Opening Statement
Want to thank the fans. Obviously, 110,000 is awesome. We just get such unbelievable support week in and week out. We don't take that for granted. You know, our defense, a couple of things kind of jump out about them. I think our third quarter defense all year has been ridiculous. Eighty-seven yards all year on 46 plays, 1.9 yards per play. I think this game, we held UCLA to minus-nine yards in the first and the third quarters. So that was significant. Really cool to see Liam Clifford with over 100 yards today. So now you watch on tape. Liam showing up, Julian [Fleming] showing up, the tight end showing up, the running back. So, it makes it difficult when they're not sure who they can or will take away in the game, but great to see Liam have his first 100-yard game. Penn State is 5-0 for the fourth straight year, we're the only school in the country to start 5-0 in each of the last four years. That's the first time that that's happened in school history. So, that’s something we take a lot of pride in, and then our defense has held Big Ten opponents under 100 yards rushing in four-straight games and 15 of the last 16 games. So that was that was cool. Having Poz [Paul Posluszny] back was great. Getting a chance to be with him and his wife and his kids was really cool. Obviously, he was a great linebacker here at Penn State, LBU and then [Joe] Jurevicius as well. Hasn't been back in a long time and was with us this week. Obviously, his daughter is killing it with our volleyball team. So, great having these Letterman back and spending time with them. We won the explosive play battle, not by much, but we did. We won the third down battle, we won the sack battle, we won the starting field position battle, and then the big one, which I'm not sure who it was, specifically a bunch of you guys, to be honest with you. But most importantly, the penalty battle. We had two penalties in the game for 20 yards. That was big. We talked about the importance of getting that cleaned up. Now that we're in Big Ten play, that's a step in the right direction that we’ve got to build on. So overall, a lot of good things to celebrate. Again. We appreciate the fans. We appreciate your support.
Q: How do you think the offense adjusted to not having Nick Singleton?
A: Yeah, we thought we’d have him Thursday. I thought we’d have him Friday. I thought we’d have him today. I didn't find out until after warming up. Ja’Juan and Andy came into the locker room and told me, so literally, it was a last-minute deal. Obviously, not having a guy like Nick Singleton is significant, but it was a tremendous opportunity for Kaytron [Allen] to get a few more touches. It was also a great opportunity to get Quinton [Martin Jr.] in there. So, you know, it's a really good opportunity for those two guys, and I think overall we handled it well.
Q: Why do you think Tyler Warren is so dependable?
A: I think that's the word. He's dependable. I mean the guy does his job and does it on a consistent basis, whether it's blocking, whether it's running with the ball as a ball carrier, whether it’s as a receiver. And again, I think you guys have heard me talk about this a lot, but when they can't put Tyler Warren into a category, that's what makes tight ends most valuable. You know, if he's just a receiver, they can treat him like a receiver. If he's just kind of a big run-blocking slug, then that's not a threat either. But when he can do either/or, that makes him very, very difficult to defend. And then, to your point, he's dependable when you throw the ball in his direction, he's going to catch it, he's going to break tackles. He's going to gain positive yards. So again, I think he's the best tight end in college football.
Q: Justyn Martin had success early in the game. What did you pick up from him defensively over the course of the first half, and how do you think you were able to adjust during timeouts?
A: Yeah, I was impressed with him. I'm not sure how tall he is, but looking at him during pregame, he's a big guy. He seems very poised. The moment didn't seem too big for him. First-time starting quarterback and talking to their head coach before the game on, you know, on the catapult, he's running 21 miles an hour. So, he was talking about a big guy who can run, who was poised. So, I was impressed with every guy I really was. And I thought, you know, again, when you're preparing all week and you don't have any film on the guy, that can make it a little bit interesting, but overall, our starting defense held a Big Ten opponent to three points. They scored a few more points there late with a lot of backups in. But in today's day and age, keeping people to a field goal is difficult to do. And I thought our defense did a nice job. There are some things obviously that need to get cleaned up. The big explosive play, we did not run with tailback in and man coverage, the guy that had him in man coverage, and that obviously is going to hurt you every single time that they find him. So that was a huge play the game. But besides that, I thought overall, we played well.
Q: James, it seemed that the receivers were being targeted more frequently today. How much does that have had to do with Nick not being available more frequently?
A: I don't know. I didn't feel that way or notice that. I felt like we called it the way we have been calling it. But you may be right. I'd have to go back and check that. It wasn't like we made a change; we didn't find out until after warm-ups, that we didn't have Nick so it's not enough time change your game plan.
Q: How much did you think that gave you guys a boost with Drew connecting with Tyler for a touchdown right before the half?
A: Yeah, I think we've done a pretty good job of that all year long. Points right before the half. You talked about the middle eight and things like that. That's been, I think, really good for us all year long. I think the other thing that I'm very proud of in terms of the players and coaches, we want to have all of our timeouts available at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. And there's value in that. There's power in that. So, I think the combination of two minutes and 40 seconds, or whatever it is in the game, with all three timeouts, that's a ton of time. It allowed us to start out not in a traditional two minute but have some urgency to us. And then after the two-minute warning, we were planning on going to two-minute offense right there. With it being a third down, we just used that as a time out. And then if we didn't pick it up, it also allowed us to burn some time off the clock and get the two-minute warning out of the equation for them if they were getting the ball back.
Q: What's been a difference in the third quarter? Why have you been so successful in adjusting?
A: I think really in my time, we've been pretty good in the second half in general. I think to me, I'm more interested in making sure that we're starting faster. You know, I think that first quarter, you look at the time of possession, and it’s not what you want. You look at third down on offense and on defense, not what you want. Again, back to the point I have had with you guys earlier about getting enough touches and getting enough plays on offense and getting off the field on defense. So, we have to start faster. But defensively, I think, you get a good feel for who they are, you get them settled down, you make some adjustments. And I think that's the biggest reason why we've been able to play really good third quarter football. I think the technology has helped with that as well. But overall, getting our guys lined up, getting their cleats in the ground, getting them ready to play. I think we've done a nice job of that with both the offensive and defensive staff.
Q: It seemed that receivers were being targeted more frequently today. How much of that had to do with Nick not being available?
A: More frequently? I don't know. I didn't feel that way, or notice that I felt like we called it that way. You know, we have been calling it, but you may be right. I'd have to go back and check that.
I don't know. It wasn't like we made a change. Literally, again, we didn't find out until after warm up, that we didn't have Nick so it's not enough time to kind of change your game plan. And with Kaytron and Quinton, we don't really feel like we have to.
Q: Coach, with Ryan Barker. What went into that decision to make him your starting kicker today? Zion Tracy, what did he do to earn the spot at punt returner?
A: With Barker, like I mentioned to you guys, I think last week, it came down to a percentage point all during training camp between those two guys.
So we felt like this week, you know, we would look at all those guys as well, but it wouldn't just be this week. It'd be this week plus the totality of everything that's happened the entire year. So based on it being a tight competition already, and then how the games have gone from a production, execution standpoint, in that phase, it felt like it made sense to give Barker his opportunity, because, again, it was within a percentage point anyway.
Tracy had been in part of that competition, kind of all year long. We did not have Kaden [Saunders] available, and he was the next man up. You know, Jake Spencer still factors in, so we used him in the safe situations where you're probably not going to get a return anyway, Just the guy who's caught some balls already in college games. Zion, we think, we think he'll learn from this today and have an opportunity to not only catch the ball moving forward, but have a chance to be a playmaker. Excited about that.
Q: The two-minute drill. How much did that give you guys a boost with Drew connecting to get the touchdown right in front of the half?
A: Yeah, I think we've done a pretty good job of that all year long. Points right before the half.
You talk about the middle-eight and things like that. That's been, I think, really good for us all, all year long. I think the other thing that I'm very proud of, in terms of the players and offensive and defensive coaches, we want to have all of our timeouts available at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. There's value in that, and there's power in that.
I think the combination of two minutes and 40 seconds, or whatever it is in the game, with all three timeouts, that's a ton of time. It allowed us to start out, not in a traditional two-minute, but have some urgency to us. Then after the two-minute warning, we were planning on going to two-minute right there with it being a third down. We just use that as a time out with the two-minute warning, get what we wanted called and then go from there. Then if we didn't pick it up, it also allowed us to burn some time off the clock and get the two-minute warning out of the equation for them if they were getting the ball back.