Penn State Football
Visiting Student-Athlete/Postgame Press Conference
vs. Rutgers – November 20, 2021
Noah Vedral | QB | Sr.
Q: With Maryland now, you have an opportunity to go to a bowl game. When you think about what you can still accomplish this season, is that exciting?
A: Absolutely. Obviously this one leaves a sour taste in your mouth, but you still hold the pen. There's a lot left to play for. We got a one-game season coming up again, so we're gonna look at the tape, figure out what went wrong, learn from it and get ready for the next one.
Q: There were a couple procedural issues today. Was there something unsettled?
A: Yeah, I would say those are kind of uncharacteristic mistakes – things that we're normally much better about and we'll figure it out and get to the bottom of what happened. But I mean, most of those are really just some miscommunications, maybe on the field or what group was up. They're annoying when they come up, but we can fix those pretty quickly and that's what we're going to look at and get fixed this week.
Q: This program hasn't been in a bowl game since 2014. What would it mean?
A: It would mean a lot. There's a lot of things to be excited about – don't want to get too far out in front of ourselves because again, we got a big game and a good team in Maryland to play this week. It would mean a lot, I'm sure, to the Rutgers community and to this program as well.
Q: I know you guys talk about a one-game season every week, but it's truly a one-game season now. What's that like?
A: It's like the old high school football playoffs – you win and you keep playing. We're gonna take that high school playoff mindset into this week, especially knowing there's a lot on the line and a lot to play for.
Isaih Pacheco | RB | Jr.
Q: How would you identify the biggest issues that you guys had on offense [today]? How much of it was what you weren't able to do and how much was it about how Penn State's defense has played?
A: You just have to come out and execute. Whatever coach calls, you [have to] come out and execute, got to be on top, come out faster, that's it.
Q: [Isaih], going into this coming week how important is it that you guys kind of put this behind you, because everything's still out there for you guys.
A: Just whatever coach has us playing. We're going to get in our chops at practice tomorrow and just get back to work. Just focus on what we got ahead [of us].
Q: You guys have bounced back from these losses pretty well at times this season. What have you learned to kind of come back and respond in some of these games that have types of performance that you wouldn't want to have?
A: For me, especially, it's just being a leader and just keep leading the guys in each and every way we get. Go out to practice tomorrow and just lead them.
Tyshon Fogg | LB | Sr.
Q: Did anything change drastically when they switched quarterbacks, from your perspective?
A: Sean Clifford is a good guy who came in there ready to play. We understood that he was a little banged up. But the young guy, the freshman, he came in there, stepped up, played a great game as well. So it wasn't realy that big of a difference, but we just have to come out there and prepare for both quarterbacks, and whoever came out there to play.
Q: This program hasn't been in a bowl game since 2014. If you win next week, you're in one. Can you just talk about the opportunity you have that despite this loss, the season's right in front of you?
A: The biggest thing is we really don't want to focus on a bowl game. Next week we know we got Maryland, another good team coming here, and we have to learn from our mistakes from Penn State. And once we learned about our mistakes from Penn State we have to move on and prepare for Maryland and go on from there. But right now our focus really isn't on the bowl game, it's just to get better as a team. Keep chopping and getting better.