Dan Chisena | WR | 5th/Sr.
Q. Your surprise scholarship announcement, what was that moment like getting mobbed by your teammates?
DC: That moment is something I'll remember for the rest of my life, and words can't describe it. It was such a special moment.
I was happy to score a touchdown in the game and then when I heard Coach [James] Franklin come on to the microphone and say I had been awarded a scholarship, just an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and thankfulness. Just such a blessing in my life. Something that I never imagined and I'm just super appreciative of it and, especially, to have the support of all my teammates.
It was, as you said, them running off the sidelines to embrace me, it was just a really special moment. I can't even put it into words, but it's something I'll cherish the rest of my life.
Q. Going through the season, in what specific ways do you try and be a great teammate for everybody else? Whether it's on special teams or offense.
DC: Honestly, I'd say I'm a pretty quiet guy and pretty reserved. I'm not much of a vocal person but I just try to come in every day and work as hard as I can and almost prove that scholarship wasn't a mistake. When I'm in the building, that I'm taking it seriously and I'm not taking it for granted.
Especially being away from it for a few years, I don't want to take any day for granted. So just coming in and being appreciative of every opportunity and giving my best and giving everything I've got while I'm here because it won't last long.
Q. How long were you away from football? Was there a time when you thought your football career was over? What were the kind of mechanisms that got you back involved?
DC: I left the team during the spring semester of 2016, so right after my freshman season, and then I came back to the team not this past summer, but the previous summer, so I guess the summer of 2018. So I was away for a couple years.
What I told Coach Franklin, I was going to pursue track full-time and accept a scholarship for track. I was walking out that door, I was certain I would never play football for Penn State again.
Something I've mentioned to people before who have asked me: I always missed football, so part of my original plan, how I thought it was going to look is, I would run track until I was done here at Penn State, graduate, and then transfer somewhere for a fifth-year, like a smaller school where I could hopefully play right away and just have that last moment of playing football, the sport itself, again.
So when I tore my hamstring, that's when I really sat down and thought about what I wanted the next 18 months to look like. I just love this place and love Penn State and all I wanted to do growing up, all I ever wanted to do, was to come to Penn State and play here. I just prayed about it a lot and thought if that opportunity would be possible again, I'd love to see if that could happen.
I set up a meeting with Coach, and he received me extremely well, something I wasn't expecting, especially after leaving. He received me really well and I explained to him where I was at and my desire to play again. He was all for it, and checked with a few of the other coaches, and Coach [Ricky] Rahne and Coach [David] Corley, who was the receivers coach at the time, and they also received me extremely well.
Just to be given that opportunity again is something I'm extremely thankful for and don't want to take for granted because I very well could have walked in there and heard, 'you left, like that's kind of it, you can't just walk back in here whenever you want.' So for him to receive me to graciously and give me that opportunity again was really, really special and I'm very thankful for that.
Q. What's the difference between running for track and running for football? Is there anything mechanically that's different? Is there anything about how you go about your body that's different?
DC: The biggest thing in track or a race or whatever, for example in practice, you can do a 20-meter sprint and you just coast out for the next 50 meters. Putting on the brakes is not a thing in track. They don't want to you do that and they don't want you to intentionally slow down.
Obviously football, especially as a receiver, you go from running full speed to stopping yourself and cutting out of a break and stuff. I'd say that's the biggest difference is just the change in direction and not just running in a straight line. That was something that was a challenge to adapt back to, but it's something that I've worked hard on.
Q. Is special teams a nice intersection between those two things?
DC: Special teams, specifically on coverage which is where I've kind of found a role there, it is an opportunity where you can just in a sense run straight and run fast, as fast as you can. You want to try to, the goal is to try to beat the ball down there, which doesn't always happen as far as Blake's kicking it. But it is a good opportunity where you can just open up and fall back on those track experiences where it, kind of, crosses over, as you said.
Q. You showed some emotion when you tackled Donovan Peoples-Jones on Saturday night. Can you talk about limiting the big plays on special teams?
Dc: Yeah, Coach [Joe] Lorig's motto is just "change the game". There's no small role on special teams. Special teams is a huge part of every game. It's a huge part of our team and there's guys that make plays every week and guys take pride in being on those units and are willing to make an impact even though it might go overlooked in small moments. But even on like an extra point, it seems like an automatic thing, those guys are battling every play to make sure that they protect and get that extra point.
It makes a difference and it gets overlooked sometimes, but like I said, I think a lot of guys on those units, they take a lot of pride in it. A lot of guys have found roles on their units who don't get the offensive and defensive reps that they necessarily hope for and it's great to have guys who take a lot of pride in that and want to be a part of that.
Q. From the outside looking in, Sean Clifford seems to be more demonstrative before and during games, speaking to people on the field. Is that something you've noticed through seven games? That he's become more comfortable speaking up in front of everyone, in front of a big audience?
DC: I think he's definitely gotten more comfortable. I think he hit the ground running and once he got that starting role, it wasn't much of a learning curve for him. It's all come natural to him.
I think as you said, the more you're doing something, the more comfortable you become with it. As the season's gone on, he's just grown into that role even more and then just been a really great leader in the locker room and on the field, and you know, I can't say enough about how hard he works. It shows and he works hard to be in that leader role but I think a lot of it just comes from who he is as a person.
Q. I think the nation got a good chance to realize how close of friends him and KJ [Hamler] are after that game. Is that something that's been obvious since really the time you've gotten to know them?
DC: I think just the whole dynamic in the locker room in general is friendships like that and everyone is pretty supportive of everyone. Everyone is pretty good friends with everyone. There's no like cliques or anything.
Everybody has each other's backs and, obviously, when you have guys like quarterbacks and wide receivers, when you work together all winter, all spring, all summer, you build those relationships so much. You become close with those guys and obviously Cliff and KJ are two of the most dynamic players on our team and make huge plays.
Obviously, you're able to see how close they are and I think that's just representative of our team as a whole, as well, of how close we are and how supportive everyone is of each other.
Q. This wide receiver group, on the stat sheet, there's a pretty steep drop-off after Jahan and KJ. How is everybody handling that week-by-week? Can you give us a sneak peek into, when they do have their breakout, what will we see from Daniel George and Justin Shorter?
DC: I can tell you wholeheartedly, in our room there's no sense of entitlement or disappointment that there is that drop off after KJ and Jahan. When those guys score, like every other receiver, everyone on the team, specifically for your question, every other receiver is so, so happy for them.
I can speak to myself specifically. I'm the Z behind Jahan and every time he scores and makes a play, I am so happy for him because I know how hard he works.
I just think it's our room as a whole, and it's not even something that's been forced, but it's just the type of people that we have in our room where we are just so happy for each other when other guys make a play. Just putting the team before ourselves.
It honestly hasn't been an issue at all. It's fun to make fun of the guys, like watching film, we're joking around with guys on film when they make those plays and you see something funny on film, it's just a really great environment to be in. I'd say that hasn't even been a concern for any guy in the room.
In terms of Justin and Daniel, they have just worked so hard and they consistently make plays every practice that you guys haven't necessarily been able to see in a game but I have no doubt those plays are coming.
When it does, I don't know when it's going to happen. But it will happen at some point just because of the work that they have put in behind the scenes and when no one's looking that will come to light in a game. I think it's going to be special when they do. They are going to be great players for years to come. No doubt in my mind.
Q. Back to punt coverage. How much fun is it to be able to run top speed, 60 yards down the field. How much fun have you had when you're sprinting down that field?
DC: Obviously it's fun and I think, you know, the first taste of that I had was during the Pitt game when I got a flag for hitting a guy too soon. People are saying like, "oh, nice hit" and I was telling them, yeah, it's pretty easy when you're running full speed and the guy is standing still.
It's just a great opportunity to try and do your part on the team. I don't know, it's just a role that I've tried to embrace and take a lot of pride in. I think even the other bullet, he is extremely fast himself and we just compete with each other to see who can get down there first. We're all just like communicating on the sidelines and talking to each other about the plays and what happened and if we need to change anything.
I don't know, but it is fun and it's just, again, an opportunity that I don't want to take for granted, because I don't have a lot of time left here to play for Penn State. I just want to always be appreciative for every moment, whether it's making a tackle or just being able to be on the field and run down and have a role.
Q. Can you compare it to something you did in track? Obviously you don't tackle anyone in track but something where it's kind of the same thing what you do in track, what you do when you're on punt coverage?
DC: I think every race in track, you're just like, just go, just go for it and just do it. Especially with sprints, which is what I did. There's a little bit of tactics involved, but for a lot of events, especially the 60 and 100, you're just going.
John Reid | CB | 5th/Sr.
Q. I just wanted to ask about Dan Chisena. What kind of teammate is he? What are your impressions of his game so far this year?
JR: I mean, Dan I feel like has always been just an awesome person to be around. He came in with me freshman year. You know, we came in together. We worked hard. He ended up leaving for track and he came back for football and we were really excited to have him back.
He's a great person and always great to be around no matter what. Even through the sore days of camp, he has a positive attitude.
As far as defending him as a receiver, he's usually probably the fastest receiver I guard the whole entire week. Usually it's not very close, either. He poses a really good challenge I would say.
Q. This will be the third straight year facing Brian Lewerke. How much does that familiarity benefit you being able to watch the last two years of tape and not just this season?
JR: I definitely think it's a benefit. Just seeing how they attack us and everything on defense to prepare for that. In some other ways, we feel like they will attack us this year.
He know he has a good ability to be able to extend plays and I think what's even more important about how he does it is he extends plays but then doesn't make a lot of bad decisions when he does it. That's really a credit to how good of a quarterback he is.
Q. Is there anything you can take away or learn from the past two seasons against Michigan State? What's made them a tough match-up in the recent past?
JR: They are just always a really well-coached, disciplined team, no matter what their record is. They are always a great team. That's kind of the approach we have always taken.
You know, you expect them to come out and play great defense and really scheme you up on offense.
They have good players to do that, especially with the quarterback being able to extend things for so long, that poses a really hard challenge on any defense. Just look at the past couple season when is he's done that and what he's done to improve from it.
Q. Touching on extending plays, for a secondary, what is the frustration level when you have a great defensive line but he still breaks contain and you have to cover a guy or five, six, seven seconds? How you do you mentally stay in the game when you're covering these athletes for an extended period of time?
JR: It's definitely frustrating, but it happens. You kind of work the drills and everything like that. In practice, the biggest thing is just staying connected to receivers. You don't want to let a receiver run free after you've already covered him, like you said, for five seconds. That's what makes it even more frustrating. You can be on a receiver that whole entire route, and that last split second he'll snap off like a comeback or something like that, and it will usually be for a first down because they are breaking those routes deep.
It's definitely frustrating, but as a cornerback, you're kind of prepared for that mentally and we've been through that a lot before. We usually expect our D-Line to be able to get there. It doesn't happen too often, we feel like.
Q. How have you seen [Marquis] Wilson develop? Especially the last few weeks as he's been seeing much more playing time?
JR: He's just a great competitor. He's shown awesome ball skills, even without getting interceptions sometimes in practice, able to force a lot of fumbles. He had a play last week in two-minute versus the offense where they were driving. They were pretty much about to break into the red-zone and he punches the ball out at the last second and picks it up. He has great ball awareness and he's confident in his ability when he goes out there.
Q. It's been three years today since the Ohio State block and return. Has enough time passed for you to kind of reflect on what that kicked off over the next few years?
JR: I'm going to be honest. I don't really think about it too much. I'm more worried about the season at hand. I'm sure at some point I'll end up reflecting on it, maybe in the off-season or something.
I don't really think about anything from the previous years. The only time those things ever come up, plays like that, is either during the season or if you're in the off-season and you're just talking about past games and stuff like that.
Q. How does visualization play a role in what you do as a corner? Sean Clifford told us he spends a lot of time doing that.
JR: I do it a ton. I think it's really important. You speak with any other athletes, guys who are at the top of their game, they do a lot of visualization to be able to improve. They want to see the plays they want to make, even those instances, when they have done them before, you feel more confident doing them.
It's almost like watching a boxer. They shadow box and stuff like that, they do a lot of it. Just imagine your opponent, at least for me what I see on film, I try to visualize it, how a receiver is going to try to attack me, things like that. It makes you much more confident going into the game.
Q. How has the sports psychologist helped?
JR: I think just for the team as a whole, I think that he gives a different perspective on everything. Like a different lens that you're able to see everything through. I think he's provided a lot of guys with different techniques to handle stuff like the excitement on game day, kind of controlling that, how to respond to adversity and things like that. Kind of just building on the message that I would say that Coach Franklin gives us a lot throughout the week.
Q. I wanted to ask you about a teammate, Keaton Ellis. Since camp, what's changed about him? What are the similarities or differences between him and where you were as a true freshman?
JR: I think just in all the freshmen, I see the confidence they go out there and play with. We pretty much told them from day one, that Coach [Terry] Smith always plays a freshman at corner. It's up to you guys to make sure you're ready and prepared for it and we'll help you along the way, you just have to keep asking questions. All those guys have played. They ask a ton of questions and they perform. I think they just have great confidence in themselves.
I think Keaton, he's improving each week more and more in his technique. He has natural talent to find the ball just like how Marquis does. I think that's going to keep benefitting him as he goes along.
Q. I'm going to bring up Ohio State 2016 again. You've seen before and you've seen after. Is there a sense of before and after with the way that game played out and the trajectory of the program since that matchup three years ago?
JR: I don't know, it's kind of hard to really answer that because we just follow the same process every week.
Some day, people will see the results more, but we're kind of constantly seeing that improvement each and every day, and I feel like that's always been the way, even since I got here in 2015. I've always seen steady progress to get better and better.
That's why we keep that 1-0 process because if you're only trying to get better and improve depending on certain games, you'll have a really inconsistent program. I think the mentality that we have, being 1-0 each week, has kind of allowed us to keep improving and seeing the gains that everybody is seeing from us.
Q. Considering the amount of freshmen and redshirt freshman, coming off of the White Out win, all the stuff that goes with that, how do you as a leader come in on Sunday and ensure that everyone is moving forward and not reminiscing on Saturday night too much?
JR: I mean, I don't think you're going to reminisce too much when you expect it. We expect to win. We go into every game, we expect to win. The visualization part is we imagine ourselves doing our job and everything we can do to win the game.
When you feel like you've been there before and you constantly have the expectation of yourself, it's not really so much of a huge parade. I'm excited just because I expect to do it. It's kind of that mentality over and over again, every week. That's just kind of how we feel.
Q. Each week we get an assistant coach on the phone on Thursday and this week it's Terry Smith. How is he as the coach of your position? How has he helped you individually? How has he helped this program?
JR: Coach Smith gives a great perspective because he's been in our shoes before. He's made a ton of plays here; a guy who broke records here. He knows what we are going through.
At the same time, he knows how to push each of us individually and mentally and forces us to want to be a guy that makes that big play. You already want to do it and he's giving you the techniques and the different perspective on things like that or how you could be doing it or the things you should be doing in practice more.
I think it just gives a really good perspective because he's been a great coach for many years now, and he played at the top level here. He's a really valuable resource for us.
Q. The last two games against Michigan State, they scored in the final seconds. Is that something this week that's used as bulletin board material to motivate you guys to overcome what's happened the last two years?
JR: It's something we've seen. We re-watch all the games and know we're the ones on the field and we just know that we need to finish it out. That's kind of our mentality, being humble and hungry and finishing out the game. That's kind of the plan every week.
