Drew Allar | QB | Jr.
Q: Drew, what was the play call on fourth and goal? And what did you see there?
A: It was basically just a pass. We wanted to get it to Tyler Warren. The safety or nickel, did a good job of playing over the top of it and driving it. It would’ve been a bang-bang play short ofthe goal line or incomplete. Then, I was looking at Dinkins. We just didn't connect on it.
Q: The fact that everything is still in front of you as a team that you want to accomplish. Is that something that is more difficult to think about now, or was that something that you were talking about the guys, maybe after the game?
A: I mean, yeah. It's a long season in general, not just, everything that goes on after the regular season, but the regular seasons, a long season. The thing we talked about is we can't let one turn into two and turn into three. We have to right the wrongs that we made today and offensively, we're not going to point any fingers. It wasn't one person that blew the game for us. I'm personally going to reflect on my performance, watch the film, be hard on myself, see what I could have done better, see the things I did well, and then just have honest conversations with the coaches, see what they thought. It's just going to be a lot of reflection over the next 24-36 hours. That's our approach right now as a team. We're going to come together as a family, because, like you said, we have a lot in front of us to still play for. We're going to have to harp on the little things. We're not going to let anything slide not that we have been letting anything slide but when something does pop up, we're going to need to address it right away.
Tyler Warren | TE | Sr
Q: Were you surprised at all the ball didn't come your way on obviously, the one first and goal situation was just one play, but that final one there in the fourth quarter, were you surprised the ball didn't come your way at all?
A: We had a play call and we had a man/zone option. They kind of zoned it off, so we went to the zone side, and that was that. But no, I'm going to do my job whatever play is called. There's a lot of guys that can make plays in those situations. It's not just me that should be getting the ball.
Q: James talked about the frustration. He was asked about the frustration of the fans. He said, it's nothing compared to what he was in the locker room. Can you describe the frustration inside the locker room?
A: I think anytime you lose any game, you work year-round to be the best football team you can, and when you lose games, obviously it's going to hurt. We are frustrated and we're upset that we didn’t get the job done. We got another game to play next week, so we got to move on and keep level.
Nicholas Singleton | RB | Jr.
Q: When you talk about finishing, you’re talking about those two drives specifically, right?
A: For sure. We end up scoring, we'll be somewhere different. We obviously win it, but at the end of the day, we have to execute.
Q: I think everybody understands why you'd be upset, but how important is it to kind of get this out of your system relatively quickly, knowing what still is potentially out there for you?
A: For sure, for everybody. Everybody's upset, but the vets told us in the group, we
have to stick together. Flush it because you know we have long season ahead of us.
Domonic DeLuca | LB | R-Sr.
Q: After a loss like this what’s the message in the locker room? How are you as a leader working to keep the locker room together?
A: I am just trying to keep everyone’s heads up. I am being straight up with them, telling everyone we need to look ourselves in the mirror and do our job tomorrow and be better.
Q: Does it feel any different now that there is a 12-team playoff?
A: There is still a lot of season left. Back then, if you had one loss the season was done for, but now if you look at the NFL, every team who has been in the Super Bowl has had one loss or even more. So, we just have to come out and play our game at a high level.
Kobe King | LB | R-Jr.
Q: How do you handle losing to Ohio State again?
A: Going forward we handle it like any loss or any win. We need to learn from this, learn from our mistakes we made today, and get better. The mistakes we made cannot be made anymore throughout our season. We need to play good team football.
Q: What’s your message to Penn State Fans?
A: Win, lose or draw we are still Penn State. Saturdays are always the same. Next week we need the crowd probably more than we needed them today. Players are going to stay the course, coaches are going to stay the course. We still have a national championship to go get.
Zakee Wheatley | S | R-Jr.
Q: Zakee, you’ve talked about after these wins, moving past wins and focusing on the next game. What will that test look like in the next 24 hours for this team?
A: Technically, we aren’t done with Ohio State yet. We still have to come in tomorrow and get everything corrected, watch the film, we’re going to do that. The leaders have to be leaders. Once we get everything corrected, making sure that we stay hungrier than ever. Understand that we have to lose, and we have to win. Understand that the season is a long season ahead of us, so you have to keep being great.
Sal Wormley | OL | R-Sr. +
Q: What kind of message do you have for the fans? Obviously, they show up for this rivalry, pretty cool atmosphere to start off the game. So, what kind of message do you have for them?
A: I mean, we apologize sincerely. You know, we’re supposed to show off for you all; big game, big day. You all are always there for us when we’re winning. I know you all are hurting that we lost. They’re passionate fans, so you just apologize to them. We’re going to come back next week and hope that they’re still there to support us.
Q: It feels like one loss and that is kind of the end for playoff hopes. It’s different now, a lot of the top teams have a loss. What of that mentality of college football has changed?
A: I think it’s the same it’s always been nobody wants to lose, even if it’s just one game. But just the new playoff arrangements and everything, it does give teams more hope. That even after they lose one, they still have a lot more left to play, still have a lot of stuff going on. So, I think these new playoff rules, it brings a lot of hope to some teams that lose.
Jalen Kimber | CB | R-Sr.
Q: Despite losing a game like this, does it make it easier to turn the page knowing that everything is still in front of you in terms of Big Ten standings and the Postseason?
A: I’m not going to say it’s easy, every loss is a tough loss, but you’ve got to have a short-term memory. But at the same time, you’ve got to understand the mistakes you’ve made, and you’ve got to fix them for the upcoming week. You can’t dwell on this, you’ve just got to take each day for what it is, fix the small things, and go 1-0 next week.
Q: How does your team assess a very energetic, almost dominant 10-0 start, followed by a few messy drives that allowed Ohio State to come back and match, how do you control that within yourself and with your teammates on the sidelines?
A: You’ve got to stay levelheaded; can’t get too high, can’t get too low. Just take each series for what it is and keep battling, that’s really what it is. When you get too low, bad things start happening, when you get too high you get relaxed and give up.
Dvon J. Thomas | DT | R-Sr+.
Q: This game last year would have felt like a make or break for the season, but with the extended playoffs this year, how does that reinforce your mentality going forward in knowing that you still have the same opportunities for success as a team?
A: That’s the ray of light at the end of the tunnel. Everything seems kind of dark now, especially to the younger guys. But coming in, the way we’ve prepared, and the way we’ve looked all season, we didn’t think we would ever lose. But now that we’ve all experienced the loss, they may think it’s the end of the world, but it’s not. We have a lot of games left, there’s still opportunities for us.
Q: What would your message be to people who watched the games and noticed the same errors you did, what would you want to say to them or even show them moving forward?
A: This is my sixth time losing to them, and to be quite frank, I’m torn up over it. It may not seem like it now, but it’s tough. I’m going to have to police myself and remind my teammates that there’s a lot of football left to be played and remind them that it’s different than in years past. We’re going to have teams come in here and want to take another win against us, and we can’t let that happen. We’ve got to constantly remind each other that there are about six or seven games left, and we have to get through those in order to see them again, and you bet that’s what we want.