled in on that play, and give us a chance to get it.
Q: Paul, [Aron] Cruickshank caught the first two kickoffs of the second half. Was that something you specifically instructed him to do at halftime from something you saw?
A: Going into the game we kind of knew, depending on different situations. I thought he did the right thing there.
Q: Paul I know everyone's going to look at the final score, but do you look back at the first possession of this game, when Jonathan [Taylor] hits that big run, what's the feeling on the sideline? What are you thinking at that point when the defense that holds people to so few rushing yards just gives up a big touchdown and you're in the lead.
A: Well, I mean you know it's early, I mean you felt good. You were glad you were able to execute, and anytime you can start the game that way it's good, yet there's a whole lot of game to be played.