Q: How would you assess Wisconsin's offense through their first three games? And are there many changes from last year, if you happened to look at last year's tape?
A: Well, first of all, we have so much respect for the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin. We competed against him at Baylor.
I always felt like it was one of the top offenses that we would go against year-in, year-out. And I think what makes great offensive coordinators is this unique ability to design an offense around their best players.
I would say you've seen that, really, in the first three games. You see, one, a dynamic quarterback, a young man that's tough. He's got elite athletic ability to stretch you in the quarterback run game and really the running game in general, and yet he's also a young man that's dynamic out of the pocket. He's got the ability to make all the throws. I think what you've seen is offensively they've tailor-made it around his skill set.
And I think the other piece of it is what their running backs do best. And, I think, you look at that running back room, and obviously it starts with the young man we're familiar with in Abu Sama, who is dynamic. He's got the ability to make you pay in space and is physical, can hit a home run on every run.
I think you look at that running back room, even over the last couple of games, it got tested a little bit.
And I feel like everybody's got that same mantra in that running back room.
I think globally what they've done a great job offensively is tailor making that offense around their playmakers. And have been really impressed with what you've seen in three games.
Q: There's been a lot of discussion about Koby Howard and how he's played through a few games. But how would you evaluate the rest of the wide receiver room and what you want to see from them moving forward?
A: I think that room, in general, has really got off to a great start. What Chase Sowell has done, I think, has been better maybe than I would even expect it to where he's been. I think we talked about it in preseason camp is consistency. And I think he's given you dynamic play-making ability, on the outside.
And I think Brett Elskildsen got off to a great start. He kind of got dinged up and was really limited the last two weeks. But I think you guys have covered us and seen Brett. I think every opportunity he's got he's made some dynamic things happen.
Obviously, Zay Robinson's been a great piece. Him and Koby have kind of been a 1-2 punch in the slot at times, and both of them made some really big plays in some critical moments.
And then you talk about the tight end room. I think that group's off to a great start. Somebody asked me after the game about catching the ball. Maybe it might have been you, and I didn't even put much thought into it. I know I criticized Rocco [Becht] dropping a snap.
But other than those couple, other than those couple, plays with the tight end room, I think that room's done an unbelievable job too. You know, they had a couple plays on Saturday that they would have liked to have back for sure.
I think that room, in general, has got off to a really good start. I go back to the rhythm with Rocco. It's great that I think those guys, they didn't dip down and then have to build back up. I feel like they've had; what Rocco was able to do in the spring and then having the ability to kind of work through fall camp and get off to a great start, I think you're where you hope you would be with that group. And you know, excited to see that group continue to grow forward.
Q: I wanted to stay there for a second, Zay Robinson, I know Mouse [Taylor Mouser] had kind of challenged him coming out of spring ball to step up. We've seen the electricity, the elusiveness in the return game. How have you seen him develop as a wide receiver?
A: It's funny, because I think I probably would have seen his growth process at Iowa State flipped, right? Because you go back to our time at Iowa State the last six weeks, we were kind of in conflict. You didn't have the 5-for-5 rule.
He might have been one of the top receivers on our team, and we're kind of, should we play him, should we not? And I got to work with him because I try to spend a lot of time with the scout offense during practice. And he was an absolute menace last year down there because of his competitive excellence.
And you got to see how dynamic he is with the ball in his hand and even his receptions this year. I mean his representations, it's not just the catch; it's the catch and the run after, the ability to express the football forward.
I think he's grown. And I think Mouse was right. There was more from what we saw in spring practice. We did challenge Zay to take the step forward if we were going to be the team that we wanted to be. And I think he's answered the call so far.
And, listen, he's still young. There's still a lot of growth for him to go. I still think his best football is in front of him. But I think he's growing at a rapid pace right now, and I think he's starting to play with a lot of confidence.
Q: Wanted to ask about a couple of injury updates. Where do things stand with Brock Riker and Andrew Rappleyea as you get underway with practice? Are there any notable injuries that are lingering for you that we might be aware of before you guys have to put out that Big Ten-mandated report this week?
A: Brock, I think, is in a really good spot. Practiced; I think what we did Saturday really helped, probably, him be ready to be full go today in practice.
And I think Rapp is still limited right now, probably a little bit of a question mark. I would still say questionable going into this week right now. Was out at practice. We'll see where he's at.
And then, Koby Howard got dinged up on that long touchdown run. And I think right now we probably don't know exactly where he'll be by the end of the week. Probably have a better idea, kind of went through a couple of things yesterday. And just trying to gauge exactly where he is as we kind of get ourselves ready for the end of the week. I think all that's kind of where that group is.
And I don't think, other than that, the only other guy that got dinged up, Tyler Armstead, got dinged up in the game, and I would say probably is a guy that has played a lot and really played really good football for us on special teams and I think is in that same boat, questionable right now as we kind of head into the rest of the week.
Q: How would you gauge what you've seen from the pass rush over these first couple of games, and where do you feel like there might be room for growth there? I think we saw some different packages from D'Anton [Lynn] on third down. Where do you want to see growth in that group?
A: Yeah, I still think that group has grown. I feel it's like, what area has made the best growth in three weeks? It's probably been the ability to watch that group grow forward. I think that's the unique thing that I feel like we have the ability to move a lot of guys around and create pass rush, whether it's from the D-ends, our D-tackles, our linebacker group.
You've got some guys that have unique ability to pressure the quarterback. I think growth will have to continue to happen. Certainly this week, I mean, you're playing a dynamic playmaker and a guy that can make you pay with his feet really fast.
I just think us continuing to grow forward, I don't know if it will ever be just one. I think that's a positive thing because I think, man, the more guys you can put in different positions to win the one-on-one pass rush, whether it's against a back or whether it's against different protections or different players on the offensive line, I think those things are really important. But I do think it's grown immensely over the first three weeks.
Q: If I could follow up on Tyler Armstead, he played early in the game at cornerback last week. I know you said he's a little dinged up. How far do you think he's come maybe since you first saw him ahead of spring drills? Can you assess his development, especially at corner?
A: Yeah, spring practice goes, and I think you guys have all covered us enough to hear me talk about the consistency and guys that are showing up every day with purpose and rewarding those guys that continue to push our program forward.
And Tyler is one of those guys that came out of the spring, and every drill, every rep, this guy was intentful and this guy was somebody that left spring ball as a trusted football player. How can we use this guy? Where does he fit?
I think it really started as we went through fall camp, obviously, on the multitude of special teams. But I think what you saw even on Saturday, and, again, I think our coaching staff is doing a great job, it doesn't matter what position group. You saw it at running back last week, you saw it at corner last week, man, you've got to earn the right to get out on the game field by what you do at practice.
And Tyler is one of those guys that's continued to press forward and got rewarded with the opportunity of getting in the game early last week and do some great things. I couldn't be prouder of him because I think he's another shining example for us of how you practice, how you come with purpose and intent, still equals the opportunity to get into the football game and help our football team be the best version of ourselves that we can be.
Q: Do you break down the season? You've gone through three non-conference games now. Do you start to break it down into portions? Because this is the beginning. You talked about adversity is going to come. This is the beginning of a pretty tough stretch.
A: Yeah, I think we look even before the season starts, honestly, and I try to break our season down into really quarters, because I think it's the simplest way for us to kind of communicate where we're at. Helps me make the right practice adjustments as we work through the season.
And really the first quarter of the season for us was fall camp and really the first three games of the season, just knowing, man, what were we trying to get out of it, what were the values, where did we want to be by the time we got to the end of it, how should we design practice to make sure we're getting those value systems out of it?
Really this would be the start of the second quarter for us. I'm not going to go how we break down the rest of it. But we'll have a third quarter and a fourth quarter of the season.
I think we talked a lot about trying to make sure we ended the first quarter with great momentum. I know I've talked to you guys a lot about, man, spring ball to summer, summer to fall camp, fall camp to the start of the season. And I think there was no difference, like, from the first quarter of the year to the second quarter of the year.
I think that you're getting into, it's why you come to Penn State. It's what you want to be a part of, is these special opportunities, starting this week to play great teams, great coaches, great opponents, and what's it going to take? It's gonna take everything you learned from the first quarter of the season, and that starts with a great practice on Tuesday, and it continues to have a great practice on Wednesday, if you want to be your best in the moments on Saturday.
I think we've learned a lot, and we're gonna continue to learn a lot about ourselves. And what a great opportunity to play in this game, in this environment this coming week.
Q: As it relates to evaluating Rapp and also Koby this week, and similar to Brock Riker last week where you've got him into the game to see what he could do, what are you and your training staff looking for when making those determinations as the week goes on?
A: Well, I think the first thing you look for is you look for the safety and the health of your players. I think you have to have the right vision for that because, at the end of the day, yes, we want to win; yes, you want all the best players out in the game, but you've got to look out for the best interests of the players and ultimately the best interests of the team.
And when those guys are healthy enough to be their best when you feel confident that they can't reinjure themselves, I think that is the key of when you want to put those guys, or at least try to make the best guess, to put those guys in position to be able to play.
And I think it even goes to the point where, you know, I think that's why you really try to be cautious about what you did last week with Brock.
I think probably you're trying to make the best decision for the benefit of the team, but you're, most importantly, trying to make the best decision for each young man that you're responsible for as well.
Q: I would like to ask you about Terry Smith within the context of Terry serving as the honorary grand marshal for homecoming this weekend. In what ways have you seen Terry have an ongoing influence and impact on the team with regard to what fans see on the field and perhaps even what the team is doing off the field and in the community?
A: I think the greatest thing that Terry brings is he's such a wealth of living knowledge of what it means to be a Penn Stater, what it means to play here, what it means to represent this uniform, what it means to carry yourself the right way on the field but equally off the field, and I think how Terry has lived and how he's led as a player, as a coach in this community, I just think that he continues to be the essence of what it means to be a great Penn Stater. He's been great for our coaching staff. I think he's been unbelievable for our players and just continues to be a great source of knowledge for all of us.
- I think the first two games you guys were 50 percent on third down, a little bit under on Saturday. How would you assess the third down offense? And the red zone. There were some drives where you guys stalled out there a little bit, but how key are those two components of the offense as we get into Big Ten play?
A: I think it's critical. Situational football, we talk about that all the time, and you know from two-minute offense to two-minute defense at the end of the half and red zone offense and red zone defense, third down, all those things are critical.
You're right, I thought; obviously, Saturday's flow was a little goofy on the third down piece of things. I thought our execution, there was a couple of penalties, there were a couple of situations we were probably playing for fourth down opportunities.
But I think all those things, you're constantly evaluating, and it's the priority of success in the game plan. And it will be critical this week -- the ability to score inside the 25-yard line, touchdowns, field goals. But certainly, you've got to score points in there, and we're fortunate to have a great field goal kicker.
And then obviously to continue to possess the football in third-down situations. And really thought we were dynamic the first two weeks in those areas, and I think was a huge part of our success.
I did think we took a little bit of a step back last week in those areas from a numerical standpoint and really from an execution standpoint. We will have to be much better as we go into the game this week for sure.