Q: Opening Statement
A: Got to give Penn State a lot of credit. They’re playing really well, especially the last few weeks. When they don't turn the ball over, they win. When they turn the ball over, they lose. And they did not turn the ball over ... we did not get them to turn the ball over, and we did. It was a completely unacceptable first half from us. That's the best word I can use to describe it, unacceptable. I think we were moving the ball pretty well … and then the first three drives, we stub ourselves in the toe, whether it was with a punt or a fumble. You're not going to beat a team like that at home. We dug ourselves too deep of a hole (28-0) at halftime.
Q: Did you feel like the travel issues caused you guys to come out flat?
A: No, not one bit. Travel issues have nothing to do with how you play. There are some teams that had to deal with that - some teams that didn't. We came up with a plan that we felt was good for our student athletes. That is my call. That's my decision of how we're going to go about doing that. I make the calendar. I make the schedule. I give my suggestions of what I think is best for our football team. That gives us the best chance to win a football game, to play our best when we show up here, despite the circumstances. And we didn't do that, so that falls on my shoulders. But that has nothing to do with it.
Q: What was the communication like from the conference with going in here? And did Penn State reach out to you guys and make sure everybody was on the same page to make your travel as easy as possible?
A: This job is constant crisis interrupted by brief success. Period. Let's just start with that. Everybody in college football, I think, would probably agree with that. We're sitting on the tarmac, ready to go in our plane. And I thought the people from Sun Country handled it perfectly. They let us know exactly what we were going to do. We gave it another hour, hour and a half. Got our players off the plane. Got our players in the hangar. Waited for an update. And we said if we don't get off by this time, then we'll go in the morning, put the schedule together, put our players to bed. Got up early this morning, executed that plan. But again, that has nothing to do with the outcome. I thought we handled that exactly the way that we needed to, and I thought our players always had information. We did what we could to make sure that they were as normal as possible. A little different coming out this morning, but even the people at Ramada were awesome, and here in Penn State. So, you know, just thankful for a lot of people that sparked the action. But I think everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do.