Penn State Football
Penn State Student-Athletes
Postgame Press Conference
vs. Illinois – October 23, 2021
Sean Clifford | QB | R-Sr.
Q: What happened after that drive on the touchdown. You had a couple of big plays to get down there and score and then seemed like you guys were struggling to pick up first downs, the rest of the game?
A: Yeah, I mean it's tough to say… there were plays that had to be made… I can't point out specific plays right now. We have to go back and watch the tape, see what corrections have to be made. It's tough to say right now, obviously it wasn't our standard, Penn State's standard.
Q: Sean, regarding the overtime rule do you find it hard as an offense to only get one play at the three-yard line?
A: No, I mean we practice that a lot. You know, two-point plays. We just got to execute better, myself being number one. We just got to get it in, there's not much to it.
Q: How many two-point conversion plays do offenses have? Everybody talks about one or two of your best plays. Do offenses have 6 or 7 two-point conversion plays.
A: Now they do. Just because of the nature of the game just with the two-point rule coming into effect for second overtime and the third overtime being all two-point conversions. You carry a good amount of two point's now.
Q: What's the biggest challenge moving forward now after back-to-back, really tough defeats?
A: You know I'm not too worried about the chemistry of the locker room. We got a really good group, I'm not too worried about the morale. I think we are going to bounce back, it's not a question in my mind. It's just, you know, getting some guys back healthy. I'm trying to get as healthy as I can be because we got a good one next week. Just the rest of the season, we got to keep pushing, we got a lot of football in front of us.
Q: About the two-point play where they tried to throw it to you. Do you guys work on that a lot?
A: Yeah, we have. We had that obviously in the game plan. You know it was a good call. I got my head around, but the ball was just on me really quick. But you know, still got to make these types of plays, especially in a game like this.
Jordan Stout | K/P| R-Sr.
Q: What was going through your mind when you kicked those two field goals in overtime?
A: It's something I do every single day so I just try to imagine being at practice and drilling it, nothing changes even though we were down three points, I wasn't thinking about that, I was just thinking about making the kick.
Q: When the other team called the timeout do you laugh inside or do you just think "this isn't going to affect me at all"?
A: I like it gives me more time to warm up.
Q: What happened with the false start?
A: I like longer, it feels better. I'm just kidding. I just kind of fell forward. It's on me.
Q: What's it like to be a part of that whole overtime experience but not actually be able to be in the game and be on the sidelines?
A: It was cool but at the same time, I wish I could do more.
Jesse Luketa | DE/LB | Sr.
Q: What was the mood in the locker room after the game?
A: As for the mood in the locker room, I know the guys are down. Very distraught and it hurt.
Q: How do you balance working through your own emotions while also supporting the other guys as a whole?
A: It's tough but leadership doesn't come easy. You have to do the common things everyone else doesn't want to do and aren't comfortable doing so. I try to put my personal emotions aside and think about the greater benefit of the team.
Q: Why were they able to run the ball so effectively against you?
A: I can't say off the top of my head, but we just need to do a better job when winning our one-on-ones up front, and being consistent, I felt that we didn't do that initially.
Q: What stands out to you after going through nine overtimes, what are the plays in the moments that you think about?
A: The game-winning play, that's all that matters as far as I'm concerned, we played well leading up to that point. We were finishing, we were executing, we just have to execute more especially in those big time moments.
KeAndre Lambert Smith | WR | So.
Q: Would you have thought that you would have scored more if you had nine chances?
A: We should have capitalized on the opportunities we had, and we didn't get it done. I don't think anything was off, we just have to watch film tomorrow, fix our mistakes and regroup.
Q: What did he [Sean Clifford] show you today?
A: He showed us what he is, he's a leader. Like I said, as a team we have to make the plays when it comes to us, and we have to finish. His demeanor was up, his mood was up, he was never down and was the typical leader that he is.
Q: How often do you guys rep two-point conversions in practice?
A: We rep two-point conversions every day, every day that we practice. We don't rep it nine times, but we rep it every day, so it was nothing new to us. We just didn't make the plays and we missed a few opportunities. We are going to go to the drawing board to see what we can correct and get ready for next week.
Jaquan Brisker | S | Sr.+
Q: How long do moments like (missed interception opportunity) that sit with you? Are you dwelling on anything?
A: Probably until the next time that we play or the next time I step on the football field. I just know that that is probably a play that I should have made. Tomorrow we will get ready to watch film, see what I could have done better, what the defense could have done better and be a better leader.
Q: How much of a physical toll does a game like this put on you?
A: I just try to put it all out there for my teammates. Whatever I have to do, it is what it is, this is football. It's a physical game and I will do everything I can for this team. However, my body feels good.
Q: What's the biggest challenge going forward now?
A: We have to see how we are going to respond, see what type of defense and team we are. That's the toughest, seeing if we step up to the challenge for the rest of the game and see if we are going to fall down or get back up.
Derrick Tangelo | DT | Sr.+
Q: With the overtime sessions taken, were you guys wearing down both teams?
A: This was the first time I have ever played an overtime game like that, so I feel like everybody got a signal in and everybody was ready to play.
Q: What made them so difficult to stop in the running game?
A: They are very well coached team. We knew that they were going to come in here and give us their best shot, coming off a bye week just like we did. They had a lot of time to prepare for us just like we did for them, so they just came in here and executed their game.
Q: How tough was it without PJ Mustipher today?
A: I'm proud of all the guys that stepped up in PJ's spot today. Dvon Ellies, Coziah Izzard, Amin Vanover, those guys are working hard in practice all week. We miss PJ, but I feel like they did a good job.
Q: That jumbo package that they had there, seems like it gave you guys some problems. What about that package was hard to deal with, with all the linemen on the field?
A: They did a good job disguising where they were going to run the ball. I feel like that package is a lot of show. You never really know where the ball is going to go, but I feel like once the game started going on and we started settling down, I feel like we did a good job identifying where they were going to run the ball.
Q: Did you guys see anything different on the run game than you were prepared for?
A: No, our coaches do a great job of preparing us for everything, so I didn't see anything that I haven't seen before.
Q: How did Chase Brown compare to other running backs this season?
A: He's a very good player, he's very dynamic, he can stick his ground his foot in the ground and make cuts, but he can also hit the hole. Respect to him and I hope he gets better.
Q: How does this game, take the air out of you guys now with two losses in a row, how do you improve?
A: Losing is hard. Like our coach always says, winning is probably the hardest thing to do in college football. Half of the teams playing on Sunday are upset, half of them are happy. We are just going to watch the film, correct everything, and then focus on being 1-0 next week.
Curtis Jacobs | LB | So.
Q: When they are bringing in all those extra lineman and tight ends in at the same time, how does that impact your approach as a linebacker?
A: That's a formation that we saw them run before. We knew that was a possibility, so we tried to be as prepared as we could.
Q: Do you feel like you guys handled their physicality in the run game adequately today?
A: There's always more opportunities to be more physical. I feel like we play physical, that's probably a staple in our defense, so I feel like we did that today, but we obviously could be better.
Q: When you hold a team to 10 points in regulation, do you expect to win?
A: You don't expect anything, you just come out and play. We don't look at the other stuff, we just come out and play our game.
Q: Did you guys feel like there was carry over from Iowa?
A: No, every week, we have our opponent for that week. We focus on them, so I don't think there was any carryover.
Q: How tough is the defense with that overtime rule, you get on the three-yard line seven times, and you have to make stops?
A: The rules are the rules. We went over it as a group this past camp, so we know the rules. We just have to execute it and we didn't do that.
Q: Was there a point in the game where you thought that the defense was going to have to come out and win the game?
A: We come out every time with that mentality. Some stuff is just out of your control, so you have to just come out with that mentality every time you get on the field. That's how we roll.
Q: What things did you feel like were out of your control tonight?
A: Certain things, obviously the weather getting in the way. That was out of our control so we just have to come out and play our game and do what we have to do.
Nick Tarburton | DE | RS JR
Q: What was your mindset as you play overtime after overtime?
A: It was a crazy game. It was the first overtime game I've played in college. It was crazy man, a lot of back and forth, switching of momentum, and it was a roller coaster. Ultimately, they got the win. Now we just got to get back to work.
Q: How do you and the team handle the adversity of a losing streak?
A: We've got to stay together. That's the first and foremost, I think we're built for this type of adversity and we've handled adversity like these many times since I've been here. The biggest thing is stay away from the outside noise. Honestly just staying together, just getting better each and every day.
Q: What did Illinois do in the run game to be successful?
A: They have a tackle over formation that we planned for, but they actually ended up having another tackle on the line. We had to tweak the game plan at halftime and make some adjustments there. As a whole, hats off to them. They had a great game plan to win. Credit to Illinois and their running backs. They were a physical opponent. We didn't make the plays that we needed to make when it came down to it.
Q: What's next for you?
A: Win or lose we usually like to watch the film on our own. Then tomorrow we're going to correct and do certain things to just get better. As for today I'm going to let this sink in. I'll be watching the film as soon as I get back to my house. It's tough, any loss you just got to find a way to keep fighting and get better. We created turnovers, which was a big help to keep us in this game. But that many rushing yards is just something that we can't have happen. We're going to see the film and we're going to move on.
Jahan Dotson | WR | SR
Q: How did this week of practice go? Did it prepare you for the game today?
A: Just little details that we have to get fixed during practice. We haven't had a perfect practice yet or a perfect week of practice. That shows on Saturdays. We got to have a great week of practice. We all have tough games; we all have tough days. No matter what we're going through, we have each other's backs.
Q: What can you do to be a leader for this team?
A: Be more of a vocal leader and a leader on the field. We've just given 100% effort. Every time I step on the field, I am trying to show the young guys that this losing stuff is not everything. You got to pay attention to every rep at practice. We kind of look past those things sometimes. It's easy to kind of look at the bigger picture, and that's Saturday's. It's time to get back to work, fix the things that we can improve on.
Q: How did Sean Clifford progress through the week, and when did you know he would start?
A: Sean was practicing with us this week. So, we knew he was healthy. We knew that Coach Franklin wasn't going put them out there if it jeopardized his health. We knew that the that trainers made a great decision. Coach Franklin, always puts us in the best position possible. If Sean is out, we have the next man up mentality. We were prepared for whoever is going to be our quarterback today. We just got to execute.
Q: As a receiver that thrives in space, how was it getting the ball on the three-yard line for those overtime attempts?
A: Yeah, it's tough. That's when the little details matter. You really have to focus on the little details, because you don't have a lot of space or room. Literally everything matters out there, and Coach Franklin does a great job of preaching that to us every single day. Every little thing matters, every practice matters, every rep matters. It's always tougher when you're in the game. It all just comes down to execution and making sure that we do our job.