Opening Statement
Like always, I want to thank you guys for coming out and covering Penn State football. We appreciate it. Also, I want to thank the fans. We averaged 108,000 fans this year, which is the second highest total in Beaver Stadium history. So that is awesome. I have to give Rutgers credit. They do a nice job. I have a lot of respect for Coach Schiano, and I have a lot of respect for Rutgers. They're a hard-nosed bunch. They've played like that against everybody. You talk about the areas that we focus on from a statistical perspective: We won the turnover battle. If you look at the stats, with Rutgers and specifically with Coach Schiano there, that's a critical stat. We talked about it all week long. I think winning that stat, if you look at the data, I think they're 1-17 when they lose that stat, so that was something that was going to be really important for us today. The explosive play battle, we were more explosive. We met our goal at 15%. We won that battle as well. The third down battle. We won that as well. The sack battle, we won that. And then the field position battle, we won that, and in the penalty battle, we won. So, we won all of our critical areas. When you just talk about some guys, Johnny Dixon has really played well this year and it's kind of unusual when you talk about a corner and sacks. But he's leading all FBS in sacks by corners, which is unusual. Obviously with Drew [Allar] getting banged up, Beau Pribula came in and really did a great job, specifically with his legs, and gave us a little bit more diversity in the running game, which I think was helpful for us. Chop [Robinson] continues to play lights out. He has thrived really since coming here. KJ Winston has really played well all year long, but that interception was significant, and I thought Kobe King has really put together a really nice year. So overall, pleased with the step that we took today against a really good Rutgers team and looking forward to next week. I think you guys know we got a short week. So, we got a very different week with playing on Friday night.
Q: Is there any sort of update on Drew (Allar)? And could you assess the way your offensive coordinators did, given the change earlier in the week and then given the change during the game when you had to switch QBs.
A: First of all, I was very pleased with the whole staff and the players in general. They handled it first class and were respectful. But then just got to work. I was pleased. I thought both Ja'Juan [Seider] and Ty [Howle] did a really nice job all week long, not only from an organizational standpoint, but then also from a leadership standpoint, then obviously from a scheme standpoint, and really the whole staff. When Drew got hurt and Beau came in, it opens up some things in the run game for you. You're able to do some different things there. We were planning on playing both of them anyway, we started out early, and we've had that plan the last couple of weeks, but we called it earlier. We planned on playing both of them kind of throughout that game. So, I thought when Beau came in he did some really nice things and I thought Ja'Juan and Ty adjusted well.
Q: What does this type of a moment teach you about the culture of your program? You have so much emotion this week. You dial in and get a win, bouncing back after a loss. You have a backup step up into a bigger role to prepare like you're the starter. What does this teach you about the culture of your program right now?
A: Yeah, I wish you guys could have been in the locker room right there. Theo Johnson speaking to his teammates was phenomenal. Dvon Ellies too, they were powerful. Their messages were powerful to their teammates, to their younger teammates. So that was that was really really cool to see. We knew this was going to be a battle this week and I'm proud. I'm proud of the guys and I'm proud to staff. To be able to get another win and continue to head in the right direction. Obviously, we got some things that we got to get cleaned up for this film, but culturally I feel really good. I feel really good about the players, about the staff, and about the coaches. I feel really good about the culture in the locker room and inside Lasch building, the things that we can control. Knock on wood, you know, pretty darn good production on Saturdays. Not a whole lot of issues off the field, which I take a tremendous amount of pride in. I know it's important to our Lettermen and I know that's important to our alumni, and I know it's important to this community that our guys conduct themselves well. But there's a ton of positives. There's obviously some areas that we have to get better and I take full responsibility for that. But there's also a ton of positives and people are willing to talk them.
Q: James, you mentioned Beau entering the game open things up a little bit in the running game. Why was the running game overall effective today against a really good run defense?
A: I thought we had a good plan. There were some of our zone read stuff that we do. There were some of the similar things that we did against Iowa, that we thought there was carryover and made sense. But I think you guys have seen it all year long too. When Beau [Pribula] would come into game, they have to respect the zone. It changes how you call the game defensively. There's no doubt about that, and Drew [Allar] has done more of that this year which is which has been really good as the seasons gone on. But I think that's the biggest thing. I think we had a good plan. But then obviously being able to mix Beau as well. They have to call the game differently. And I think we did a really good job having a plan and I think our backs ran extremely hard. I thought we probably had a little bit more diversity in our run game with different punches as Frank Leonard would like to say.
Different punches that you can throw out. So, I thought I thought our coaches did a really nice job.
Q: You've had a lot of success in the program with quarterbacks running the ball. Looked like Drew took a pretty good shot on that. So what's the risk-reward and balance of you're going to run your quarterback versus got to do some things to maybe keep them safe?
A: Obviously we never want to put our players in a position where they're going to get an injury, bumps, bruises, whatever it may be. At that point, he was leading us in, I think average rush and I think was averaging like 10 yards per rush. And really what he had done the whole game or what he really done the whole season is get as many yards as he can and get down and he's done a really good job of managing that all season long. Right there in that situation, he was just about to get down and somebody flashed from behind another player and hit him just right. He was really good as the game went on. I thought his leadership was phenomenal on the sideline, but it's like anything else right? Whether it's football whether it's business, whether it's offense, whether it's defense, it's all about risk-reward and everything we do.
Q: Do you have any update on Drew Allar moving forward? I know it's early, but have there been any tests done?
A: I know you have to ask, at least that's what you guys tell me, but I'm not going to get into the medical stuff. First of all, that wouldn't be appropriate for Drew and that wouldn't be appropriate for his family. But I don't see this being significant. But we will see. It's very hard for me to answer that question even if I wanted to.
Q: Senior Day is always emotional. How emotional was this for you?
A: I'm an emotional guy in general. Because I don't take these young people and my staff and this job and this community, and most importantly, my family for granted. I wake up and as much as I can, I want to focus on all the blessings that I have and that we have via being at Penn State. So days like this when that picture in my mind or that reality in the locker room or the Lasch building is going to change. I don't think people totally understand unless you played college sports. I don't think it's the same in the pros, obviously. But college sports you just spend so much time with these guys. Through the recruiting process, through their academic experience, through their football experience. With the highest of highs and lowest of lows, and everything from girlfriends breaking up with them, to divorces, to deaths. You really experienced it all. And I know there's a lot of programs out there that run football factories. We don't. We run a family relationship-based organization. So, it means more. To be honest, even when the guys come back like Jared Odrick was back. And I recruited Jared out of high school, and he was awesome. I was just talking with him in the locker room. You know Mike Gesicki, he was back. I think him and his whole crew is going to come over to house tonight. These are real significant relationships, and I don't try to fake that. They know how much I care about them.