Opening Statement
A: Thank you to our fans. Their support through the weather, sticking with this football team, even our shirtless guys out there. They get a lot of credit. Really appreciate our fan base sticking with us. With that said, I’ll open it up to questions you guys might have for us.
Q: You touched on this a little, but the difference in production from Carson (Hansen) from the beginning of Big Ten play to now has been kind of stunning. What has led to that, and could you give us whatever update you can give us on his situation?
A: I think he'll be alright. We'll learn a little bit more. I don't think it's a significant injury, but we'll certainly know more, probably earlier this week, about what his availability will be next week. Honestly, this guy is the same guy all the time. I think it was more the people around him than it was Carson early in the season, and just consistently getting the running game to where we needed it to get to, I think trying to put together the five offensive linemen, finding the consistency, what do they do best, and trying to work through that. That's been a work in progress, but we got there. Credit to the players, credit to our staff, and obviously, my belief in Carson Hansen's never wavered. You know what he's been about, what he stands for. And I thought he was unbelievable tonight. It stinks that he got dinged up this weekend, had the chance to be a really powerful night for him for sure.
Q: For you guys to win three straight and then be bowl eligible. What do you think that means?
A: I don't think I've wavered from my belief in what this football team could become and who they were. There's been a lot that this group, coaching staff included, has had to work through to navigate this whole journey. I said it from the beginning that we weren't going to shortcut this process. We weren't going to try to win at all costs. We're going to try to build the right foundation, and we were going to do it the right way. I think this group's got a chance to put a powerful statement together. With college football, there are so many ebbs and flows, and the ability to just stay with it. I still believe, since the Northwestern game, this group's consistently gotten better every week, and it took another huge step forward tonight. It says a lot about the seniors that we get an opportunity next week at Senior Day to honor that group. Whether they stayed here at Penn State, whether they came here to finish their career here at Penn State, what they've stood for is the reason why we're sitting here today with the winning streak. If that group wavers, I don't think you have any shot, and they haven’t. They demanded to find a way forward. They demanded to fix and helped fix some of the problems that were occurring, and that group gets all the credit. We get a chance to make it a really special week for them next week.
Q: Matt, is Rocco okay? I know he came up limping after that one play.
A: He is.
Q: What went into the decision of when to put in Alex (Manske), and how do you think Alex did?
A: I thought Alex did a great job. We were toying with probably doing it a hair earlier, but I just think the flow of the game was still a little goofy. I felt like we hadn’t put the nail in the coffin yet in terms of what we wanted to do. I just felt like it was time. Time was running down. I thought it was a great opportunity to get him in still with the one offensive line and have the opportunity to go play, and I thought he really did a great job executing. Small sample size, but obviously that small sample size is a positive. And for that kid, what he's been through this year, to throw his first touchdown pass and to be able to go out and execute the way he did, I thought that was awesome.
Q: What does it say in today's college football to watch this group kind of finish what they started, and also what was the biggest lesson in that stretch that you think this group needed to learn?
A: We had to become a team. We were a group of players and a group of coaches that were trying to find our identity. I know there were some guys that came with us, there were some guys who we inherited. Some guys have been at Penn State. But the reality of it is, we had to create a real team, and we had to create the culture and the identity that we wanted to play with. We know what that needs to look like. And to be honest with you, and I know I said it a million times in preseason, we needed real adversity, and we had to go through hard, and then we had to decide if we wanted to work through it, or we wanted to fracture away from each other. Our society right now, in the world that we live in today, says that you should complain, point your finger, and blame everybody else, but this group chose to stay together and find solutions and work through it. We'll see where this group ends. We still got eight guaranteed quarters to us left. Where do we end this season? Who do we become? Can we continue to grow and get better? I think there are still great challenges for us. We've made great steps forward, which is awesome, but I think there's still a lot for this team to decide who it wants to be and how it wants to finish.
Q: Matt, you mentioned maybe a powerful statement for this group, but what can a strong end of the season do for the future of the program after your first year?
A: The identity of how we want to play football here is really important. Those are things from our end in terms of the style we want to play, the resiliency we want to have, the character that we want to embody on the football field. All of those things matter. We've worked really hard to try to lay those foundations, and we're going to continue to work really hard to lay those foundations. That's more important than even a win or a loss. It's how we do it. You earn the right to win football games, and this group is certainly doing those things right now.
Q: It's always special to run out onto the field, tonight you guys are wearing the camo, you follow Matthew Parker out on Military Appreciation night. What was the difference in running out there Why Matthew and that special moment that he was able to carry the flag out.
A: Matthew's family and certainly his father and what they stand for, the service that they've given to our country, the impact that that family has made on Penn State Football, and obviously I think Matthew's recognition of it, the opportunity for him to be able to do that was really special. It's great that you wear all of these things but understanding why is most important. I think it’s a really powerful weekend for Matthew to be able to do that for his family and to be able to understand why his family is so important to who we are and certainly what they have sacrificed for our country is awesome.
Q: Hey, Matt. Wondering, was there much of a distraction for you guys? Did you have to address Minnesota’s travel situation and also how that affected the unknown for you?
A: For a little bit last night. I feel like you're in my meetings in the evening, maybe you have a plant somewhere, but I think in our 18- to 20-year-olds, it's like gossip central, right? I got the pregame dinner last night, and you could feel like everybody was gossiping what was going to happen, and at least talking to Pat (Kraft) last night, it sounded like everything was going to be a go, so in our team meeting last night, it was like, listen, you can worry about everybody else. My respect for Coach Fleck is through the roof. If anybody was going to get his team to use that as their advantage, PJ is the guy that would do it. They've got great culture, they believe in team, and we knew we would get their best shot, especially early in the football game, so my warning to the football team was you better worry about yourself. Our whole mantra this past week is greatness in life is not overcoming others, greatness in life is overcoming yourself, and we got a lot of areas that we can overcome ourselves, especially after last week. I think it was just another great example of don't worry about everybody else, worry about ourselves, and get ourselves ready to go play a great game.
Q: Matt, how do you think your defensive front handled the run game, especially. It looked like you guys were active on the defensive line throughout, and a guy like McPherson just seems like, even though the season's getting longer, he seems to be getting more active and better as it progresses.
A: I thought the defensive line did a great job tonight. I think that group continues, especially I would say the last three or four weeks coming off of that bye. I think the opportunity to sit back: What does that group do best, and how do we help that group be its most efficient self? A lot of credit to Coach Lynn, Coach Malloe, they did a great job evaluating that. We made some of the right changes, and that group continues to play really good football, and Alex is certainly a big piece of that. It was a great sack tonight. He's been really disruptive. He's had some great pass rushes, and it was great for him to be able to get home, but I think Alex continues to play great football, Yvan (Kemajou) continues to play really good football. I think the interior piece of that d-line doesn't get enough credit because it's not always going to be tackles, but I thought they were vertical, and he did a great job playing on the other center side of the line of scrimmage.
Q: Hey Coach, Benjamin Brahmer, obviously a picture of efficiency, two catches, two touchdowns, nearly had a highlight play for a third. What is it like having a target like that in the middle of the defense, knowing he has aspirations to the next level? What do you think to be able to show this season, playing his last year at Penn State.
A: We don’t know if it will be his last year at Penn State. Ben is one of those guys that I've been fortunate to be a part of his journey since coming out of high school, and Ben comes from an unbelievable family. This is a guy that was a state champion in high school, played for his father, was an elite athlete, and a guy that never shocks me in terms of what he does. His talent, his level of excellence, is as high as he wants to take it. Ben's an elite worker. He doesn't say a word. He's a guy that comes out; he's the same guy every single day in practice, and he only continues to showcase his God-given talent every time he gets the opportunity to do it, and we're really proud of him. I thought he was outstanding tonight and I thought he had an unbelievable game.