Penn State Football
Ball State Press Conference Postgame Quotes
vs. Ball State – September 11, 2021
Ball State Head Coach Mike Neu
Opening Statement:
Obviously, we lost to a good Penn State football team. The most disappointing part I think on my end right now as soon as the game's over is just some of the opportunities that we did have. We didn't make some plays when there were some available plays to be made. I was very proud of the defense, the way they competed, especially in the second half. For a large part of the second half there, almost a quarter and a half, we held them to six points and I really thought our defense did a really great job of competing. We are just not clicking right now from an offensive standpoint. We got to get that fixed. It starts with me, and we'll get back in here, and we'll tackle film, and we'll get that cleaned up, but we lost to a good Penn State football team, and obviously when you're playing a team of that caliber in a place like this, you got to make sure that you execute. We need to have the opportunities, and that is the hardest part to swallow right now.
Q: Coach there were a couple drives there in the first half where you guys were marching down the field and got into the red zone and Penn State kind of upset it. What worked on those offensive drives, and what do you hope to replicate?
A: Obviously when you're playing a team that plays good defense like they have for a long period of time, they're going to make you earn it, and when you do have some opportunities, to connect on some plays, and whether it is grind out some tough yardage or make a tough completion you got to be able to get that done. And, so, when we got down to the red zone, they did a good job of stepping up, certainly we had a couple of self-inflicted wounds where we had to move back, whether it was a penalty, whether it was a pre-snap penalty, or whether it was a hold, you got to stay out of that, you simply cannot have that happen, when you are talking about playing against a team like Penn State, or any team for that matter, so it starts with us. We got to get that fixed in order to make sure we finish off drives with touchdowns, and especially against a football team like this. The crowd was awesome, and the student section was awesome down there at their end doing their part. They certainly made it tough to hear, and we knew that going in, and we got to be able to execute.
Q: I guess from the red zone perspective, is that more of Penn State just kind of being stubborn on defense, because I know they held Wisconsin last week, I mean how hard is that to punch it in with a defense like that?
A: They're a good defense. They have good personal. Obviously, they have done a good job. They play with a lot of confidence. They have been a good defense for a long time, but in saying that, yes, there were some opportunities where if we execute the way we are cable of executing, we could have scored points, and we didn't get that done, so we got to get that fixed cause certainly when we get back, we are going to get started tomorrow, attack the film, make the correction, and then we have another tough opponent next week on the road.
Q: Playing a team as good as Penn State, I know you have to look at the film room, but just based off what you've seen, what have you learned from this game that can heal you guys going forward?
A: Still, it's all about execution, and again, as I've mentioned already, we got to make sure that when we do have opportunities to make some plays, we've got to get that done. We've got to make the available plays when it's in an environment like this, and it's against a defense, or against a football team that is going to make you earn it, we got to be able to get that done, and the hardest part was when we were in position, or when we had those opportunities, we just simply did not get it done, so it's about us going back, tackling the film, looking at ourselves in the mirror, and we've got to get better. We have a lot of room here for improvement, and certainly we are not where we need to be yet in order to be a team that can compete week in week out.
Q: Paddock got some time in there. How important was that for him, and what did you take away from his performance?
A: I'm proud of John. He stepped in there. He's a competitor. He finished connecting on five out of six throws there. I thought he did a nice job just running the offense when he got in, and I think that says a lot about him staying ready. He has worked hard in practice. He has worked hard in the film room, and John's a talented guy, so it was good to see him make some impressive throws there when he got an opportunity.
Q: Could you talk a little bit about the play of their secondary and just kind of the challenges that their coverage gave you guys in the passing game?
A: Well, they do a good job mixing it up, and they made it tough on our guys when we were in normal splits, when we were lined up out wide, they made it tough. They were challenging us at the line of scrimmage versus press coverage at times. They did a good job of mixing that up, so they're talented. If you look out there on the field, and you see the length of the corners, you see the size of the safeties, I mean it's a good group. It's a good unit on the back end, and it's a great challenge for us. My hats off to them, but we knew that going in. When you study the personal and you scout them, you knew they were a good defense that had talent, and Coach Franklin and his staff definitely have done a great job at recruiting.
Q: What was it like and what was the difference between playing a crowd at Ball State, and then a crowd in front of 100,000 plus people?
A: You simply just don't. When you run out of the tunnel and there's 100,000 people, it's a pretty special environment for college football. Obviously, it's one of the elite venues that certainly has a great home field advantage that way, and so that's an awesome opportunity. We worked hard all week long in practice with crowd noise, with music as much as we possibly could to focus on silent communication to make sure we were good with that, but a special place man. When I was a kid playing the game, and a lot of these guys in our locker room were kids playing the game, you dream of playing in an environment like that. It was awesome, but certainly we ran out of the tunnel and all the smoke cleared, there was a game to be played, and we didn't play well enough to give ourselves a chance.
Q: How do you think the players handled the atmosphere being an away game certainly because of the fans?
A: I think the guys did a good job. Obviously, our effort on it's certainly something we discussed a bunch. They might have a guy or two that's an inch or two taller, they might have a guy or two that his arms might be a little bit longer, his 40 time might be a little bit faster, but you can't measure heart, and we got to make up for whatever it is from a skill standpoint. We got to make up for it with effort, so I thought our guys competed. Certainly, there were a few guys that struggled a little bit with the heat, but that's going to happen when you play early season games, and the weather is hot, so I thought our guys for the most part handled it well, but certainly there were some penalties, some of things, pre-snap pause that we hoped to avoid that snuck up and got us a time or two.
Q: How is playing in a stadium like Wyoming next week any different than Penn State this week?
A: I haven't had the chance yet to do a whole bunch of research on the stadium out there in Wyoming, so we'll dive into that on the plane trip back. We'll dive into that tomorrow morning just to see what the environment's like. We watched a lot of TV copies of Penn State from 2019 that were home games, tried to get a foundation of what it would be like, we talked to some coaches whose teams played here just to see what the challenges were, so we'll dive into that once we start with our preparation first thing tomorrow morning with Wyoming.
Curtis Blackwell | OL | Fifth Year
Q: There was two drives there in the first half where you guys were really able to move the ball just weren't able to punch it in on a touchdown. What do you take away from some of those drives being able to move against a Penn State defense like that?
A: As a team today we just missed our opportunities. They were out there and we didn't always take advantage of it, so we just have to look at the film starting tomorrow and just fix the stuff that we were struggling with. When we get into those key moments where we need to make a play we just have to make those plays and try and get better in terms of that and just finishing the drives.
Q: In your eyes, what worked there? It seemed like when you guys were spreading the ball to a bunch of different guys you were able to move. I mean what was the difference between some of those three-and-outs and those 75 yard drives.
A: You look back at every single game and there's always just a handful of plays that really determine the outcome of the game. People just looking from the outside you see the score, but really when you watch the film there's just a couple plays that if we capitalize here, if we convert, if we execute like we need to it could be a totally different situation. We have to look at those plays, figure out what we did wrong, and then try to correct it for next week.
Q: Late in the game Paddock got in the game. What does that mean for him and what are your takeaways on his performance today?
A: I was really impressed with Paddock and the way he led the offense out there in that last series and just all the guys that were getting some key reps there and just continuing to develop. I was just really proud of how they came out and executed, so I think that's a great opportunity for them to get that experience and continue to grow as football players.
Q: As an offensive line unit, Coach Neu talked about fixing a couple of issues on offense. In this next week before Wyoming, what do you want the offensive line to focus on in this week of practice?
A: I think we have to, starting with me, I have to take an individual look at myself and watch the film and see the things that I didn't do well enough and correct those and if we do that as a unit I think we'll have a lot better results and the results we want next week. I know our team is going to take that approach, everyone is going to take that approach. We'll all look at ourselves and see the things that we didn't do well enough this week and correct them and come out firing next week. We're excited to get back after it.
Q: What is it like and what difference did it make playing in front of a crowd that was upwards of 100,000 people?
A: Great experience. Obviously an awesome environment to play in. When you're a little kid you think about those types of games and playing in those environments. Fortunately from my perspective, we didn't have too many miscues on the offensive side in terms of the loudness. It was definitely loud out there, just kind of a cool thing, but we definitely put a lot of effort this week in practice and just try and be ready for that situation you can never totally prepare for, but just overall an awesome experience to play here.
Q: How do you think you and your teammates handled the atmosphere as a whole playing in front of a bunch of opposing fans like that?
A: I think we handled it pretty well. Obviously that's not the typical environment that we play in and to come in here and I felt like we played and handled it pretty well and like I mentioned earlier, when it comes down to it we just have to look at ourselves and find the things that we need to get better on this week and focus on those and make those corrections.
Bryce Cosby | Safety | Fifth Year
Q: After a game against one of the better teams in the country, what's the messages you guys had amongst yourselves?
A: Before I answer the questions, I just want to send my condolences to any families or anybody that was impacted by 9/11. Very tragic event that took place 20 years ago. First, I wanted to express my condolences and then to answer your question, after a game like that, you know, all of our goals are still in front of us. Conference championship, bowl contention, things of that nature. Obviously, we want to win every game, and this isn't a game where we came in expecting to lose or that we were accepting defeat by any means, but, you know, Penn State was a better team today. They came out and executed, did what was needed to win and for us it's just a learning experience. A lot of stuff we can learn on tape in all phases and it's going to kind of just take this on the chin and learn from it and improve to put ourself in a better position next week against Wyoming.
Q: I mean you talk about all of the goals to kind of be in front, how do you kind of reset with this with Wyoming and Toledo coming up?
A: I mean yeah, I've been here for a while, so I understand that you can't really take too long in terms of processing wins or losses. Last week we beat Western Illinois and we moved right on to Penn State. This week we lose to Penn State, and we got to learn from it. Like I said, we'll review the film tomorrow morning and then it's on to Wyoming, so win or loss I don't think you can spend too much time on it and basically its already in the past in my opinion so the biggest thing is you can't spend too much time on a win or loss so it's always what's next.
Q: So you guys played a team as good as Penn State, I mean I know it wasn't the result you guys wanted and I know you guys need to go into film, but how can playing a team as good as them make you guys better?
A: Like I said, I feel like there's things to learn from every game. Penn State is a great team. Like I said they came out and executed, but like any other game there's going to be stuff on film that pops out, there's going to be stuff that Wyoming sees on film, that they're going to try to expose, so it's really just honing in on whatever Penn State was doing to us, offensively, defensively, and on special teams, that ended up backfiring on us. We got to get those mistakes fixed as quickly as possible and the biggest thing is to learn and experience loss so that's my biggest takeaway.
Q: John (Paddock) got some time there at the end of the game, what does that mean for him? I know you guys go up against him in practice, what have you seen from him in practice and other takeaways?
A: John, that's my guy, he's a super competitor. He's our scout team quarterback so we kind of see that ferocity and that competitive drive from him on an everyday basis. He kind of leads those guys and he's got a super bright future. I've watched him put the work in everyday and he's got a contagious attitude and competitive spirit. He's a very good addition to our team so seeing him get that drive at the end of the game, I think that's a great boost for his confidence just being able to go around and go out there and kind of throw around a little bit. John is a great guy, hell of a teammate and his energy is just super contagious. This is something we've been seeing for the past couple of years so it's no surprise it's this way.
Q: You led the team with 11 tackles today, could you talk a little bit about what went well with the team today and maybe one or two things that you want to improve from today?
A: I just try to go out there and give my best effort in any game, and it doesn't matter what game it is, I just try to do the best to help my team and get a win. That didn't happen today, so from my end we just got to fix the things on defense. I feel like we could have tackled better as a whole. I feel like there was a lot of loopholes in terms of missed tackles, leaky yardage and that kind of bit us in the butt, but really the biggest thing is just learning from this and cleaning up the missed ques on defense looking forward.