Penn State Football
Penn State Student-Athletes Postgame Press Conference
vs. Minnesota – October 22, 2022
Defense
Dominic DeLuca | LB | R-Fr
Q: How did you get that surge? How did it feel to get a tip on that ball?
A: Coach had a great game plan for it. Came right up through the middle and past the offensive line and made a play.
Q: What did it feel like just to get through and have that kind of see it happen that had to play out?
A: When I saw it open, and it was free game from there. It was a great feeling just to be able to tip that and change the momentum.
Q: How important was it to make Minnesota one-dimensional in the second half where they would throw the ball more than they wanted to?
A: They're a great team, and they have great running backs. Our game plan was just to stop the run and the rest would come.
Daequan Hardy | CB | R-Jr
Q: When did you feel like you personally turned the page from the Michigan game?
A: For me personally, we have Sunday practice where we focus on the next opponent. So when we did that, and it was time to have to watch film and make corrections I did.
Q: How does it feel to respond this week the way you guys did? Especially defensive backs helping out in the run game to clip back-to-back run opponents.
A: Yeah, it was good to get redemption on a running team. We just focused on stopping the run this week even more, and we think we did a pretty good job of it.
Q: There's sometimes a lot of questions on the offense, but they played better. Is this kind of putting all the pieces together?
A: Yeah, I would say so. You know as a defensive guy, I always believe and respect the offense and have faith in them. I believe in the coaching staff as well. So, whatever they put out there I believe we can win with it.
Ji'Ayir Brown | S | Sr.+
Q: What did the defense do tonight that they didn't do last week?
A: We trusted each other. We filled in gaps. We followed (defensive coordinator) Manny (Diaz)'s plan. Simple but not easy. Things may seem simple, but something could change. A guy's mind might not be in the right spot or the body might not be in the right spot during the play. And that leads to execution errors.
Q: Was there an emphasis on making the one dimensional in the second half?
A: (Mohammad Ibrahim) is a great back like you said. Trying to keep them east and west and not that home run north and south. He's a great runner. We know if we stopped that run game they would start to pass more. They would have to go up against our strength.
Q: How much did you feel the crowd?
A: That's the energy that Beaver Stadium has, that's the whiteout. So, I definitely felt that being out there on defense and them getting loud. These are great fans, I love them. No other fans are like that.
