Penn State Football
Student-Athlete Postgame Press Conference: Offense
vs. Purdue – October 5, 2019
Jahan Dotson | WR | So./So.
Q: Can you walk us through that touchdown?
A: It was a play we had drawn up all week and it's been working all week to be honest with you. It worked pretty well in the game because I was pretty wide open and I just had to make one guy miss. It was the same play we ran against Wisconsin last year but I got tackled, so making that miss was huge and my teammates escorted me into the end zone.
Q: How are you different now than you were during that Wisconsin game?
A: I guess in the offseason I was making an emphasis on my run after catch and breaking tackles so that was a huge thing for me. That was the biggest difference for me.
Q: When so many teams are focusing on KJ [Hamler] do you feel like you have the potential to do what you did today as an offense consistently?
A: Most definitely. We have so many weapons on this offense with the running backs, as you know Noah Cain had a huge game. The wide receivers, me, KJ [Hamler] of course, Dan Chisena a lot of people know about, Daniel George, Justin [Shorter]. So we have a lot of guys on the offense that can make big plays and it's just the right moments when they come.
Steven Gonzalez | OL | Gr./Sr.
Q: Why were you guys able to be so successful early in the game?
A: We prepared all week to see certain looks that they were going to give us, certain formations. Every time we were running plays and we were doing things of that nature we knew their looks and what they were going to do. We weren't assuming they were going to do it, because they can always change it, but we were expecting it. So we were just prepared.
Q: You scored four touchdowns in the first 16 minutes. Then coach said that offense was inconsistent the rest of way. What do you think happened those next three quarters?
A: Purdue is a great-coached team, they made adjustments just like we did. They started blitzing a little bit more and we were trying to pick it up, but they were doing different things that we hadn't prepared for. So we had to draw it up on the board and get ready and try to block the look they were giving to us.
Q: What did Noah [Cain] bring to the game? What does he bring to the table that maybe other guys don't?
A: He was just running hard. I was finishing my blocks and I look up and I just see him zoom past me, and he was just running hard. It took a couple of guys to take him down, and we kind of feed off that too. Everyone brings their own special thing, all four of those backs are good, but obviously Noah had the hot hands there towards the end and he just kept running hard.
Q: Do you guys have another gear for the upcoming games?
A: We treat every team the same. We're always going to be prepared. We're always going to focus on the team at hand and were going to enjoy this one right now. Then once we start practicing on Sunday then we'll be ready to go for Iowa.
Sean Clifford | QB | Jr./So.
Q: What led to you guys bouncing back with the touchdown drive in the fourth quarter?
A: We definitely got hot early. I was really happy that we were, but I think that we stalled out, not because we weren't executing, because we were, we just weren't finishing. That's on me, that's on everybody honestly from the top down, I just want to watch the tape. I'm excited about how we played in the first half. Obviously, we want to score at the end. Overall, we just have to clean some things up, have a better mentality coming out of the second half because we stalled out in the third quarter and that's unacceptable. Better mentality coming out, and just keep grinding through each and every play.
Q: Those first three possessions were spot on. Is that a sign of the offense growing, maturing, getting more comfortable with each other?
A: I think that our offense is really meshing well together. Every position is starting to really get relaxed in there. The tougher the test I think that our team keeps on answering the call and I'm really excited about that. We're definitely making progress we just have to keep on building; put together some complete games so that way we can really start wiping teams out.
Q: After putting up the points you have, is it easy to relax a little bit?
A: It's weird because we jump out like that and everybody is so excited and everything. Then we had one drive where we didn't score that time, and I don't know if it's because we expect to every single time, but we just came off and we just need to change out mentality. That's one of those things, we have Dr. Carl Ohlson in our program who deals with the mental side of things. I already talked to him, that's the first thing I did when I went to the locker room. Found him, talked to him a little bit about how we can grow. So, I'm going to be in his ear all week because we're going to hit adversity the rest of the season. Something is going to happen in every game. It's how you bounce back, how you respond, that's what makes teams great, and that's how we take that next step."
KJ Hamler | WR | Jr./So.
Q: James [Franklin] talked a lot about working on consistency with each set. How much is consistency a focus that you guys have to work on?
A: I think that's always a thing that's mandatory to be great is consistency. Sometimes I'm thinking, I'm feeling off a little bit and kind of got too relaxed, so we just got to get better at that because usually we're a second-half team. I need to keep my foot on the pedal, on the gas, and I think we could of scored more points on the board but we got to fix that and change.
Q: Even though you are young, you are still considered a veteran on this team. Do you take it upon yourself to get that message across to your guys?
A: Yes, of course. I think a lot of people in the locker room respect me as a player, as a man, stuff like that. I think I have a voice just to help out and contribute to the team. Like I said, we still got to fix things and still got a lot of things to work on. Watching film tomorrow will probably scrape our floors just to see what we did wrong and what need to execute more.
Q: Are you vocal after the game about mistakes or do you usually wait until tomorrow to discuss with your team?
A: I usually wait until tomorrow. I really don't like to talk during the game about how to play. I don't like to argue and stuff like that. Get the flow of things and just play, to be honest with you. That's what the next day is always for it's just to correct and stuff like that. Today I'm going to enjoy the win with family and my teammates and just enjoy ourselves.
Q: You guys at one point were 28-0 and started off strong. What happened after the next couple of quarters that slowed the game down?
A: I just think that we weren't executing plays. I think little things, here and there, were getting to us. I think a few plays with me on special teams kind of messed us up a little bit with punt return. I was taking a lot of risks today on punt returns and sometimes it's always good to take risks, but I got to be smart about things. I could of put the team in a better field position and communicated better on special teams.