Q: How do you go about mitigating the travel issues with a game like this? Are there people that you have leaned on for advice about making a six-hour flight? How do you go about dealing with that?
A: I think a lot of that is we've had unique travel this year. We've had unique travel in our past, having to go, obviously, east-to-west and west to east.
I think those are things you try to do a great job in the offseason of knowing what's on your schedule, what's coming, and trying to be a great planner. Obviously, even Penn State has had this trip the last couple years going to the West Coast.
I think you try to take all the information and just make the best travel plans possible. But no, I think the time of the game, all those kind of things, I think probably are situations we'll have to navigate and handle, but I don't think it's a debilitating situation.
Q: You were more aggressive on fourth downs on Saturday. What went into that decision-making process? I know you've said it's game flow before, but what about the game flow made you want to do that?
A: I do think in terms of the fourth down piece of it, I think all of it is truly feel, right. Even in the game, there was the same fourth-and-1; one I went for, one I didn't. Same plays on the field, same deal.
What was the difference? The difference was you're early in the football game. I think it's a close football game. You're running the ball with some consistency, and you feel like from a momentum-maker opportunity; I do think we have and are really good, and if you look at our last four years, we've been right at the top of the country in fourth down conversions.
I think the reason for that is you're trying to do what's best for the moment and the situation. The reason I didn't go for it later in the game was you're up two scores, you're playing good defense, and man, you don't want to give them the momentum coming back into the game.
I think you're just trying to make the best decisions at the time in those moments, but those are all situational in my opinion, and you're always trying to do what's best. Again, my responsibility is to try to get the flow and the rhythm of the game to give us a chance to win the football game, and that's how I take those decisions.
Q: Do you have an update on Chase [Sowell] and Koby [Howard] for this week? How did you think Amarion [Jackson] did? He saw a lot of snaps, had a big play in the game. How did you think he did in his first real significant action?
A: I think you look at the two big runs. His blocks are at the forefront, push-crack on the safety, they're both coming off his big blocks. I'd start there.
Obviously, I thought he did a great job in terms of his opportunities. He made the most of them.
Again, I think that's a little bit of the theme of last Saturday is, guys got their opportunity and they made the most of it. I've always said, that is college football. It's our job to prepare them for their opportunities when they come their way, and you hope when their opportunity comes, they get to make the most of it. I thought he did a great job.
Back to Chase and Koby, I think Chase is certainly; the word "probable" is what I would use. I think he's in a really good spot. I think Koby is still probably in the word "questionable," and I think we'll have to see where he's at, and again, it's the same rhetoric that I guess I've said the last couple weeks is when he's ready, we're going to try to make sure he's on the field, but we're going to make sure he's ready to go.
Q: Your defensive line had success last week against Purdue in terms of both stopping ball carriers and the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. How do you think that group of players improved off the bye week? What you're hoping they can build on following last week?
A: I think systematically on both sides of the football, we really dug a mile deep, and we have every step of the way. But I think it gave us some really great tangible evidence of what are we doing when we're at our best. I think we were able to simplify on both sides, especially on the defensive side of the football, that what was hurting us on some of those big runs that have come out against us, what are we doing really well when we're playing great run defense, and how do we fundamentally and schematically kind of insure around those things that have been really positive. I thought we did a great job of that in the game last week against a team that had shown the ability to run the ball really well against some good opponents.
I think Washington, they're a physical front, no matter who's in the football game. Obviously, a two-headed running monster in terms of their quarterbacks and where he can [hurt you] and the litany of backs they can put in the football game to run the football. We're going to have to do a great job of continuing to show that we can stop the run. It's certainly the emphasis for who we want to be and what we want to become on both sides of the ball.
Q: Wondering if you can assess [Alex] Manske, how he's done in practice? Do you try to be intentional, now that we're into November, on getting him some series for future preparation as well?
A: Yeah, I think those are; it's a really fair question, and I would tell you that in my mind from a practice standpoint. Alex is growing from; the question that you're asking is the right question.
When the lights come on and you get the opportunity to play, what does it look like. Whether we get those opportunities to foster that, that'll be great. That is not my intent. My intent is this team playing its best football down the stretch, and that continues to be our priority for our whole football team.
But obviously, if those opportunities would ever exist, we're going to do everything in our power to try to get Alex in the football game.
Q: What is the process like during a bye week when you're trying to simplify the run game? How do you feel Brock Riker did because he certainly looked more comfortable and healthier?
A: I think the last thing that you said is right, is healthy. I think if you really look at his video from really USC on, and then you look at the first three games and before he gets hurt at Buffalo and you look at really how that guy has played the last three, I think you see a confident, healthy football player and a guy that's playing really good football.
I think from the simplicity of the run game, it's exactly what I said about the defense. I think as you're trying to search through that a little bit, you're trying to figure out what can the players do, how do you do the best to put them in position to be successful?
I think sometimes as coaches, and this is where I'm as at fault as anybody, you're trying to sometimes over-scheme to put yourself in the best position in the moment. I think when you've got the ability to really sit down and digest it all, okay, this is what we're best at, and let's try to really make sure we're fundamentally teaching and we're growing at what we can do best, and then we'll see as we grow ourselves forward.
I think that was really the emphasis, and really kind of has been the emphasis since USC on, to be honest with you. I just think we had a little bit more time to fundamentally attack it during the bye week, but I think that group from the offensive side of it, we were able to find a little bit better rhythm in terms of how we want to run the football and what that needs to look like.
Q: You mentioned the travel, but can you tell us why you're leaving Thursday as opposed to Friday? Some coaches would go Friday. Why have you guys decided to go Thursday?
A: I think twofold. Number one, the time of the game was really big. The game, I think from a positive standpoint, I guess, would be that it's a 12:00 start time there, 12:35, which would be 3:35 here. I felt like if we got in Friday, boy, you're going to be really pushing it.
In our past, we've done this trip too; a couple times we've had to go to the West Coast, and even though we're in a different time zone in central time zone, we always tried to go, if it was a day game, we tried to go especially on Thursday to get ourselves there, get settled in, and try to, from a sleep standpoint, try to get on the best rhythm that we possibly can and not lose sleep.
I think the time that you would have to get up early to leave Friday morning not only gets you at home on Friday but then it also gets you on the trip out there.
If it was a later game, maybe it would have been a different approach, but the fact of it being when the game time is plus the travel time, we just felt like this was the best situation for us.
Q: You talked about Cam Wallace and getting to know his story, what he went through early in his career. What was that process like for you, trying to learn all of that? On top of that, he was in the portal I think for about a week in January. What do you remember about that time and trying to figure out if this was a guy that you needed to have in your program?
A: I think there's two responses to that. The first time that I met Cam was, like, the first 24-to-48 hours I was here. I think I told you guys, I met with every player here. I did remember distinctly that conversation because I think there was frustration. There was frustration with where he was at, what was going on, obviously the injury.
I think there was just a lot of frustration going on with where Cam was. What I did appreciate with him, it was not, like, complaining. It was just some of the situations that occurred with the injury, the frustration, and then I really appreciated him telling me his story a little bit that day, kind of who he is, what's gone on in his own family, let alone the injury situation.
When we were kind of getting to putting the finishing touches on this roster, I called his aunt, who is a huge piece of his life, and I think twofold, she's been a great anchor. Her and his grandmother have been a critical piece of his upbringing. I think they really wanted him to stay at Penn State. They wanted him to finish his degree. They wanted him to have the opportunity to compete forward.
I told him that Saturday night after the game how proud, A, his mother would be, how proud his grandmother and his aunt would be because I think the resilience of how he got his opportunity; and again, you've got to earn it. Man, how this guy practiced; what you guys saw Saturday is what was on the practice field for the last two weeks. It was cut and dry. It was easy.
I think that as coaches when it's not cut and dry, it's really hard to make tough decisions, especially when there's competition and everybody is competing to get on the field. When you leave it gray, we can make mistakes. When you don't leave it gray, boy, you put yourself in a great situation, and then you capitalize on it. I think that's what college football is still about.
Again, these are not professional athletes. These are young student-athletes still growing into their best self, and it's awesome to watch because I think it's been a great sense of reality for the young players in our program. To hear his story, to see it, to see the success, and to see how it got earned. I think Ibn McDaniels has got a little bit of that, of what happened to him Saturday night; same thing, earned the right to get on the football field, played really good with his moment. We talked about Amarion. That is college football, and you hope you're in a program where that is getting evaluated every day, and if it's done right, then those guys are getting on the field to get their opportunity.
But those are the two moments that I distinctly remember about Cam. Once I talked to his aunt 24 hours later, he called and said he wanted to come back. We're talking Sunday before the team meeting is when he decided to come back. Really grateful that he did, and obviously really grateful to have him be a great example of what we want this program to look like and feel like on the inside of it.
Q: Zay [Robinson] fair-caught two balls inside the 10 on Saturday. One led to a 96-yard touchdown drive. Were those conversations you had with him in terms of wanting to return there, letting it bounce into the end zone, fair catching? What was the conversation? Is that a reasonable way to live of fair-catching balls inside the 10 on Big Ten play?
A: If you don't want to start on the 1. I think you've got to figure out what you want to live with. I'd say the first one is a fair question. We put him, his heels; we knew, really good pooch-punter, that decision making, heels on the 5. That first punt is drifting a little bit, but he's not really backing up. We talked about it in the team meeting on Sunday, I think I could have gone either which way if he chose to let that ball hit, it would have hit on the 3, but if you really studied the video, they were in a great position, and it's not like he was backing up to get it. He's drifting across the 5-yard line, and it's kind of right on the 3.
Again, I'd rather have it on the 3 than on the 1. You're talking to the guy that's lived on coming out at Kinnick [Stadium] on the 1-yard line, and that's not real fun. We've lived that battle many a times. I trust our offense a lot more on the 3 than I do on the 1-yard line, and I think the results of that can show.
Now, again, I think that's a 50/50 decision, and I think it could have went either way. If he would have let that ball hit, I would have been fine.
I think the other one was he came up to get it. It is inside the 10-yard line. But again, I think it's all on the punter. What's his consistency in the pooch-punting/sky-punting situation? Man, if it's an inconsistent punter, then I think you're going to move your heels up to the 7 and you're going to allow that maybe to have a little bit more grace. But I think the Purdue punter showed to be a really good pooch-punter, and that's how we evaluate that each week.
I do agree, the first one is probably 50/50. The other one I think he made a great decision for sure.
Q: Your starting cornerbacks, can you describe how they have improved? How have they really helped lock down your defense for you? Ehat more is there to get yet from Audavion Collins, Daryus Dixson, maybe even a couple of the other guys?
A: Yeah, well, I think it's really fair to start with those guys because I think those two have been; and I talked about this a little bit Saturday night. Those two are very similar to the great players that I've been around. What you see every single day in practice, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, is exactly what you're getting on Saturday. They are pros' pros in my opinion. These are guys that are mature. They love the game of football. They're detailed. Their precision, their consistency, it's elite. And those two have been the rock of being elite. They have been outstanding.
It's really hard to be perfect, but I think those guys have played as close to great football every step of the way, and again, they're going to continue to get challenged. Big challenge this week, a really talented receiving corps across the board and obviously a really good quarterback or quarterbacks that can get them the ball.
What more you would want is, you'd want them to consistently finish the way they've played all year because I think if they do, you've got a really special story to tell. Again, it's the same thing, what those guys are teaching the young players in our locker room, I've always felt when the best players are your best leaders, they prepare the same way, it's not just fluke talent.
A.C., man, had to go up the rough side of the mountain to become a great football player. Nothing has been handed to A.C. Collins. He's demanded it every step of the way, and I felt that way in spring ball. I felt that way at the end of fall camp. I felt that way every day of practice. That guy loves football and demands to be his best.
I think Daryus, the maturity; I know we gave him one of our spring practice awards, and really it was an award of consistency. Man, that guy, every special teams rep to every rep he has, he was a 4.0 student, in the spring, in the classroom. Those guys are the standard bearers of, like, this is the expectation, and if we want to be great here, we want to play championship-level football, you've got to have championship-level humans at the top, and those two certainly stand for that for us.