Opening Statement: I want to thank you guys for coming out and covering Penn State football. I want to thank the fans. People struggle to get attendance in general. There were reports that the weather was going to be tough. We still had a great crowd, specifically early in the game, which was a major factor for us. In the field position battle, we won. In the turnover battle, we tied; we had one late in the game. The penalty battle we won; didn't necessarily feel like that, but we did. We won the explosive play battle, not only did we win, but also offensively, we met our goal, and defensively we met our goal. Some cool notes for you. Jake Pinegar, I'm so happy for him playing his tail off, you're talking about a guy who was the starter, lost his starting job, stuck it out, stayed here, and became the starter again. He's playing really well right now. A 50-yard field goal tonight at the end of the second quarter.
We have 13 different players with a sack right now. Back-to-back games with six sacks or more haven't happened since 2007. On top of that, no sacks on offense and the offensive line are playing their tails off right now with a lot of moving parts. Defensively, we held them to 27 yards in the first half. On top of that, because of the way our defense and special teams are playing, our offense had the ball on their side of the field for 27 plays as well. Again, Pinegar, I can't say enough about him. It was the fourth game that we've had this year without allowing the sack, that's the first time that's happened since 2011. Just so you are aware and there's no gray area out there, Joey Porter was not available tonight. That was a non-football injury situation that we were working through. I just want to be very, very clear about that. Hopefully, we will have Joey back soon.
Q: How many pushups did you do and why was the defensive line able to dominate?
A: We're playing a lot of guys and we've worked hard at developing and recruiting depth. That's a big part of it. I would have liked to have Coziah Izzard from the beginning of the season but with him not playing the first four, it probably helped with that a little bit as well. I did 15 push-ups because everybody is held accountable around here. I had my first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in 12 years as a head coach. I was embarrassed by it. I did my push-ups, and everybody is held accountable. I think they thought I was yelling at the officials, and I wasn't I was yelling at our players, but either way I got an unsportsmanlike conduct, my first one in 12 years.
Q: To set the tone in the game with a pass rush, how important was that on a day like this and against this quarterback? Do you have an indication of why suddenly the sacks are starting to pile up and maybe they weren't there earlier in the year?
A: I would say on a day like today with the weather, we were able to get tackles for loss. We were able to get sacks. We're able to get them off schedule. We felt like we had some pretty good matchups. They obviously have some injuries as well. I think those matchups favored us and we were able to do it. The other thing is bigger guys will get more and more comfortable and confident with how we want to play football. To be disruptive and vertical, up the field and through gaps. When you get people off schedule, you're able to suffocate the run. When you're able to get tackles for loss and put them in obvious passing situations, that helps as well. On top of that, we're going to give up a play because of man coverage from time to time. Even without Joey, we were able to play good man coverage. Now the quarterback has got to hold on to the ball, and that helps too. It's a complimentary defense. It's complimentary football which we played tonight: offense, defense, and special teams. We started fast with the opening kick, to pin them inside the 10. We go three and out on defense, then the offense goes down and scores. That was a real positive for us.
Q: When you have the home run hitter like Nick Singleton, and he can score from anywhere, what is the value of that from an explosive play standpoint? What did you like about the calls and the setup on fourth down?
A: Whenever you have people, whether it's at wide receiver or running back or tight end or on the opposite side of the ball, it scares people. It impacts the defense, and it impacts the defensive coordinator because they know if you make a mistake. It could go for 50 and go for 60 at any point. That has really helped our offense this year. I believe in that. We have really done a good job of committing to short-yardage situations and getting better at it. That's something we haven't done here recently so that's been a real positive for us this year. I love the package that we're running. It puts the defense in a tough spot because we can do a lot of things out of that formation. Defensively, you just can't be everywhere at once and when you have a veteran quarterback that can sit in there and get us in the right call that helps too.
Q: Was there any consideration to starting Drew in the second half?
A: Early in the season, we had a plan to try to get Drew in at a certain series, but we're way past that now. It just gets to the point where it's how soon can we get into the game where we feel like the lead is enough that we're comfortable with doing it. The other challenge though, is when we get Drew in the game, we have a bunch of other guys that we need to get out of the game. And then there's a fine line because I want Drew in there with the starters. But then there's also a fine line. You know, our depth is depleted on the offensive line. And we need to get those guys off the field who we can't afford to have them in there late the game. It is just not the ideal situation. I wish we were at a different point from an injury perspective and from a depth perspective. Hopefully we'll get some of those guys back. Because early in the season, I felt really good about our number two o-line but we just have a lot of moving parts right now. So that factors into a little.
Q: What does it mean to you to have Sean take the torch from Trace for all-time passing?
A: I think you guys know the amount of respect I have for Sean. He's been here a long time. He's done it the right way. He represents the program with class. And obviously, you know, his statistics, talk about his overall production. So, I'm happy for him and I'm proud of him
Q: You mentioned the crowd… Do you ever look around on a day like today and see 8- 90,000 people in the first week of November and think this this place really is amazing.
A: Yeah, I'll speak for Penn State. It is special. I come in here and I make that statement all the time. But I hope it's coming off in a way that the fans truly understand how much we appreciate them and how impactful it is. I think that's one of the things that's probably most amazing about this place is through the good and the bad for how many years now? You know people are talking about decreasing stadium size, and most NFL stadiums hold about 75,000 and we're able to get 106,000-107,000 on a pretty consistent basis. Good weather in the beginning of the year. Tough weather in the middle of the year doesn't matter. Our fans come out and it differentiates us, and it makes us special at a time where it's hard to find ways to differentiate yourselves in college football. Everybody's trying to find ways to do it. Whether it's with uniforms or facilities or whatever it is. This is special and I remind our players all the time about it, not to take it for granted. I know Pat and Vinnie our Athletic Director has been blown away by it. I think we announced publicly our number of season ticket holders for the first time ever. It is unique and it is special, and I hope I convey how much we appreciate it how much it means to us.
Q: For a few years now, you've talked about the importance of being able to run the football when everyone in the stadium knows you want to run it in the short yardage. To be able to do that here and have a big performance, no sacks. I think one sack in the last four games, when we're all wondering what the offensive line is going to look like. What have you learned about your offensive line room here in November?
A: Once again, I said at the beginning of year I'll hold off talking about the o-line and let you guys talk about it. But I think your point is a good one. Being able to run the ball at times when everybody in the stadium knows you're going to run the ball. That's when you know you have a chance to be pretty good on the offensive side of the ball from a balance perspective, from a running game perspective, from a four-minute situation and even in the redzone. The best teams in the red zone are able to run the ball. It helps you a lot of different ways and then again, when you're able to hand it to guys that can turn a six-yard run into a 12-yard run or turn a 12-yard run into a 50-yard run. And we got guys that can do that, and they've been really good complementary pieces. I wish you guys could see on the sideline; how supportive they are of one another. That's been really cool to see as well. So, I think it's been a huge difference for us.
Q: A couple days ago you were asked about freshmen running backs hitting a wall. It seems like Nick has brought some extra physicality the last two weeks. Last week at Indiana and then here tonight. Is that something you've noticed in in practice being more physical? And how impressed are you that he seems to be getting a little bit stronger and more physical as the year progresses?
A: Yeah, I think it helps that we rotated backs all year. Earlier in the year we had three. Hopefully we'll get Keyvone (Lee) back here and that will help too. But yeah, I think that's a part of it. The way we practice those guys. Tank (Smith) has been a big part of it as well and he's done a great job. Holzworth (Tyler) has done a great job in practice. So, rotating those guys and being smart about it. Teaching those guys how to take care of their body from a hydration, from a sleep, and from a nutrition perspective. And then having two backs that are pretty much splitting time. A lot of times you have a starter and a backup and the reps kind of break down like that. We don't. They're splitting reps. Early in the year we had three that were rotating. So, I think all those things are factored into it. I think the o-line is playing well. I think the tight ends are doing a good job. So, it's kind of all those things together and they're two really talented guys.