Opening Statement: Two players that I just would like to talk about briefly that I think are playing really good football. I think they deserve to be a part of conversations nationally. Jaylen Reed and Zane Durant. I think they're playing really, really good right now in a lot of different ways, a lot of different reasons. Proud of those guys.
Their development within our program, both on and off the field, has been impressive. To see how they are, in a lot of ways, leading our defense right now, verbally as well as through their play. Really proud of those guys. They're having a very, very productive season.
Just a quick recap on Wisconsin. Opportunities for growth. We had not had a delay-of-game penalty all year long, so that's something that we've got to get cleaned up. That was disappointing. Then the fumbled snap, those two things are uncharacteristic for us.
Then defensively, just some substitution things. That play we had 12 guys on the field, we knew we had 12 guys on the field, but I had to burn a timeout earlier and did not have a timeout available to impact that. We had a player go on the field and not communicate with the player to come out the field. We got to get some of those things cleaned up because that could have been obviously significant.
When you talk about Ohio State, what they've been doing, what they've done, Ryan Day, his career there, the program in general, obviously a ton of respect for what they've been able to do for a long period of time under a number of different coaches. Then obviously, how they're playing again this year.
You look at them statistically, they're playing really good football pretty much across the board. Offensively, Chip Kelly there. I think Chip has a reputation of a guy with a spread background, throwing the ball around. I get that. But if you really study Chip, he's always had a strong running game. You see that this year. It's a big part of what they're doing. 11 and 12 personnel.
Their quarterback Will Howard, who transferred from Kansas State, is a big guy and playing really good football for them. Touchdown-to-interception ratio, QBR, all those things, doing some really good things. Obviously, a young man from Pennsylvania, so he'll have a bunch of support here from his family and friends.
TreyVeyon Henderson is explosive, one of the most explosive running backs in the country, who we recruited out of high school and are very, very familiar. Quinshon Judkins, we're also familiar with. Two really good running backs.
Then obviously there's a bunch of receivers you could talk about. The guy that's getting a lot of buzz right now is Jeremiah Smith, a freshman. But there's a number of receivers that we could be talking about.
Defensively, Jim Knowles, who is also a PA guy, is doing a really good job with their defense, and has now for the last couple years. Multiple scheme defense.
Really probably the thing that gets talked about the most is their three safeties that they play with. How they do it, he's been doing that in some form all the way back to his time at Oklahoma State. But he's really doing a nice job.
Their safety, Caleb Downs, who they got out of the transfer portal, is playing very well. Cornerback Denzel Burke. Then obviously two defensive ends that are challenging in Jack Sawyer as well as JT Tuimoloau. I hope I said that right. I mean that with all due respect. But both of those defensive ends are playing extremely well. Got a ton of respect for what they do and how they do it.
On special teams, we think they do it by committee, which some programs do that. Their kickoff coverage team has been really impressive. They've only allowed five returns this year. Lorenzo Styles really stands out on that unit.
Then when you talk about their punt coverage team, that's another thing that kind of stood out to us. They've only had three returns on the year. Doing a really good job. Their punter is doing a really good job with punt location, hang time.
Obviously we all know this is going to be a challenge. We're going to need a tremendous environment in that stadium on Saturday. Home-field advantage is going to be something that is going to be very, very important for us. So, we need this place rocking no matter what time the game is. We need a great environment. We need everybody in the stadium early. We need that place rocking. We need everybody standing and screaming on third down and critical downs and possessions. This is going to be an all-hands-on-deck game.
Q: If Drew's [Allar] injury is not long-term, what do you need to see from him this week before you make a decision?
A: I think he's played enough football for us that, that timeline will go all the way up to the game really. I do think from a practice perspective, we're going to have to, no matter where we're at on Tuesday, get both of those guys reps Tuesday and Wednesday.
It's too early to tell at this point. But he's played enough football that I think that decision will go all the way up to game time.
But the reality is, we're going to have to have both guys ready. You could even make the argument all three guys ready, which is challenging to do in a game week, is to try to get all those guys ready.
Have had some conversations with Danny [O’Brien] and Andy [Kotelnicki] about that already. We'll continue to have conversations. But I do think Drew has played enough football that it will go all the way up to game time until we make that decision.
Q: Ohio State over the last couple of years seems to have made the transition, at least that's the perception, to be a more physical team, run-game oriented. Do you recognize that as a real thing?
A: I don't know if that's talk out there among media. I don't know. I'm unaware of that conversation. All I could talk about is what I see on film.
Obviously ,the last two years they've played really good defense. Really over the last number of years, they've played really good defense. But I think since Coach Knowles has been there, he's taken them to a whole other level.
Offensively this year, like I mentioned in my opening statement, when you talk about Chip, there's a commitment to running the ball. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I think that's always been the case if you look back at Chip over his history. I think Chip has the experience and the ability to play to the strengths of his team. I think he is clearly doing that right now.
I hope that answers your question. I just base it off film. I'm not sure what the Ohio State fan base and media is talking about. I'm unaware of that.
Q: The game now this week has event status. It's a recruiting, NIL fundraising opportunity. What other demands of your time off the field are going to allow or not allow this week?
A: Nothing changes for us. We have our same process with the players in terms of how we operate with those topics in season. Our guys do a good job with that.
It's funny because I just talked about that this morning in the staff meeting. I think that's a big part of my job, right? We have some media policies, kind of just how we govern ourselves, how we go about our business, which is magnified in weeks like this when everybody reaches out and wants to do interviews with specific players. By saying, ‘Hey, players are only going to do two interviews max per week’ helps with that, helps manage that.
It's kind of the same with the staff. We're not a Bill Belichick level of program in terms of it's a one-voice deal. We don't go to that extreme. We're also not just wide open either.
Trying to keep this thing as consistent and as structured as possible so that we can stick to our normal routine. But all the other things, the stadium, different things that are going on, we don't deal with that. That's where Vinnie [James] and Pat [Kraft], the administration handle all those things for me.
I'm worried about the Lasch Football Building, the practice field, Beaver Stadium, the playing field, the locker room. All those other things outside of that, we try not to spend any, if not very little, time on it.
Q: Beau Pribula, how do you feel from your perspective about the offense? How much different is it when he's leading it as opposed to Drew [Allar]? Is that more of an advantage or more challenging when you have that situation?
A: Well, a couple things, if I'm understanding your question correctly.
I think as a defense, it's difficult because I think when you're preparing for Drew and Beau will have his few plays that we sprinkle in there per quarter, that's difficult. When kind of the game plan flips, Beau is in there, it changes it dramatically I think for the defense. That is difficult. Most people aren't built like that, right? Your quarterbacks are all similar-type guys. Ours are very different in a lot of ways.
I don't think we're in a situation where the offense totally changes. What's nice about us, and it was a big reason in bringing Andy here, is we do enough things and we have enough diversity within our playbook that we are able to focus on the strengths of the players that are in there. That's all I really did Saturday, was just reminding Andy of that.
This was a little bit of a problem in the past in practice and in games, that you really should strategically call the game differently now with Beau in the game. Just reminding Andy of that. Let's call this game playing to Beau's strengths.
Obviously, the threat of the quarterback run impacts the defense. The spike of more quarterback possible runs and scrambles affects the defense. Then obviously the strength in the passing game, Beau still can do all those things, as well. It's another kind of level of concern that I think it creates for the defense of things that they have to deal with.
I think the other thing that's really important, probably has not gotten talked about a whole lot, is just the way Beau has gone about his business since he's arrived on this campus. He's got everybody's respect and confidence and trust so that when he went in the game, I think there was a lot of confidence from our team that, we are blessed and fortunate to have a guy like Beau here in that role.
Q: You mentioned with Drew, playing enough football you can stretch it out all the way to game time. Do you feel like Dani [Dennis-Sutton] is in the same boat? How would you assess the play of Smith [Vilbert] and Amin [Vanover] when they had to play a little bit more reps?
A: I was really pleased with those guys. You guys heard me talk about Smith a lot in pre-season and right in the beginning of the season. I'm a big fan of his growth and development since he's arrived on campus. His ability as a football player.
I think one of the things you're seeing now is the plan was that we were going to play Smith at D-tackle. As the D-tackle depth kind of grew, and some guys came on, we didn't know what we were going to get out of Alonzo [Ford] after coming off an injury, he's playing well, we lost some depth at defensive end with some injuries and things like that, we said, we want you to stay at defensive end full-time. At that point he had gotten up to 285. Now his weight is coming down. He's about 275 right now. He's quicker, more explosive.
I thought he played very well. I thought Amin played very well. Amin is one of the most physical guys that we have on our team. You guys have heard me tell stories about our tight ends kind of looking across on split zone to see who's over there. They see Amin, they start buttoning up their helmets, right?
I'm really proud of those two guys. Two guys came from the same high school program that does a phenomenal job. Augie , the head coach there, does a phenomenal job.
I felt very confident coming into this season that both Smith and Amin were going to have a good year, and I mean that. I think both those guys are going to play football for a long time.
Dani will have the ability to play in this game. He's played a ton of football. He's super mature, very intelligent, thoughtful, hard working. Been in the training room the last two days. Every time I go down there, he's down there.
So same thing. We'll go right up to game time to see kind of where we're at with things. If he's able to go, he'll go. But if not, we have a ton of confidence in those other guys, as well.
Then I think you guys saw we played Max [Granville] as well. We'll be prepared to play Max this week. He's still under the threshold of redshirts, which we've tried to do if we can. If it comes down to winning, we're going to do what we have to do to win the game. Max is onboard with that, as well. Too early to tell at this point.
But, yeah, those are veteran guys that have played enough football and are intelligent guys that we feel like they'll be able to go in and get the job done.
Q: As you look at this series, what can you learn from the past 10 years? Is there some common threads? Have you played as loose against them as maybe the rest of your schedule? How much would it help to clear this hurdle?
A: They're a really good football team. They're as talented of a roster as anybody in the country. They're that way every single year. They are, as well, this year.
We have to play really well. We have to play really clean. We're going to need a great environment. Yeah, it's a challenge. I think our guys are ready for the challenge. We're going to have to have a really good week of practice.
We don't need to change anything. We don't need to do anything more than what we've done each week: just get better and refine our process. Yeah, that's the plan, is be prepared for a really good team.
It's one of the most talented teams in the country. Are year in, year out. Also in terms of wins and losses, one of the most productive teams in the country.
We're fortunate to play them. We're excited about the opportunity. That's what we're focused on, is the Ohio State team from this year and the Penn State team for this year, and what we have to do to find a way to get a win.
What I'm excited about is this team has showed all of our fans, all of our lettermen, our alumni, the students, everybody, that they're going to find ways to get the job done. We're going to have to do that again this week against a really good team who's extremely talented.
Q: Why was Andy Kotelnicki so attractive? What was the buzz in the industry? Was there a name for the play against USC where Beau threw to Drew and then back to Tyler [Warren] on the trick play? Does that have a name, in the playbook?
A: Yeah, so a couple things. Andy has been kind of on my radar for a while. Actually interviewed him for our tight ends job when he hired Ty Howle. We played Buffalo when him and Lance [Leipold] were at Buffalo and had done a good job. Then Lance and Andy came and visited a couple times.
I got a ton of respect for Lance, what he's been able to do. Andy's been calling plays for a long time. I think he's been doing it for 19 years. There's value in that type of experience.
But probably the thing, to answer your question specifically, was we did some really good things the last couple years. Where we were lacking last year was in explosive plays. We kind of started to look at who are the coordinators and who are the teams that are producing explosive plays, and not just because their genetics are better. Where are the explosive plays coming from? How are they being created? Are they happening on a consistent basis? Also, are they doing it against their biggest competition?
When you kind of looked at those types of things, the list narrowed down pretty quickly. Then the fact that we had already had a relationship and been talking for a while, that helped. Then obviously, I know how Lance felt about him. I have so much respect for Lance.
Then I will say this, too. I got to give Kansas and Lance, and I got to give their athletic director a ton of credit, because it wasn't easy hiring him. He's been with Lance for a long time. You don't make that move unless you feel good about it.
I think Kansas is committed to winning in football at a level we probably haven't seen for a long time. That's a credit to their head coach and their athletic director as well because it wasn't easy to hire him.
In terms of the play call, I am used to wordy play calls because if you come from a West Coast offensive system, they're very wordy. They tell everybody what to do. I think a little bit of that comes back to Coach [Bill] Walsh. Not a little bit, but all of it to Coach Walsh. A little bit of it, too, has to do with the NFL.
When you're trading for players, a lot of people are running the same system, you can trade for a guy and plug him in pretty quickly because you're pretty much telling everybody what to do.
I would say Andy's like that. Not really from a west coast offense, but our stuff is wordy. I'm talking our play calls could be anywhere between 12 and 16 words. So I'm not going to get into all that. I don't have it all written out. To be honest with you, I don't know if anybody on our team could do that because we don't memorize calls.
A lot of times you signal the call from the sideline or the wristband, the quarterback would memorize the call, step in the huddle, make eye contact with everybody, make the call. Our stuff is too wordy for that.
I think we've all seen [Jon] Gruden getting frustrated on social media with the play call. He's acting like it's so easy. I forget who the quarterback was. It was Simms. Simms is struggling with it. Gruden is acting like, ‘C'mon, this is easy’. It's literally 12 to 15 words.
That would be interesting for you, but it would seem like word salad, to be honest with you.
Q: You talked about how wordy the play calling could be. How has [Ethan Grunkemeyer] come along since he's been here in absorbing all those types of things? How might his week change compared to usual?
A: I'm a huge fan of Grunk. I think there's a ton of excitement in our program. Talk to our defensive coaches, talk to our defensive players about the respect that they have for Grunk. As you guys know, we had a relationship with Brad Maendler. I think he's done a phenomenal job.
There's a lot of excitement in our program about Grunk. He's really a nice blend between Drew and Beau in some ways. He makes some throws that are really impressive.
Again, there's only so much time to go around. I think Danny is doing a really good job. I think Grunk is doing a pretty good job, just like you heard the conversations with Beau, that those guys are preparing as if they're the starter. That's one of those things that's easier said than done.
But Grunk's improvement has been dramatic. I think he's got a special future. We are fortunate to have those guys here. I think watching what happened on Saturday, that doubles down and reinforces to those guys, hey, I better have my stuff together. There's only so many reps to go around.
If Drew is able to practice, and we're going to get reps to Beau, it's hard to now also get reps to the third guy 'cause if you're not careful, you spend all the time getting all of them ready and you get none of them ready, right? So that's the challenge.
So it probably won't change a lot is what I'm saying, based on the information that I have now.
Q: You talked about the sliding scale of experience with Drew and Dani. Where is Anthony [Donkoh] on that scale? How has Nolan Rucci handled taking over for him on several occasions this year?
A: Obviously, I don't think Anthony is in the same category as those guys in terms of just the number of games he's played in. I mean, he's really a first-year starter this year. Both Dani and Drew are multiple-year starters now. It's a little different. We've already been playing Rucci a bunch anyway, but we're going to need both of those guys.
Living in the training room. I think there's also really, for all of our players, that maturation process that I think a lot of times comes from the players, of figuring out what can you play with and should you play with and what can't you. Guys have to figure that out. That's part of maturity and growth as a football player.
Obviously ultimately the medical people will step in there when a guy can't play. I'm talking about the guys that can play, that have to kind of figure out how to play with those bumps and bruises and things like that. That's where that leadership is really important.
I think Donkoh is working through that right now. This week will be really important. He's a great kid. He's a smart kid. He was in the training room when I left, as well. Him and Rucci. So we expect to play both of those guys, but it's too early to say.
Q: You dealt with the injury bug all season. You've had to weather plenty of storms with that. How much confidence do you get from the adversity your team has been able to overcome? How much of that is talent versus just being able to adjust on the fly?
A: Yeah, I think it's a combination of all of that. I think we had the early injury bug, then kind of things leveled off again. You play really good teams, it's physical. Those things are going to happen.
I think we've been tested. I think we've proven that we can overcome some of those things. I think we have proven that we have some pretty good depth. But obviously when you're playing one of the better teams, one of the most talented teams in the country, obviously you want to be as healthy as you possibly can.
I'm appreciative of how the guys are handling it. I'm appreciative of our trainers and doctors. I'm also appreciative of Cael [Sanderson]. He reached out. Last night I got a text message from him. Some of the things that they do. They had some injuries last year that they were dealing with, as well. Had some ideas there.
This is what this is special with Penn State and this brotherhood we have. When I say 'brotherhood', I'm talking about the coaches, both male and female, in all sports supporting each other and having each other's backs. Same with the players, lettermen, all that stuff. It's really cool. No different than players coming back and being on the sideline, being around us. It's a special thing.
We'll take every resource we have: vitamins, sleep, saltwater tanks, whatever. Whatever the technology is, whatever it is, we're going to do everything in our power to have our guys ready to play and play well.
There's a physical component to that. There's a mental component to that. There's an emotional component to that. There's a maturity and experience component to all those things, too.
Q: How much, if at all, do you think that a division-free Big Ten and a 12-team Playoff has changed the big picture perception of this game?
A: I'm not sure. I think it's been impactful. I was told for a long time it wasn't, that it all levels out in the end. I think we all know that's not necessarily the case. So yeah, I think it probably changes some things. I don't think there's any doubt. I think it probably changes some programs in the east than it does change some programs in the west. I think some programs in the east are probably happy about the changes, some programs in the west probably aren't happy about some of the changes.
But I do think the expanded playoffs are a good thing for college football. I think the going away from the divisions in the Big Ten, I think is good for the Big Ten.
One of the things that's interesting, whether it's questions like this or whether it's when I'm working with the AFCA, you ask people to vote or make decisions that are in the best interest of college football, not in the best interest of Penn State. I think sometimes when you guys ask me these questions, I'm answering what's good for college football, not specific to Penn State.
I do think those two things have dramatically changed our game. I think there's a lot of things that probably are still coming. Do we stay at 12 teams in the Playoffs? I don't know. I think it probably grows. It doesn't matter what the number is, somebody's going to complain. I think I've said that to you guys before. There's, what, 64 teams in basketball? 68. So 69, 70, and 71 are complaining. Kind of always the case.
I think at the end of the day we just got to find what the sweet spot is for the sport, what the sweet spot is for the universities, what the sweet spot is for the model in general. That takes everybody's best interest, the student-athlete, the university, the athletic department, all the other sports.
I do think they're good changes because I just think it creates more opportunity and more people to be involved year in and year out. It's not the same three to five teams every year.
Q: Got to the point where you're in November now. Matchups like this. I imagine you would want to know what your team's identity is. In your perspective, road wins required some comebacks, can you tell us what you think this team's identity is shaping up to be?
A: Good question. I understand the question, but I'm not going to answer that because in my mind what I try to do every single week is try to get the identity of the team we're playing and use that against them.
I think whenever you can say, ‘Okay, this is what this team's identity is’, we're going to take it away and use it in our advantage.
I think you guys got a pretty good idea at this stage of what our identity is and how we've played and how we've won games. But I don't think there's a question of that anymore. I think the first three to four games, there were some questions about that, who we were going to be. But I think at this stage, that's pretty established. More times than not it doesn't matter what I say, it's what you guys say and what you guys write that matters. I'll let you describe that.
Q: What do you think this game means to Julian [Fleming]? Is it just a coincidence, but your quarterbacks are mostly from Ohio, and Ohio State's last two starters are from Pennsylvania?
A: I don't think we've ever had a quarterback from the way you described it. We've had quarterbacks from the state of Ohio. They've had quarterbacks from Pennsylvania.
What that means, I'm not sure. Everybody across the country's going out and trying to get the best players they possibly can get. Sometimes that comes from your state. Sometimes that comes from other states.
I think everybody knows we've put a huge emphasis on recruiting the state of Pennsylvania since I arrived here. We take a ton of pride in that. I want our guys to take as much pride in Pennsylvania football and our history and traditions as other states do. More than that, I don't think there is more than that. I think at the end of the day every program in the country, including ours, is trying to go out and get the best players they possibly can. If it comes from the state of Pennsylvania, there's nobody more excited about that than me. If we have to go other places, then we'll do that, as well. I don't think it's a whole lot more than that.
Obviously, whenever you play an opponent that a member of our team came from that school, then for me to sit here and say it's not a big moment and a big game for that individual, it is. Obviously, we don't want to spend time on that. I want Julian and our team to approach it like we do every single week, which every week it's the most important game we play. We want to refine our process and get better every single week individually and collectively. I want to do that again.
Julian is a super mature guy. He's been really good in our locker room. I'm very, very proud of him. I'm very glad he's here. But for us, I don't want Julian to treat this game any different than how he treated Wisconsin. When I watch Julian, he prepares as hard and as well as anybody. I want him to do that again.
That's really it. For me to sit here and say that obviously it's not a big game for him and his family, it obviously is. I think it's obviously magnified with him being a kid from Pennsylvania that now is back home with us.
Q: Saturday was the most we've seen Beau throw in a game in his career. It was dependent when he entered the game. Can you walk us through how you've seen him develop as a passer over his three years?
A: I even go back to watching him in high school. As you guys know, I try to go out and see all the seniors, if I can, that are committed to us. I remember going to watch him play. I remember coming back and just being so impressed. The game looked so easy to him. He was so poised. The game I was at—you guys can go back and look—I want to say it was 14 or 16 or something like that. It just looked so easy to him athletically, his accuracy, decision making. I came back and was just really impressed watching him play live.
Then he showed up on our campus, and he's smart and he's mature and he's extremely competitive. He attacks it in every area: the weight room, the classroom, on the field. His teammates love him. He's just done everything kind of the right way.
I think probably the thing that everybody talks about is his ability to make plays with his legs. I don't think there's anybody within our program that also doesn't believe that he can do it with his arm, too. He's got a different throwing kind of style and mechanics than what Drew does, but he gets a ton the reps and a ton of opportunities.
I will say this, too. In the past there were some challenges where I felt like when he played, we had to call the game differently. I still believe that. But I also think there's some times in the past where we didn't do that, and he would play more of a style of play like Drew. I think in a lot of ways that's benefited him, too, because he's had to prepare as if he's not the mobile quarterback that he is. I think there's positives that come from that, as well, throughout his development.
But I thought Andy did a phenomenal job of calling the game based on his strengths. I think the other thing is I would make the argument, just like we've talked about in the past, when he goes in the game, it does impact our running game and forces them to defend the field, just like Drew's ability to pull the ball now and run out the backside I think has really impacted our running game this year.
I would say the same thing in the pass game. Beau's threat as a runner, just like play-action pass creates some opportunities, people may feel like they have to spy him. Now you're leaving somebody that you're not dropping in the coverage which creates more opportunities to throw the ball down the field. It's another weapon. It's another thing they have to deal with. I've been very, very pleased with his overall development as a total quarterback more than just his athleticism and his legs.
Q: We've seen you use odd fronts before on defense. Last week we saw a little bit of a reconfiguration having Abdul [Carter] playing off the ball at mike linebacker in that situation. When to deploy something that probably you have been working on for a while, somebody that has played linebacker before, what goes into when you decide to use wrinkles here or there?
A: I think the biggest thing is we want to make sure, just like on offense from a game planning perspective, kind of like what you do with Tyler Warren, very similar defensively, right?
If Abdul Carter is always lined up at the same side at defensive end, then you can see what happens, right? People are going to make sure they always have a running back chipping to that side, or they line up a tight end to that side to extend the length of the offensive line to widen him from the quarterback to now chip him with a tight end on the way out. It's funny because sometimes people say, they're in an empty formation. They're really not because they have a tight end and running back in the wing position, nobody in the backfield. It's not really an empty formation.
What you're trying to do is you're trying to game plan on defense where you can move Abdul around where the offense can't say we're always going to chip with a tight end, chip with a running back, slide the line to try to create a double-team to his side with the guard and tackle.
By moving him around from left defensive end to right defensive end to off-the-ball linebacker who now can walk up into like a bear front over the center, or off the ball and blitz, there's obviously an advantage to doing that.
I think the other thing is his linebacker days help him as a dropper as well because although defensive ends typically drop in a lot of people's schemes, it's not something that they're natural at. Abdul, that comes very natural to him. He's played interceptions and plays in the passing game in that role, as well.
Obviously more times than not we'd prefer him rushing the quarterback. So just having diversity within what we do is important schematically, but also to put him in the best position to be productive and cause challenges and issues for the offensive coordinator and the quarterback and the center to ID where he's going to be and how they're going to account for him. It’s very similar to what we are doing on offense with Tyler Warren, same thing with defense with Abdul.
We've done that week based on our opponent, where we think there's issues. Then on top of that, some of them are game plan-specific based on who you're playing or you've been working on it for the last couple weeks, just waiting for the right time to use it.