Joe Paterno Press Conference
Oct. 14, 2008
Q. One of your players said this morning that you mentioned the losing streak to Michigan right after the Wisconsin game. I was wondering why you felt you had to do that.
A. You tell me. I don't know why I said it. It was after the game. I just wanted to get things in focus, try to make sure that we didn't walk out of there with our heads in the clouds. Just said, "Hey..." I forget exactly how I did it. I think we haven't beaten them in nine years or something like that probably. Is it nine years? I'm not even sure I'm right on that.
Q. When you look at this Michigan team on tape, what are some of the bigger differences between this team maybe and some of Lloyd Carr's teams?
A. You've got to be careful when you look at the Toledo tape. Then you've got to go back and look at their Notre Dame game. You've got to look at their Illinois game, things like that. They're almost like a different football team. Obviously, they're struggling a little bit in certain key positions. But there's talent all over the place. They've got a lot of good kids that are going to be really good. I just hope they're a week away. Again, I'd have to go back and think about Lloyd's teams. I really haven't been that interested in those teams as I am in this team. I've got to worry about this team, not the ones that Lloyd had.
Q. When you've lost to a team like that, nine times in a row, can it be a mental thing? Is that perhaps why you brought that up after the game?
A. No, no, no. It's not a mental thing. We had a couple tough ballgames that could go either way. And a lot of it was not due to the people playing the game. Some outside people blew a couple things and made it a little tougher to win. But, no, I don't think it's a psychological thing at all. Even if Lloyd were there, that's not the problem. The point I wanted to make is, "Hey, you're not going to have a bunch of guys coming into State College and they're going to be in awe of us," or anything like that. We've got to be ready to go out and play and go out and play a good, tough football game.
Q. After the last game you gave the pluses and minuses of coaching from the press box. I wonder how you feel this week. Are you considering coaching from the press box the rest of the season?
A. Well, I'm playing it day to day, really. I'm not sure what we're going to do this week. Some days I really feel that I can go out there and almost jog. Other days it's really sore. I just got to play it by ear, play it one day at a time, and then when the season's over, have somebody take a look at it and get it fixed up.
Q. How much do you think Aaron Maybin has improved in the last year?
A. I think he has improved, but he's always been a really good prospect. He's been a little flighty, a little bit undisciplined, played his own defense at times, which made you a little bit nervous about him. But, he's settled down and he's paying attention to details. I think if he gets a little stronger... He's not the biggest kid out there playing. He's a 240 pounder that should be a 255 pounder. He's got a body fat percentage of about 4 percent. He's struggled putting weight on because he's got so much energy. I think he's getting better. I think he can get better. But, number one, he's got to get a little stronger.
Q. Speaking about Michigan, can you assess this defense they've played this year and how that will affect the way you play your offense?
A. Well, they play basically two looks. They play what most people are playing, the four man down. But the minute they get in some kind of a passing situation, they go with three down guys, an extra linebacker and an extra defensive back. They're a typical Michigan team when you look at them. As far as personnel, they have kids who can run. They hustle. Against Toledo, that's a really bad evaluation. You really get in trouble if you start to evaluate that football team based on what happened with Toledo. So, I don't see a lot different in the way they play. Their enthusiasm, the fact they're football players, they'll hit you when they get there, all those kinds of things. Playing a club like Toledo, they're going in to score, kid makes a little mistake, throws the ball, (Toledo) runs it back 100 yards for a touchdown. Sets the tone. They're not that experienced yet. They're still struggling with a lot of young people. That probably has a bigger impact on that kind of a team than it would an experienced football team. But I don't see a lot of difference in the type of people they have, than the ones we've played against through the years.
Q. Could you talk about any type of influence you think Jay (Paterno) has had on you maybe recently? Have him and Galen (Hall) convinced you to go and do different things offensively?
A. Well, I hope every one of the assistant coaches has had some impact on me. I try to listen to them and learn, watch them coach. Sometimes they come up with some things that are really awfully good and I try to make sure that I'm not blind to the fact that maybe we didn't do it that way 10 years ago, that we're not going to do it way this year. I think they've all had an impact on me. But, basically I go back to it depends on who they want to do it with; with whom they want to do it. We're not going to do some things that they may like and may look good on the blackboard if I'm not comfortable that we don't have the personnel to do it. I think this year our offensive personnel suits exactly what Galen and Jay want to do in the passing game. I think we're on the right track. I think I'd say the same thing defensively. At one time I was nervous about the scheme we were in because we had to get rid of a couple guys, and then we had some people hurt. We debated whether we would change a couple alignments. But the defensive coaches felt that they could get that done with the way we had been doing things, so I went along with it, and they were right. That's the same thing that happened on the offensive side of the football. You have to give Bill Kenney, Dick Anderson and Mike McQueary some credit, too. Bill and Dick have been with me a long time. They know exactly how much time I'm going to give them to practice. I'm not going to let them have all the time they want, worry about some different things that would not have occurred to a younger coach who had not been around here. I think obviously they've had an impact. But, I just want to make sure that all those coaches out there, that's a good staff, and again, I'm going to say what I've said 50 times, I listen to all of them and watch 'em all.
Q. It seems offensive lines in general are known for having their share of characters. This team has a few. What does it say about this group, that they're able to transition from lightheartedness to being one of the better lines in your tenure?
A. I should have taken more psychology courses, I guess, in college. Everybody's got a personality. One of the hardest parts of coaching sometimes is, when do you sit on them and when do you let them go? What is it a good combination? When does it look like it's going in the wrong direction; maybe the wrong guys are leading the pack? Those are all things you have to take into consideration when I would answer that question. I think the combination and the chemistry and the respect for each other that the offensive linemen have, they may clown around, they may horse around. I'm not sure what they do off the field, but when they're on the field, they're all business. They'll have a joke. They'll tease me a little bit, play a couple games on me. But that's fine. That's fun. They know when to go to work. The minute they don't, then, of course, obviously I've got a problem. But right now I think it's a good group of kids who are working hard together.
Q. Every player on every team in the country talks about taking their season one game at a time, maintaining focus. Some players can't seem to do it that way. This team doesn't seem to have a lot of those guys. Did you expect that because of how many seniors there were? Are you pleased with how well they've done it so far?
A. At the beginning of the season I was hopeful it would happen that way. When you get into a season, you kept asking me how good we are, and I kept saying, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." We have to wait until we see some adversity, see if we have the kind of leadership that will carry us through. So far so good. I think we've had good leadership. I think the leadership starts with people who are mature enough to understand that you don't win the game talking about it, you don't win the game in newspapers, you don't win the game unless you're ready in pads each week to play against a team that's out there to beat you and can beat you. You see that every week. I think we have some mature kids that understand that. In the locker room, they probably talk about it a lot. I think it's so far so good. You get to a point where after a big win, as we had against Wisconsin, where things went so well for us, you always have something in the back of your head you got to watch and make sure nobody gets out of line, nobody gets carried away with the one win, that they can focus in on the next win. I can't tell you today whether we have or haven't. We only practiced yesterday for about an hour and 10 minutes without pads. I'll get a better feel for it after practice tomorrow night. But I think we'll be okay.
Q. What is the status of wide receiver Brett Brackett and also tailback Brent Carter?
A. Carter's going to have his knee operated on. He has an ACL (right, torn). Brett, I don't think they're going to let him go this week, had a pretty good concussion. He was on the practice field yesterday but didn't do anything. So I would doubt either one of those kids would play. I know Carter won't.
Q. Daryll Clark, seven starts in, are you surprised how well he's picked up every part of that very difficult job of being a quarterback?
A. Well, I thought he started to do that at the end of last year. When we put him in there against Texas A&M, I thought he handled himself well, knew what was going on, was poised. So I had high hopes that hanging around with the wideouts, the other skilled people during the winter program, then in spring practice, that he'd come out of it ready to be a big league quarterback, as I felt both he and Pat Devlin would. Both of them are big league quarterbacks. So, it's not a surprise to me, but you're never sure. Again, I think he's done, what you said -- he's done in the seven games he's played. He's played with maturity. He's been alert. He knows what's going on. He comes out in the football game, knows what's happening. He's learning all the time. I always like to stick Pat Devlin in there because Pat's in the same boat.
Q. When your program gets on a roll like it is now, do you or have you ever allowed yourself feelings of vindication?
A. Do you enjoy silencing the critics now and then? I don't know what I have to vindicate. You know, you guys have got to write columns and you've got to figure out something to write. We've probably won more games in the last three and a half years than any team in the country. We won 11 and 9 and 9 (and first seven this year). I don't know whether that's the best or what. I've never felt I had to vindicate myself in any way. My only job is to make sure we do the best job we can for the kids out there busting their butt and try to win as many games as we can and play as well as we can and do it with a little class, make our fans feel good about the team and their university. But as far as vindicating myself, no. That's up to you guys.
Q. You talk about your leg and knee. Can you disclose the specific injury?
A. I don't know for sure. It's probably something to do with the hip. I don't know. I haven't got time to spend time going through a lot of examinations and things like that right now. We'll wait till the season's over, see what happens.
Q. Are you getting a lot of get well cards?
A. No, I don't get get well cards. Can't we talk about the football team and not me, for crying out loud?
Q. You have a lot of fifth year guys that were here in 2004, Shipley, Cadogan... Those are the guys that have won probably more games since they've been here than any group of seniors around. How good do you feel those guys (fifth-year seniors) were able to go through that 2004 experience and then kind of help you get things back?
A. Well, obviously they're all helpful. How helpful? You know, they had some pride. They wanted to do well. They were good football players. The combination wasn't quite right (in 2004). We were one or two players short. When things didn't go well, we didn't have a couple players that could play big plays. We all knew where we were. It was just a question until we could get that thing straight. Maybe it took a year longer than I thought it would have. That was all there was to it. A bunch of good kids. I never doubted we'd end up with a good football team. We had a bunch of good coaches who enjoyed working with them.
Q. You've often talked about the importance of playing fast. With the success the defense has had recently, how much of that was physical speed, athleticism? How much of that comes with experience, knowing where you need to be?
A. A lot of it comes with experience. I mean, I can line a guy up. Line the same guy up three weeks ago, he won't make the two or three plays he made Saturday because he's not ready to anticipate, he doesn't read the formation, he doesn't have the kind of confidence in himself that when he sees something, lets go. He may wait a second and make sure what he sees he sees, which is one step too slow. That only comes with playing and confidence, staying healthy, repeats on the practice field. So, yeah, I think that we're playing faster. We have to.
Q. Should Daryll Clark's name be mentioned more in terms of Heisman Trophy contention?
A. I don't get into that. You guys are the guys that have to get involved in that. I don't see the other guys. For me to tell you that this guy's better than that guy, better than that guy, better than that guy... I wish I had the luxury of just sitting there and listening to all the pundits say how, "this guy's great, that guy's great." I don't know. I think Daryll Clark's a heck of a college football player right now, heck of a college quarterback. Where would he rate? I don't know. We've got a lot of football to play yet. Doesn't make so much sense to me to go out there and start saying, "I think Daryll ought to be here, here and here." We've got a lot of football to play, and a lot of things can happen in that period. We started out early saying he's got to stay focused on what he's got to do, get better each week, and we'll see what happens.
Q. You've said in the past that having an undefeated or a national championship team every decade, you wanted to get one this decade. Is that something that's still in the back of your mind?
A. Well, I think when we just missed out a couple years ago (2005), it was a disappointment to me. But I don't know. I really haven't thought about it that way. You know, certainly you'd like to be able to say, "Hey, I had an undefeated team in X number of decades." But, I really don't think about it. I'm sure if it happens and somebody starts talking about it, I'll probably go and ask for a raise (laughter).
Q. One more question about the Heisman. Given all the success you've had, is it a little surprising you've only had one Heisman winner?
A. Well, there again, I thought Lydell Mitchell should have won it (in 1971). But the circumstances that year were that the kid from Cornell (Ed Marinaro) had a great year, so the votes got split. Blair Thomas was that far away from winning a Heisman Trophy (1989). When he didn't score on that great drive, we gave him the ball eight, ten times against Alabama. Missed it by that much. Richie Lucas missed it (in 1959). Very close. We've had our shots at it, but we just missed a little. I can't do anything about it, so it doesn't surprise me or bother me or whatever. I'm disappointed that maybe one or two of those kids could have had it. It would have been nice to have. It would have been nice for them more than anybody else, and their families. Obviously, it would be nice for the university. But first it would be important to them.
Q. How fearful are you that a program like Michigan can get it all together on one Saturday? They've struggled, but they do have a lot of talent and good coaches there.
A. What's your point?
Q. Are you worried that this is a team that is somewhat dangerous and can play at a very high level?
A. Yeah, I'm saying that. I'm saying I think Michigan is a good football team, and they can go out there and beat anybody, probably, if they can get a couple of kids that start to feel good about themselves, make a couple plays, get a little momentum. You've got to look at a couple other games. Forget the Toledo game. You literally have to wipe that thing out. They didn't play very well at all. But they got off on the wrong foot. I don't know whether they went in the game without looking back at a couple things. But then you look at a couple other games they played, they played really well. I keep saying they're a good football team. How good? How good are we? I don't know yet. I think it's going to be a real tough football game.
Q. Michigan quarterback Steve Threet is questionable this weekend. Is it any more difficult having to prepare not knowing who the starting quarterback is?
A. They both played half the game last week, so we saw both of them. The big kid (Steven Threet) started the first half, and the other kid (Nick Sheridan) played the second half. They're fairly similar. One is a little better runner than the other. I won't get into which is which. One is a better runner. The other has probably more experience. The thing they have coming back, they have a real fast wideout, No. 9 (Martavious Odoms) , who they have not had, who is a big plus. That other kid, No. 2 (Sam McGuffie), a freshman kid, starting to get better as a running back. He ran for over 100 yards Saturday. They're starting to get some people back now which will help the quarterbacks. I'm not sure they've made up their mind whether the quarterback is going to play or not. Have you heard something I haven't heard?
Q. No.
A. But both those kids are good athletes. Both quarterbacks played against Toledo.
Q. You said they're fairly similar. Does that mean you can prepare for one quarterback?
A. They're not going to change their offense because one guy's in or the other guy's in. They may emphasize one thing a little bit more than the other thing. No, you've got to get ready to play what you've seen offensively. They're a spread offensive football team. They'll go fast on you. They'll go slow on you. They'll change the pace on you. They're clever. If you're not sound in something, they'll pick it up, the coaches will pick it up, and they'll keep coming back to it until you take it away from them. It will be that kind of a game.
Q. Earlier in your coaching career would you have ever put an offense on the field that looks like this one, everything spread out?
A. I played it. Back in 1959 we went to two wideouts, two slotbacks, and Richie Lucas was under the center. We went to him when we had the lonesome end. No, you play with what you've got. I can't seem to get that across. It isn't the formation. It isn't the scheme. It's who's executing it. No, we've been all over the place. But, you know, people are having fun with it. The fans like it. I think when you've got the kind of wideouts, skilled people we have, it's kind of fun to watch, I know that. But if they weren't that good, Daryll and Pat were not capable of handling some of the intricacies of what they had to do, it wouldn't look so good.
Q. Seems like you're getting some positive contributions from some of your backups. Can you talk about the depth? Are you happy with the depth you're developing?
A. Yeah, I am. That's one of the nice things about having had some games where we had pretty good control of it early. You could get some of those kids in, they get some experience, so they're not in shock when they go in. I really like our young kids. I think we have a lot of kids that haven't played that are going to be really good football players. So I feel good about some of those young kids that have had an opportunity to play. (Michael) Mauti is starting to play, (Nate) Stupar. Even some of the kids that are a year older now, (Navorro) Bowman and (Bani) Gbadyu, are starting to do some things now. The wideouts -- we haven't seen a lot of (Derek) Moye, but Moye is a redshirt freshman that's going to be a real good wideout. (Graham) Zug has gotten in there and played well. Without Carter, (Brandon) Beachum is going to have to play this week as a third guy. So there's a lot of good, young talent. I feel pretty good about our depth. I'm still concerned about maybe two or three more offensive linemen that have to come to the front. That's always the toughest part. Maybe one or two guys on the defensive line, because we can't afford to have anybody hurt on the offensive line or defensive line. We don't have anybody ready yet. But they're getting there. Other than that, I think we're in pretty good shape.
Q. Have you consulted with doctors for what your options would be to get your hip fixed up after the season? Would your ultimate goal to be to return to the sideline?
A. Geez, I don't have the slightest idea. I'm trying to figure out how we're going to beat Michigan. I'm not worried about where I'm going to be.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Joe Paterno Press Conference (10/7)
Joe Paterno Press Conference Transcript
Oct. 7, 2008
Q. Is it a big adjustment going from playing a finesse team such as Purdue to playing a more physical team such as Wisconsin?
Well, it's a different game, obviously. You expect certain things to be different. It will be a little more smash mouth kind of football, because Wisconsin's a tough football team and prides themselves in their physical toughness.
But, I think you've got to line-up properly, and you've got to tackle and you've got to get to the football.
You may not have quite as many lineup problems ordinarily, but Wisconsin gives you so many different looks with two or three tight ends that move around and jump around that you really don't get any benefit out of that.
So I think it's just a question of mentally. You've got to get ready to get into a tough football game. I don't know. It's football.
Q. Could you give us an update on the health of Mickey Shuler, Andrew Quarless and Jordan Norwood?
Norwood's going to be okay. Quarless and Mickey didn't do much yesterday, but it was only Monday. Today's Tuesday so, I think I'll know more after today. But they both tried to do a couple things (Monday) and I told them just take it easy, don't overdo it. But there's no question Norwood will be okay, unless something happens this week.
Q. Can you give us an update on your health situation? Is your leg feeling any better?
Yeah, it gets a little better. It's up and down. It's one of those things I'm going to have for a while, so I've got to live with it.
We'll see by the end of the week whether I feel I can get on the sidelines or coach upstairs. I don't think it's a big concern for the squad. It's not a big concern for me because with the staff we have, as I've said several times, it isn't a big deal.
But, you know, I'm going to have to live with it for a couple of weeks, maybe more than that. But, hey, that's why I get that big money (laughter).
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the fact that A.J. Wallace started the last game, and he was on earlier talking about the lingering hamstring problems. Is that all that's kept him out of the starting lineup?
We thought we had three corners coming into the season that had experience, could play and everything else. And when A.J. got hurt, we thought A.J. would play a little bit of offense as well as defense just as we started out with him in mind of doing that as kind of a back up guy to Derrick Williams, in case Derrick got banged up or got tired. Then he (Wallace) got the hamstring pull. So that set him back a little bit.
But (Lydell) Sargeant, he (Wallace) and (Tony) Davis, they're three good corners and they all should play, keep them fresh. Nowadays, when you have to be ready for a lot of spread, you need that extra defensive back. We're fortunate that (Drew) Astorino's come through the way he has. That's really given us two extra backs. We've got three inside guys now and three outside guys, which is a big plus for us.
Q. Are you pleased with (Navorro) Bowman handling his responsibilities this year, having to deal with the team and losing his father?
I think so. He's played well. He played Saturday a little banged up, so I think you'd have to say he's done well.
Q. Did you think the spread offense would be as successful so far as it has been? Do you think it can be successful in a place like Camp Randall Stadium?
You guys ask me such hypothetical questions, and I really haven't given much thought to it. I think it can be successful anywhere if you have the right people,in the right places, doing the right things, at the right time, as I've said a thousand times.
I think that would be up to their coaches and their coaching staff as to whether their personnel would be better suited to the spread than it is to what they're doing right now. They're playing awfully good football right now. They lost two tough games that they let slip away from them against two good football teams.
I don't know whether they'd even be interested in talking about the spread. It depends. We've gotten a little bit more of it. Not quite as much as some of these other people because we have a quarterback that can run and some of the things that he can do from the spread are suited for him.
Q. We saw Chaz Powell back there on one of the kickoff returns this past weekend. Should we expect to see more of him in that position? What do you think about what he can do for you?
I would hope we see more and more of Chaz as the season goes on. Chaz has not been a really confident kid, particularly since we've made him a wideout, and he played defense last year. We moved him over to back up (wideout), doing some of the things that Derrick Williams does as we thought we would do with A.J. But when A.J. got hurt, we switched over to Powell.
I think he should be playing more and more. He's potentially a very good football player. He doesn't have quite the little confidence or the concentration he needs, but he is only a redshirt freshman. We're asking him to do a lot of things he's not done before. So I think he'll get better and better as the season goes along, and hopefully we'll get more and more out of him.
Q. What are the advantages and disadvantages to coaching upstairs as opposed to down on the sidelines?
Actually, as far as making a significant contribution to the strategy side and on the tactical side, you're better off upstairs. You can see more. You can get, as long as we have the kind of communications we have now, you can I can talk to everybody on the sideline with the one microphone and the one set of ear phones, and they can all talk to me.
So I think that's an advantage. But the disadvantage is you like to be on the field. You like to be down there, get a feel for what's going on. If somebody's gotten a little bit out of whack and you want to sit them down and say, "come on, forget that last one, let's do this one," and so forth.
But there again, I know you guys say, "here he goes again," but I've got to go back to the fact that we have a coaching staff that's very, very sensitive to all the things that I should be sensitive to. I think they do a good job. If a kid doesn't get in as much or he makes a mistake, they kind of encourage him, bring him along and say, "let's get on with the next one."
So, I don't think there's as much of a disadvantage of being upstairs. If I said to you, "depending on the people downstairs running the show for you," it might be an advantage.
Q. Can you talk about the defensive line and the injuries and suspensions the first half of the season? And do you think Wisconsin's line is going to be their biggest test of the season so far?
I think so. Although, I think Oregon State was a little better football team than I think we thought they were.
I think this will be a real physical test for it (PSU defensive line). No question about it. Wisconsin is a very big, strong, well organized, precise, experienced offensive football team with a dynamic kid running the quarterback spot. He doesn't have the stats that a lot of these other quarterbacks have, but he really is a cocky kid and he plays well. He plays like a coach's kind of quarterback.
Obviously, they've got great backs. At least three great backs and a big, strong fullback about 260 (pounds), I think, who knocks people back. It will be a challenge for the whole defensive football team, not just the down guys.
Q. Daryll Clark earlier today was talking about facing the Wisconsin linebackers. Did you see any of their game against Ohio State over the weekend? And what did you think of how they played and neutralized Terrell Pryor in that game?
I saw the whole game. I've seen the whole game twice, both on television and on tapes because we get the tapes on Sunday night.
I think the Wisconsin linebackers can run. Both 11 (DeAndre Levy) and 2 (Jonathan Casillas), are fine outside guys and the guy inside (Jaevery McFadden) is a tough son of a gun. And I think they did a good job with Pryor. I thought they did a good job in both games. They let Michigan off the hook, and I think they let Ohio State off the hook. I think they had that game in pretty good shape. One or two mistakes here, and Pryor is a kid with a lot of ability who made a couple of tough plays for Ohio State and got them back in the ballgame.
Q. After what's happened with Wisconsin the last couple of weeks, if you wanted to sort of psycho analyze their team, you would say maybe that could be devastating to them or maybe it could be the kind of thing that will have them backs to the wall and come out really fighting. What is your instinct and your experience? What is your guess about what kind of temperature they'll have on Saturday?
You know, I have enough trouble coaching my own team without trying to coach somebody else's team. But, you're not playing some people that are aren't used to winning. You're not playing people that don't have a great tradition, don't have a lot of pride. Certainly as they look at the tapes of the two last two games they're saying to themselves, "Boy, we could have had both of those games. Let's see if we can make up for it."
You're talking about kids that are good football players, representing a great school, great tradition who are well coached. They're going to come out and play. They're going to play their game, I would think. I can't believe anything else.
But it's up to us to go out and play the best we know how to play and see which team is the better team, period. That's why we play.
Q. Some of your players placed the blame for some missed opportunities on third down last Saturday to the poor footing on the field. Is that what you saw?
Poor footing? You can blame it on everything, you know. I was just telling the coaches this morning in the old days we had a guy around here by the name of Frank Patrick who coached the backs. He had played at Pitt, played on some of the great Jock Sutherland teams. Every time a kid slipped he'd say, "Don't cut on the inside foot. Don't cut on the inside foot." I can still hear him yelling it, "Don't cut on the inside foot."
Sometimes young backs get excited and a little too cocky. I don't know whether it was the field, I really don't. Because they (Purdue) didn't slip. I think we were maybe in a hurry to make a cut and (didn't have) good balance, didn't make the cuts. I can't really tell you. You can't tell that from the tapes.
Q. The way that the Badgers use Travis Beckum, who is healthy now, is it almost like another running back? I mean they pound away with Clay and Hill.
Yeah, I think that they'll be close. I think they use Beckum really well. They use his talents. He's a big enough guy that he can cut off blocks on the back side and take an elite block with them. He's probably a 235 pounder, maybe bigger than that. He's got nice hands, can catch the ball well and runs when he catches it. So they're trying to get him the football as a receiver. They want to get him in the football game where he can block and help with their running game, so they can't keep sticking nickels in there on him.
He's not a guy that can go in there and play with a 175 or 180 pound corner on him. He's big, he can run, he can block. He's not a wideout. He's good enough to be a wideout, but they're not playing him as a wideout. They're playing him as a wideout-tight end.
Q. It was two years ago at Wisconsin that you got the broken leg. How much did that individual play kind of change your life from that point until now?
Well, I don't think it's changed my life in a dramatic way. I think it's obviously made it a little more difficult to do some things I used to enjoy doing. But that wasn't the result of the broken leg.
My (left) knee is fine. Dr. Sebastianelli did a great job with that. I don't have any problems with my left leg, it's my right leg. That's because I tried to overdo some things and it was poor judgment on my side without consulting with some people about how much I could put on my right leg.
But that part's changed me a little. I can't walk like I used to walk all the time. I used to love to get up and walk five, six miles. But I can't do that and still go out and go to practice for a couple hours. It just wears down on me. But what I have can be fixed, so we'll work on it.
Q. Question about Evan Royster. When he came here you said you liked the fact that he was a lacrosse player when you were recruiting him. What was most attractive about his lacrosse background?
I never saw him play lacrosse. I couldn't really tell you. But I know what it takes to be a good lacrosse player. He was one of the better lacrosse players in the state of Virginia that has good high school lacrosse, and he may have been the best high school lacrosse player (in Virginia).
But he's bright, and he's an excellent student. I saw some pictures (tape) of him with the football. He's got good hands. Could change directions, had good sight, could see things. He looked like he was going to be a good football player, a good running back. If he hadn't been a good running back, we felt he could have been a good corner.
Q. If he wanted to, would you consider letting him (Evan Royster) play on the Lacrosse team?
It depends. We've had other kids play lacrosse, other kids play baseball, other kids went out for track. I don't see any reason why he couldn't.
It depends on his grades. Depends on where he is depth wise and how far along he is in his development as a football player. There are a lot of things that would go in to it.
Q. I know you've said you've taken week by week off on the sideline. But has this injury affected your thinking about your future after this season?
No, it really hasn't. I don't know. It hasn't, let me just leave it at that. It really hasn't.
Q. There's been a lot of comparisons to this year's squad to '05. Does this year's team remind you of 2005 at all?
Well, I think we've got to play a couple more tough games before you can compare them. (The ) 2005 (team) was three seconds away from playing for all the marbles and won a couple of tough games.
We've got to play a couple more football games before I ...they can do a lot of things that the '05 team could do. But to put them (lifts hands) one's here, and one's here, one's like this, I don't know. I just think we've got a good young squad and we've got to just keep plugging away.
Q. If you could, one more mobility question. You used to put a lot of stock in walking through the team at the beginning of the game. How much do you miss that and how have you been able to replace that somehow, that interaction?
I try to spend a little more time in the locker room with them; walk around in the locker room during the week. I have a motor cart they drive me around in now (at practice). In fact, I can harass them more now than I did when I could walk. I can get there faster. Though, I have a lousy driver. He's going to put me in the wall one of these days (laughter).
But, I miss running out on the field. I would be dishonest if I told you (otherwise). I used to love to get out there and the crowd fired me up and the whole bit. But there are a lot worse things that can happen to you.
Q. It's the mid point of the season. I'm wondering if you can assess the progress of your defense. What areas need to be improved on most? What are you most pleased with?
I think we're playing good, solid defense. You consider the injuries we've had up front, the people we lost for games and people we lost for the season that we could have had, and as I said, some really good prospects that have been hurt. I think they've done very well.
People don't realize, but Purdue played a heck of a game against us. I think they had one penalty. No turnovers. They didn't give us anything easy. Our guys just hung in there and played them tough. One big pass was about the only play they were really out of position on. The kid made a great catch out of it.
So, I think we've played good, solid defense. I really do. I think some of these guys that came back, both (Abe) Koroma and (Maurice) Evans will help us, particularly in a game like this where you've got to have more than a couple of (down) guys at a time in there. I mean, you've got to substitute for them, because they'll wear you down.
So, I think that this (week) will be a challenge. I think most of the teams we've played, we've measured up to and could handle what they were doing. This is a little different. We're in a little different situation this week. It will be interesting to see how we handle it.
Q. Any areas specifically where you'd like to see more improvement?
I'd like to see them fluid everywhere all the time. I wish we could have come up with a couple more interceptions in the first games when we had a shot at it. But we weren't confident enough to go in there and grab the ball and knocked it away. Every once in a while we go around a block, which you've got to expect. But I think we're getting there.
Q. After talking to a lot of your players, it seems like you have a lot of thoughtful, very intelligent guys on this year's team. How does that make your job easier? What is the advantage of having so many guys who are of that caliber on the team?
Well, I think with all the things you said comes a little sense of pride of who they are, what they are, and what they can do with their lives. Football is a very big part of it right now for them, and they want to do well in it. They feel an obligation to their teammates.
So it's easy to sit them down as a group or sit them down individually and talk to them about what they can do with their lives and how they can affect other people because of what they have going for them and how they're coming together and what we can do as a team.
Sometimes you get kids that just don't understand that. They won't buy into it. They're used to being the big shot, the hot shots, they don't want to think about what they've got to do for other people. They're only interested in what's going to happen to them. So it is a lot easier.
I've said this. They've been a good team. It's been a good group of guys to be around. I really have enjoyed this team.
Q. You've been able to change up the offense, and give the defense a different look every week. How much of is that is having trust in the offensive line to be in the right spot and make the right block?
Well, I trust in the offensive line, but I also trust in Bill Kenney and Dick Anderson. I think that Galen (Hall) is the organizer, but those two guys have to go out there and make sure they (O-Line) adjust to different stunts, give them the right drills to handle stunts. Give them enough situations to where they get to recognize what looks they're going to have to block.
They've worked hard. It's a pretty good line right now. I don't think what we have to do, anybody else doesn't have to do. I think every good football team every week has to make some of those adjustments.
Q. A follow up to the offensive line. Wisconsin has five seniors and two juniors in their front seven defensively. What do they do well with their experience?
They come off the ball and knock your jock off. They don't make mistakes, all right?
They're just a good football team. Good football. If the guys you're talking about, the seniors and two juniors, they're all very big, strong guys. They're not flopping around out there. They're not big, strong fat guys. They're big, strong guys who are good athletes and agile. They adjust well. They combo block you well. They're tough to get around on pass protection. They're just they're good.
Q. Will this be your offensive line's toughest test (so far)?
Yeah, I think so. They're going to play eight guys in a box. They're going to stop your run. They've got good corners. That number 17 (Allen Langford) is a heck of a football player. Number 25 (Shane Carter), their safety is really a big time safety. As I said, they've got three good linebackers. So I think it will be a test for us to be able to move the ball.
Q. I know you had a tough trip to Madison two years ago. But is this a trip you enjoy seeing their passion for college football and everything around Madison on game day?
I had a lot of fun going out, didn't enjoy it coming home (in 2006).
I think it's a great place to play a football game. I hate to get down into some of these things that take away from the fact that there are two good football teams that are going to go out.
It sounds cornball when I start to say it. I sometimes back away from it. They're going to go out there before a great stadium, a great crowd, very enthusiastic, very partisan. And I mean, if you don't like that, why do you come to a place like Penn State?
So I think it should be a fun Saturday for a kid 18, 19, 20, 21, going against good football players on national television at night. The whole bit. You dream about those things when you're 14 or 15 years old. So now they have an opportunity, and I think it should be a heck of a night.
Q. When you look at your defensive line, you had essentially three ends in (Aaron) Maybin, (Maurice) Evans and (Josh) Gaines, do you want to just get the best players on the field? And if that means putting Gaines inside, how much of that comes into play just making sure you have your best players out there?
I don't think can you do that with defensive lines today because of how much effort it takes to rush the passer and how strong you have to be play after play. You play against a 340 pounder, 330 pounder and you're a guy like Gaines at 265 pounds, unless you've got somebody behind him, they're going to wear you down. So we've really got to have three or four guys inside, and three or four guys outside, because otherwise you can't hold it up. In the fourth quarter, they'll kill you.
Q. (Mickey) Shuler -- is it the ankle that bothered him earlier this season?
Yes, it's the same one.
Q. Will (Andrew) Szczerba go in their place then?
Szczerba would play. And (Greg) Miskinis, who is a kid from down the road here (Lewistown).
Oct. 7, 2008
Q. Is it a big adjustment going from playing a finesse team such as Purdue to playing a more physical team such as Wisconsin?
Well, it's a different game, obviously. You expect certain things to be different. It will be a little more smash mouth kind of football, because Wisconsin's a tough football team and prides themselves in their physical toughness.
But, I think you've got to line-up properly, and you've got to tackle and you've got to get to the football.
You may not have quite as many lineup problems ordinarily, but Wisconsin gives you so many different looks with two or three tight ends that move around and jump around that you really don't get any benefit out of that.
So I think it's just a question of mentally. You've got to get ready to get into a tough football game. I don't know. It's football.
Q. Could you give us an update on the health of Mickey Shuler, Andrew Quarless and Jordan Norwood?
Norwood's going to be okay. Quarless and Mickey didn't do much yesterday, but it was only Monday. Today's Tuesday so, I think I'll know more after today. But they both tried to do a couple things (Monday) and I told them just take it easy, don't overdo it. But there's no question Norwood will be okay, unless something happens this week.
Q. Can you give us an update on your health situation? Is your leg feeling any better?
Yeah, it gets a little better. It's up and down. It's one of those things I'm going to have for a while, so I've got to live with it.
We'll see by the end of the week whether I feel I can get on the sidelines or coach upstairs. I don't think it's a big concern for the squad. It's not a big concern for me because with the staff we have, as I've said several times, it isn't a big deal.
But, you know, I'm going to have to live with it for a couple of weeks, maybe more than that. But, hey, that's why I get that big money (laughter).
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the fact that A.J. Wallace started the last game, and he was on earlier talking about the lingering hamstring problems. Is that all that's kept him out of the starting lineup?
We thought we had three corners coming into the season that had experience, could play and everything else. And when A.J. got hurt, we thought A.J. would play a little bit of offense as well as defense just as we started out with him in mind of doing that as kind of a back up guy to Derrick Williams, in case Derrick got banged up or got tired. Then he (Wallace) got the hamstring pull. So that set him back a little bit.
But (Lydell) Sargeant, he (Wallace) and (Tony) Davis, they're three good corners and they all should play, keep them fresh. Nowadays, when you have to be ready for a lot of spread, you need that extra defensive back. We're fortunate that (Drew) Astorino's come through the way he has. That's really given us two extra backs. We've got three inside guys now and three outside guys, which is a big plus for us.
Q. Are you pleased with (Navorro) Bowman handling his responsibilities this year, having to deal with the team and losing his father?
I think so. He's played well. He played Saturday a little banged up, so I think you'd have to say he's done well.
Q. Did you think the spread offense would be as successful so far as it has been? Do you think it can be successful in a place like Camp Randall Stadium?
You guys ask me such hypothetical questions, and I really haven't given much thought to it. I think it can be successful anywhere if you have the right people,in the right places, doing the right things, at the right time, as I've said a thousand times.
I think that would be up to their coaches and their coaching staff as to whether their personnel would be better suited to the spread than it is to what they're doing right now. They're playing awfully good football right now. They lost two tough games that they let slip away from them against two good football teams.
I don't know whether they'd even be interested in talking about the spread. It depends. We've gotten a little bit more of it. Not quite as much as some of these other people because we have a quarterback that can run and some of the things that he can do from the spread are suited for him.
Q. We saw Chaz Powell back there on one of the kickoff returns this past weekend. Should we expect to see more of him in that position? What do you think about what he can do for you?
I would hope we see more and more of Chaz as the season goes on. Chaz has not been a really confident kid, particularly since we've made him a wideout, and he played defense last year. We moved him over to back up (wideout), doing some of the things that Derrick Williams does as we thought we would do with A.J. But when A.J. got hurt, we switched over to Powell.
I think he should be playing more and more. He's potentially a very good football player. He doesn't have quite the little confidence or the concentration he needs, but he is only a redshirt freshman. We're asking him to do a lot of things he's not done before. So I think he'll get better and better as the season goes along, and hopefully we'll get more and more out of him.
Q. What are the advantages and disadvantages to coaching upstairs as opposed to down on the sidelines?
Actually, as far as making a significant contribution to the strategy side and on the tactical side, you're better off upstairs. You can see more. You can get, as long as we have the kind of communications we have now, you can I can talk to everybody on the sideline with the one microphone and the one set of ear phones, and they can all talk to me.
So I think that's an advantage. But the disadvantage is you like to be on the field. You like to be down there, get a feel for what's going on. If somebody's gotten a little bit out of whack and you want to sit them down and say, "come on, forget that last one, let's do this one," and so forth.
But there again, I know you guys say, "here he goes again," but I've got to go back to the fact that we have a coaching staff that's very, very sensitive to all the things that I should be sensitive to. I think they do a good job. If a kid doesn't get in as much or he makes a mistake, they kind of encourage him, bring him along and say, "let's get on with the next one."
So, I don't think there's as much of a disadvantage of being upstairs. If I said to you, "depending on the people downstairs running the show for you," it might be an advantage.
Q. Can you talk about the defensive line and the injuries and suspensions the first half of the season? And do you think Wisconsin's line is going to be their biggest test of the season so far?
I think so. Although, I think Oregon State was a little better football team than I think we thought they were.
I think this will be a real physical test for it (PSU defensive line). No question about it. Wisconsin is a very big, strong, well organized, precise, experienced offensive football team with a dynamic kid running the quarterback spot. He doesn't have the stats that a lot of these other quarterbacks have, but he really is a cocky kid and he plays well. He plays like a coach's kind of quarterback.
Obviously, they've got great backs. At least three great backs and a big, strong fullback about 260 (pounds), I think, who knocks people back. It will be a challenge for the whole defensive football team, not just the down guys.
Q. Daryll Clark earlier today was talking about facing the Wisconsin linebackers. Did you see any of their game against Ohio State over the weekend? And what did you think of how they played and neutralized Terrell Pryor in that game?
I saw the whole game. I've seen the whole game twice, both on television and on tapes because we get the tapes on Sunday night.
I think the Wisconsin linebackers can run. Both 11 (DeAndre Levy) and 2 (Jonathan Casillas), are fine outside guys and the guy inside (Jaevery McFadden) is a tough son of a gun. And I think they did a good job with Pryor. I thought they did a good job in both games. They let Michigan off the hook, and I think they let Ohio State off the hook. I think they had that game in pretty good shape. One or two mistakes here, and Pryor is a kid with a lot of ability who made a couple of tough plays for Ohio State and got them back in the ballgame.
Q. After what's happened with Wisconsin the last couple of weeks, if you wanted to sort of psycho analyze their team, you would say maybe that could be devastating to them or maybe it could be the kind of thing that will have them backs to the wall and come out really fighting. What is your instinct and your experience? What is your guess about what kind of temperature they'll have on Saturday?
You know, I have enough trouble coaching my own team without trying to coach somebody else's team. But, you're not playing some people that are aren't used to winning. You're not playing people that don't have a great tradition, don't have a lot of pride. Certainly as they look at the tapes of the two last two games they're saying to themselves, "Boy, we could have had both of those games. Let's see if we can make up for it."
You're talking about kids that are good football players, representing a great school, great tradition who are well coached. They're going to come out and play. They're going to play their game, I would think. I can't believe anything else.
But it's up to us to go out and play the best we know how to play and see which team is the better team, period. That's why we play.
Q. Some of your players placed the blame for some missed opportunities on third down last Saturday to the poor footing on the field. Is that what you saw?
Poor footing? You can blame it on everything, you know. I was just telling the coaches this morning in the old days we had a guy around here by the name of Frank Patrick who coached the backs. He had played at Pitt, played on some of the great Jock Sutherland teams. Every time a kid slipped he'd say, "Don't cut on the inside foot. Don't cut on the inside foot." I can still hear him yelling it, "Don't cut on the inside foot."
Sometimes young backs get excited and a little too cocky. I don't know whether it was the field, I really don't. Because they (Purdue) didn't slip. I think we were maybe in a hurry to make a cut and (didn't have) good balance, didn't make the cuts. I can't really tell you. You can't tell that from the tapes.
Q. The way that the Badgers use Travis Beckum, who is healthy now, is it almost like another running back? I mean they pound away with Clay and Hill.
Yeah, I think that they'll be close. I think they use Beckum really well. They use his talents. He's a big enough guy that he can cut off blocks on the back side and take an elite block with them. He's probably a 235 pounder, maybe bigger than that. He's got nice hands, can catch the ball well and runs when he catches it. So they're trying to get him the football as a receiver. They want to get him in the football game where he can block and help with their running game, so they can't keep sticking nickels in there on him.
He's not a guy that can go in there and play with a 175 or 180 pound corner on him. He's big, he can run, he can block. He's not a wideout. He's good enough to be a wideout, but they're not playing him as a wideout. They're playing him as a wideout-tight end.
Q. It was two years ago at Wisconsin that you got the broken leg. How much did that individual play kind of change your life from that point until now?
Well, I don't think it's changed my life in a dramatic way. I think it's obviously made it a little more difficult to do some things I used to enjoy doing. But that wasn't the result of the broken leg.
My (left) knee is fine. Dr. Sebastianelli did a great job with that. I don't have any problems with my left leg, it's my right leg. That's because I tried to overdo some things and it was poor judgment on my side without consulting with some people about how much I could put on my right leg.
But that part's changed me a little. I can't walk like I used to walk all the time. I used to love to get up and walk five, six miles. But I can't do that and still go out and go to practice for a couple hours. It just wears down on me. But what I have can be fixed, so we'll work on it.
Q. Question about Evan Royster. When he came here you said you liked the fact that he was a lacrosse player when you were recruiting him. What was most attractive about his lacrosse background?
I never saw him play lacrosse. I couldn't really tell you. But I know what it takes to be a good lacrosse player. He was one of the better lacrosse players in the state of Virginia that has good high school lacrosse, and he may have been the best high school lacrosse player (in Virginia).
But he's bright, and he's an excellent student. I saw some pictures (tape) of him with the football. He's got good hands. Could change directions, had good sight, could see things. He looked like he was going to be a good football player, a good running back. If he hadn't been a good running back, we felt he could have been a good corner.
Q. If he wanted to, would you consider letting him (Evan Royster) play on the Lacrosse team?
It depends. We've had other kids play lacrosse, other kids play baseball, other kids went out for track. I don't see any reason why he couldn't.
It depends on his grades. Depends on where he is depth wise and how far along he is in his development as a football player. There are a lot of things that would go in to it.
Q. I know you've said you've taken week by week off on the sideline. But has this injury affected your thinking about your future after this season?
No, it really hasn't. I don't know. It hasn't, let me just leave it at that. It really hasn't.
Q. There's been a lot of comparisons to this year's squad to '05. Does this year's team remind you of 2005 at all?
Well, I think we've got to play a couple more tough games before you can compare them. (The ) 2005 (team) was three seconds away from playing for all the marbles and won a couple of tough games.
We've got to play a couple more football games before I ...they can do a lot of things that the '05 team could do. But to put them (lifts hands) one's here, and one's here, one's like this, I don't know. I just think we've got a good young squad and we've got to just keep plugging away.
Q. If you could, one more mobility question. You used to put a lot of stock in walking through the team at the beginning of the game. How much do you miss that and how have you been able to replace that somehow, that interaction?
I try to spend a little more time in the locker room with them; walk around in the locker room during the week. I have a motor cart they drive me around in now (at practice). In fact, I can harass them more now than I did when I could walk. I can get there faster. Though, I have a lousy driver. He's going to put me in the wall one of these days (laughter).
But, I miss running out on the field. I would be dishonest if I told you (otherwise). I used to love to get out there and the crowd fired me up and the whole bit. But there are a lot worse things that can happen to you.
Q. It's the mid point of the season. I'm wondering if you can assess the progress of your defense. What areas need to be improved on most? What are you most pleased with?
I think we're playing good, solid defense. You consider the injuries we've had up front, the people we lost for games and people we lost for the season that we could have had, and as I said, some really good prospects that have been hurt. I think they've done very well.
People don't realize, but Purdue played a heck of a game against us. I think they had one penalty. No turnovers. They didn't give us anything easy. Our guys just hung in there and played them tough. One big pass was about the only play they were really out of position on. The kid made a great catch out of it.
So, I think we've played good, solid defense. I really do. I think some of these guys that came back, both (Abe) Koroma and (Maurice) Evans will help us, particularly in a game like this where you've got to have more than a couple of (down) guys at a time in there. I mean, you've got to substitute for them, because they'll wear you down.
So, I think that this (week) will be a challenge. I think most of the teams we've played, we've measured up to and could handle what they were doing. This is a little different. We're in a little different situation this week. It will be interesting to see how we handle it.
Q. Any areas specifically where you'd like to see more improvement?
I'd like to see them fluid everywhere all the time. I wish we could have come up with a couple more interceptions in the first games when we had a shot at it. But we weren't confident enough to go in there and grab the ball and knocked it away. Every once in a while we go around a block, which you've got to expect. But I think we're getting there.
Q. After talking to a lot of your players, it seems like you have a lot of thoughtful, very intelligent guys on this year's team. How does that make your job easier? What is the advantage of having so many guys who are of that caliber on the team?
Well, I think with all the things you said comes a little sense of pride of who they are, what they are, and what they can do with their lives. Football is a very big part of it right now for them, and they want to do well in it. They feel an obligation to their teammates.
So it's easy to sit them down as a group or sit them down individually and talk to them about what they can do with their lives and how they can affect other people because of what they have going for them and how they're coming together and what we can do as a team.
Sometimes you get kids that just don't understand that. They won't buy into it. They're used to being the big shot, the hot shots, they don't want to think about what they've got to do for other people. They're only interested in what's going to happen to them. So it is a lot easier.
I've said this. They've been a good team. It's been a good group of guys to be around. I really have enjoyed this team.
Q. You've been able to change up the offense, and give the defense a different look every week. How much of is that is having trust in the offensive line to be in the right spot and make the right block?
Well, I trust in the offensive line, but I also trust in Bill Kenney and Dick Anderson. I think that Galen (Hall) is the organizer, but those two guys have to go out there and make sure they (O-Line) adjust to different stunts, give them the right drills to handle stunts. Give them enough situations to where they get to recognize what looks they're going to have to block.
They've worked hard. It's a pretty good line right now. I don't think what we have to do, anybody else doesn't have to do. I think every good football team every week has to make some of those adjustments.
Q. A follow up to the offensive line. Wisconsin has five seniors and two juniors in their front seven defensively. What do they do well with their experience?
They come off the ball and knock your jock off. They don't make mistakes, all right?
They're just a good football team. Good football. If the guys you're talking about, the seniors and two juniors, they're all very big, strong guys. They're not flopping around out there. They're not big, strong fat guys. They're big, strong guys who are good athletes and agile. They adjust well. They combo block you well. They're tough to get around on pass protection. They're just they're good.
Q. Will this be your offensive line's toughest test (so far)?
Yeah, I think so. They're going to play eight guys in a box. They're going to stop your run. They've got good corners. That number 17 (Allen Langford) is a heck of a football player. Number 25 (Shane Carter), their safety is really a big time safety. As I said, they've got three good linebackers. So I think it will be a test for us to be able to move the ball.
Q. I know you had a tough trip to Madison two years ago. But is this a trip you enjoy seeing their passion for college football and everything around Madison on game day?
I had a lot of fun going out, didn't enjoy it coming home (in 2006).
I think it's a great place to play a football game. I hate to get down into some of these things that take away from the fact that there are two good football teams that are going to go out.
It sounds cornball when I start to say it. I sometimes back away from it. They're going to go out there before a great stadium, a great crowd, very enthusiastic, very partisan. And I mean, if you don't like that, why do you come to a place like Penn State?
So I think it should be a fun Saturday for a kid 18, 19, 20, 21, going against good football players on national television at night. The whole bit. You dream about those things when you're 14 or 15 years old. So now they have an opportunity, and I think it should be a heck of a night.
Q. When you look at your defensive line, you had essentially three ends in (Aaron) Maybin, (Maurice) Evans and (Josh) Gaines, do you want to just get the best players on the field? And if that means putting Gaines inside, how much of that comes into play just making sure you have your best players out there?
I don't think can you do that with defensive lines today because of how much effort it takes to rush the passer and how strong you have to be play after play. You play against a 340 pounder, 330 pounder and you're a guy like Gaines at 265 pounds, unless you've got somebody behind him, they're going to wear you down. So we've really got to have three or four guys inside, and three or four guys outside, because otherwise you can't hold it up. In the fourth quarter, they'll kill you.
Q. (Mickey) Shuler -- is it the ankle that bothered him earlier this season?
Yes, it's the same one.
Q. Will (Andrew) Szczerba go in their place then?
Szczerba would play. And (Greg) Miskinis, who is a kid from down the road here (Lewistown).
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Joe Paterno Press Conference (9/30)
JOE PATERNO PRESS CONFERENCE
Sept. 30, 2008
Q. Do you think it's harder to win on the road in the Big Ten than it has been in the past? And if so, why?
I don't really know. We've, obviously, had some problems on the road, but we've been beaten by teams that just either were better than we were, were better coached or just played better. I don't know. I have never really looked at it that way.
I think a road trip's a road trip. Whether it's in the Big Ten or you're playing somebody else. I hadn't even thought about that, to be frank with you. Obviously, you prefer to play home.
You get a crowd such as we had Saturday with all the excitement and the enthusiasm and everything like that, you'd prefer to be home.
I think if you're good and you're prepared and your kids have their heads on straight, if you're good enough, you win. If you're not good enough, you don't win.
Q. How is Jordan Norwood's hamstring? And can you talk about what he means to your offense especially when he's not there?
Well, I think he's going to be okay. Don't hold me to that. We practiced yesterday with just shells. It was a tough football game. It was a physically tough football game. We've been pushing it pretty hard. And I wanted to just give him a chance to take a blow.
So we didn't work that hard yesterday. We will work hard today, and I don't know if we can get Jordan involved in some things.
But hopefully you get some people who can do some things. Maybe not as well as he can do them, but they can do them. We can't change the whole structure of the offense of your team regardless of who gets hurt.
He's a heck of a football player. Obviously, we'd love to have him. But we're going to play our game the same way we play with or without him.
Q. Evan Royster's had three straight 100-yard games; are you surprised how well he's running the ball? He seems to be turning it outside a lot?
To be totally honest with you, yeah, I'm probably a little surprised he's had that much success. But you've got to give not only him, but the offensive line some thought in the fact that (Daryll) Clark adds another dimension where they have to be careful. They can't jump in there and go all over him if Clark pulls the ball out and runs with it.
But, yeah, I've always said he was a good back. A good, solid back, a tough kid, good eyes, good feet. A very coachable kid; very, very coachable. If he makes a mistake and you explain maybe he was too fast breaking away from the blocker or on the screen pass to have a little more patience, things like that.
He's very bright, and he's obviously a very good athlete. He was voted I think the best lacrosse player in the state of Virginia when he was in high school. And he comes from an athletic family. He has a brother who went to Stanford was a football player and so forth.
So he's done better. This is a long answer to your question. He's done somewhat better than I thought he could do. Maybe not the first two games. The first two games I thought, "hey, this kid's going to be a pretty good back."
Q. Purdue's defense has had a very difficult time against the run. When you see a situation like that, does it impact much of your game planning or are you to the point where you overstress that, or do you still try to maintain bounds?
Well, there again, Purdue played some people that maybe they felt they had to protect against the pass a little bit more than they did the run. So I'm a little bit cautious in how I would answer that.
I think we've got to go in there and be ready to have a balanced attack, because they might put eight guys in the box against us, which they have not done a lot of against some other people. So you've got to run and throw the football.
Again, you try to play your game, and hopefully your situation is broad enough and flexible enough that you can adjust to whatever may happen, and that's the way we're looking at Purdue.
Purdue's played some pretty good football teams, and some of those teams are not big-name teams but they're good solid football teams. So I think we go into this football game to do pretty much what we've done all year. We're going to try to have some balance between the run and the pass.
Q. Were you pleased with A.J. Wallace's play on Saturday, and are you hoping to get him more snaps now that he's healthy?
I think A.J. did all right. I don't know whether he did anything particularly outstanding. The other kid there that we took out for awhile, Lydell Sargeant, has been playing really well for us. But we had to give Wallace a little work because we really only have three kids that have played that much at the corner spot. But I think A.J., obviously has a lot of ability.
I don't know whether he's any better than Sargeant, but they'll both play.
Q. You spoke a little about your offensive line. Can you just assess them as the five-game hold so far?
I think they've done well. I really do. I think they've had a lot of poise and been consistent. They've played well as a unit. They haven't been perfect, obviously. But I think they're doing well.
They're not the biggest offensive line that's going to be put up on the field with a couple of teams. But they come up with the ball well. They know what they're doing. Both Dick Anderson and Bill Kenney, the two offensive line coaches, do a great job with them and get them well prepared. So, I'd have to say they've done a good job.
Q. Could you evaluate the play so far of Josh Hull and Tyrell Sales? And how far ahead are they than some of the younger guys like Nate Stupar, Michael Mauti and Chris Colasanti?
I think both Hull and Sales have played well. Of course, we take Sales out when we go to the nickel package because we want to get another pass defender in there. But I think they both have played well. And I think (Navorro) Bowman -- you didn't mention Bowman -- Bowman's played very well.
How much they are ahead of Stupar and the other younger kids, well, athletically they're not much further ahead of them. But as far as experience and wins and things, they're much ahead of them.
There's always...the younger kids are getting better each week. And the more they play, the better they'll get. The other kid, (Bani) Gbadyu is in the same boat. They're kids with a lot of athletic ability, but they've just got to play. You know, just see things and get hurt by certain things and learn from it and those kinds of things that you get from experience.
But the two kids you mentioned, they've both played well.
Q. You've spoken about the relative ease that you've had with the players on this team and some of the players have joked about busting your chops. Is it harder now to not blur the line between serious Joe and say, comical Joe?
Oh, I don't know. You've got to be yourself, I think. You can't be worried about, "hey, I shouldn't have told that joke" or "I shouldn't have horsed around with this guy." You do what you've got to do. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. If it works, great.
I don't think of it that way. I really don't. There comes times out there on the field in practice or even during the game when you want to feel like just horsing around a little bit with them because of the fact it just seems as if that's what ought to be done at that particular time, so you do it.
But I really don't have any pre-meditated program of what I'm going to do when I go into a game or when I go into practice.
But I do think the point I was trying to make with that is the fact that these kids will mature more, and I think have enough respect for their coaching staff. Not necessarily me, but the coaching staff, that you can horse around with them a little bit and they'll respond in a proper way.
Q. How far along has Mark Rubin come since he moved to safety last year?
I think he's doing really well. I thought that (Illinois) was probably as good a football game as he's played so far. He's gotten a lot more physically aggressive. He made some plays Saturday that were really aggressive football plays, which he might not have made a couple years ago.
Going back to the question about a couple of linebackers are ahead of a couple others. Well, it's tough to be aggressive if you're not really sure of yourself. You go, but you're not saying, "should I go? Shouldn't I go? Should I go all out? What can this guy do to me?" You don't have the kind of confidence that you need in order to put everything out. And it evens up that stage, and those other kids are good at that stage these days. But he's playing very, very well.
Q. You've spoken about being on the road already today. You have night games coming up later this season on the road. Is there an advantage one way or another, a disadvantage to maybe playing earlier on the road or later on the road?
I really wish I could tell you I think about those kind of things. I only think about things I can do something about. I can't say, "well, it's going to be tougher to play on the road this week because it's a night game" or "it's going to be tougher to play at home because it's going to be a 4:30 game" or something like that.
You try to evaluate the football team you're going to play. You try to put together a travel schedule to make it possible for your kids to be mentally and physically ready to play as well as they can. And you go play.
Sure you'd like to -- you'd love to have it where we used to have it where every game was a 1:30 game and you played that (time) every week and you get in a regular routine. But, that's not the way the game's played today. The game's played where one week you get this, another week you get that. And there's a time that's a factor in it when the game is played.
But there are pluses to that. There is the television; the crowd seems to be a little more enthusiastic when you play later in the day. All those kinds of things. You've got to say, "hey, here's what we've got." If you're good enough, you handle it. If you're not, you make excuses and you don't handle it.
Q. With Bowman and (Aaron) Maybin and some of the other kids that have made a lot of big plays on defense, I wonder if Josh Gaines isn't a little under the radar? Do you agree that he's a little under-appreciated in what he brings as a player and a leader and what he brings to the table?
I think that's a good point. I do think he is (under-appreciated). He's not gotten the kind of credit he should have in all the areas you talked about. He plays both defensive end and defensive tackle. We only had three kids on defense at the end spot last week.
We took a kid like (Jack) Crawford out of there (vs. Illinois). Though Crawford's going to be a great football player some day, we just played with three kids (at defensive end). We played Maybin, Gaines and Evans. And Gaines, when we needed a tackle played some tackle, defensive tackle. Played in there on the offensive tackle.
He does a good job. He's a quiet, sure, very confident kid who rubs off on the rest of the football team. He rarely makes a mistake. If he gets hurt, it's because you've got to block him. He's not unblockable. There isn't anybody that plays football that's unblockable.
So, I think the point you make is well taken. I think he is. I think he's probably not gotten the kind of credit the other kids get, because they're free-lancing most of the time on the outside.
Q. Earlier today Daryll Clark and Jared Odrick both indicated there seems to be a noticeable difference in leadership and confidence this year compared to last. Do you agree with that?
You guys get me in a spot. I hate to say something that's going to sound like it's -- that we don't appreciate what's happened.
We went to two bowl games the last two years and won both bowl games. It isn't as if we've been a bunch of bums out there. These are three good football teams in the last three years. In 2005, a couple seconds away from playing for all the marbles.
In the last two years we played good, tough teams in bowl games -- Tennessee, Texas A & M. So I think if the kids feel that, I'm glad. I think this team ought to be their team, and they ought to feel good about that.
But for me to get up here and say we've got more leadership this year than we had last year, that's not my style, really.
Q. To follow up on the question of leadership. Are there a certain set of -- you have a new group of captains this year. Have they added anything different this year? What kind of impact have they had on this group of players?
Again, I'll answer the same as I just answered. I think you better talk to the kids. I think the captains have been solid. We've talked about Gaines. Half the people around here don't know who Gaines is. But he's probably one of the stronger leaders on the team.
I think there's good leadership on this team, but I thought there was good leadership on the team the last couple of years. I'll back off on that question just like I did the last one.
Q. This is going to be the last time you coach against Joe Tiller. What are you going to miss about him?
Joe, I like Joe. I'm not going to miss coaching against him. He's a heck of a coach. He's gotten as much out of his squad as anybody's gotten in the Big Ten in the last 15 years.
He's just a good, solid guy. He's become a friend because he and his wife and my wife and I have been on trips together with the Nike people. We've gotten to be good friends. We've sat around many a night and just talked over football and other things. I'm going to miss him just being out of the profession.
Competing against him is not something that you particularly enjoy. He's a tough competitor. He gives you a big smile and the whole bit, but he's a tough guy. He's a tough guy.
So, I'm just going to miss him. I won't get to see as much of him as we're used to seeing him. But I won't miss coaching against him.
Q. You mentioned that you thought Josh Hull has played well. He's got 21 tackles in five games. You may not be aware of this, but he's been really heavily criticized by a lot of people in the media and by fans. Do you think any of that criticism is fair?
I didn't know he was being criticized. You want me to clear up what a good football player is?
Q. I'm asking do you think any of that criticism --
No, no, he's been a good, solid football player. I'm not going to get into (that) and justify criticism. I get into that all the time. People call me up and say, :Do you know what so and so said about you?" And I say, "No, I don't know what they said about me and I really don't care." And I think Josh is probably in the same boat.
Q. There's been more buzz in the last couple days about Penn State possibly being a national title contender, Big Ten title, obviously. How do you handle that hoopla with the team? What is the message you get across to them this week?
I just say we've got Purdue this week. If we don't pay attention to what's right in front of you, then all that stuff down the road isn't going to happen. We've just got to turn on, and go out there and practice well, practice hard, try to play as well as we can play. And, hopefully, we can win a couple more football games.
But, all you've got to do is point to some of the guys that were invincible. Playing two of the greatest college football teams in the country at one particular time. Now, it's not that you're struggling, but all of sudden they're not the guys everybody thinks they were two, three, four weeks ago.
I don't think that's a hard job, not on our squad anyway. It may be tough with some other people, I don't know. But I think our guys have their heads on pretty good. I think they'll be all right.
Q. What can be done to expedite Norwood's injury and to get him ready to go?
We've got the best medical staff anybody could ever have. He gets treatment every day. He's got to bring it along. The hamstring, when you're a skill player, is not easy to get over with. Because when you want to practice, you've got to go all out, otherwise, your timing gets off.
So it's just going to take time. He may be ready tomorrow for all I know, or he may be ready to go out there and test it today. We don't want to push him. It's not fair to him. I think he's got to come along when he's comfortable and the doctors have to agree with him that he's okay to go all out.
We're not going to push him. I don't think that's fair to him or the team. We've got a lot of football games to play. We've still got seven football games.
Q. How's Mickey Shuler? Where's he at?
Mickey will be okay. He played a little bit Saturday; he jumped in there. I didn't want to play him Saturday if we didn't have to. But I think Mickey should be okay now.
Q. Purdue has become known for their quick passing game. What kind of problems does that pose for a defense and how do you prepare for that?
Well, everybody's got a little bit of a quick pass game. It's just a question of how well they do it. You've got to be lined up properly. You've got to react to the ball and go from there, and you've got to tackle. The kid catches a five-yard pass, the way you get hurt is if you don't tackle.
So yeah, we've got to play our game. We're not going to change our game. Purdue does a lot of things. But they have a short pass game all day. They have done a good job with the little inside wide play. So we've just got to play our game. Be able to practice well, anticipate some things and be there when the ball's caught.
Q. You've had some trouble with fumbles this year; what have you done to address that issue?
We talk about it all the time. We have ball-carrying drills every day. But we've had troubles with them, yeah. We're constantly on top of the kids that do it.
The kid that fumbled Saturday, (Stephfon) Green, the redshirt freshman, he gets a little careless, gets a little carried away. Clark, obviously, was close, but it wasn't a fumble. He was down, but he still should protect the football. But you just talk about it and you have drills for it all the time. But you're still going to have fumbles.
Q. How much of that might be mental?
I don't think I would take any case with it right now. I don't think it's got to do with a matter of approach. Kids go into the football game knowing they have to protect the football and how important it is. So I don't really think that.
I think that you've got to give the other guy credit. Illinois has done a really good job the last two years grabbing the football and taking it away from people.
And we had stressed that when they played Lafayette - from Louisiana - when the kid grabbed the ball. Number 44 (Brit Miller) grabbed the ball, the kid ran with the football, took it and ran the other way for a touchdown. So we were very aware of that. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that didn't happen.
But you get in the pile, you try to make an extra yard, you switch a little bit, first thing you know the ball's exposed a little bit. And he was alert enough to see it and they grab it. Try to pull it out. Hopefully, you don't let that happen, but it's going to happen once in a while.
Q. Graham Zug's seen a lot of playing time recently with the injury. So what's he done in your eyes to earn that playing time?
Well, Graham Zug's a good player. The way he's practiced and the way he's played. I mean, he catches the ball well. He's a good wideout. He doesn't have quite the speed of the kids he's played behind. But he goes in there and he's very effective. He's earned the right to play.
Q. How's your leg feeling? Are you going to be all right for Saturday?
I think I'm going to be all right. My leg doesn't feel great. You know, that's a long way, Saturday. But, yeah, I'll be okay. I tell the guys on the team there is a difference between being hurt and being injured. If you're injured we don't want you to play. But if you're hurt, you better get out there. Right now I'm hurt.
Q. How pleased have you been over the years with how Jeremy Scott and John Thomas have gotten your guys ready to play? And how closely do you interact with those guys when you see something like, "this guy needs to be a little faster or this guy needs to be a little stronger?"
I try not to get too involved with them. I think they're both extremely capable people. Really committed and dedicated to getting the job done.
I'll go down there once in a while and watch the kids lift. Or I'll go down there and check the weights or I'll go down there and horse around with J.T. and Jeremy and a couple of the kids on the squad.
But I think they do a great job. I think the last thing they need from me is to go down there and start horsing around. I hate to embarrass my team, when I go down there and bench press a 400 pounds. Doesn't look very good (laughter).
Q. Back to Graham Zug for a minute. Is he related to you (laughter)?
Q. He comes from a Penn State family. He's been coming to these games all of his life. How cool and how surreal do you think it is for him to be on the field now playing where he watched? Those kind of questions you have to ask the kids. They're all different. How they react to different things.
I wish I could say, "well, I know this kid got," "well, this is the way he's reacting" or "this kid's acting this way." I think you have to talk to the kids about that.
Zug, I know he's from a Penn State family. He didn't have a scholarship. He came as a walk-on. I just gave him a scholarship this past pre-season because he's worked so hard and he's doing well. He deserves it.
I think any time anybody does something, when there are doubters that don't think he can do it. "What are you going out there for?" You could have gone to a couple of smaller schools and played and all that kind of stuff.
He shows people that, "hey, I'm better than you thought I was. " I think there's got to be some satisfaction. And that would be me. I'd be walking around with a sign, "See, I'll show you." But we're talking about Zug. He's got to be himself.
But everything he's gotten, he's deserved. Nobody gave him anything easy. And nobody, even when he came here, thought that he was going to be the football player he's become. That's hard work. He's worked hard and he's a great student. He's a heck of a kid.
Sept. 30, 2008
Q. Do you think it's harder to win on the road in the Big Ten than it has been in the past? And if so, why?
I don't really know. We've, obviously, had some problems on the road, but we've been beaten by teams that just either were better than we were, were better coached or just played better. I don't know. I have never really looked at it that way.
I think a road trip's a road trip. Whether it's in the Big Ten or you're playing somebody else. I hadn't even thought about that, to be frank with you. Obviously, you prefer to play home.
You get a crowd such as we had Saturday with all the excitement and the enthusiasm and everything like that, you'd prefer to be home.
I think if you're good and you're prepared and your kids have their heads on straight, if you're good enough, you win. If you're not good enough, you don't win.
Q. How is Jordan Norwood's hamstring? And can you talk about what he means to your offense especially when he's not there?
Well, I think he's going to be okay. Don't hold me to that. We practiced yesterday with just shells. It was a tough football game. It was a physically tough football game. We've been pushing it pretty hard. And I wanted to just give him a chance to take a blow.
So we didn't work that hard yesterday. We will work hard today, and I don't know if we can get Jordan involved in some things.
But hopefully you get some people who can do some things. Maybe not as well as he can do them, but they can do them. We can't change the whole structure of the offense of your team regardless of who gets hurt.
He's a heck of a football player. Obviously, we'd love to have him. But we're going to play our game the same way we play with or without him.
Q. Evan Royster's had three straight 100-yard games; are you surprised how well he's running the ball? He seems to be turning it outside a lot?
To be totally honest with you, yeah, I'm probably a little surprised he's had that much success. But you've got to give not only him, but the offensive line some thought in the fact that (Daryll) Clark adds another dimension where they have to be careful. They can't jump in there and go all over him if Clark pulls the ball out and runs with it.
But, yeah, I've always said he was a good back. A good, solid back, a tough kid, good eyes, good feet. A very coachable kid; very, very coachable. If he makes a mistake and you explain maybe he was too fast breaking away from the blocker or on the screen pass to have a little more patience, things like that.
He's very bright, and he's obviously a very good athlete. He was voted I think the best lacrosse player in the state of Virginia when he was in high school. And he comes from an athletic family. He has a brother who went to Stanford was a football player and so forth.
So he's done better. This is a long answer to your question. He's done somewhat better than I thought he could do. Maybe not the first two games. The first two games I thought, "hey, this kid's going to be a pretty good back."
Q. Purdue's defense has had a very difficult time against the run. When you see a situation like that, does it impact much of your game planning or are you to the point where you overstress that, or do you still try to maintain bounds?
Well, there again, Purdue played some people that maybe they felt they had to protect against the pass a little bit more than they did the run. So I'm a little bit cautious in how I would answer that.
I think we've got to go in there and be ready to have a balanced attack, because they might put eight guys in the box against us, which they have not done a lot of against some other people. So you've got to run and throw the football.
Again, you try to play your game, and hopefully your situation is broad enough and flexible enough that you can adjust to whatever may happen, and that's the way we're looking at Purdue.
Purdue's played some pretty good football teams, and some of those teams are not big-name teams but they're good solid football teams. So I think we go into this football game to do pretty much what we've done all year. We're going to try to have some balance between the run and the pass.
Q. Were you pleased with A.J. Wallace's play on Saturday, and are you hoping to get him more snaps now that he's healthy?
I think A.J. did all right. I don't know whether he did anything particularly outstanding. The other kid there that we took out for awhile, Lydell Sargeant, has been playing really well for us. But we had to give Wallace a little work because we really only have three kids that have played that much at the corner spot. But I think A.J., obviously has a lot of ability.
I don't know whether he's any better than Sargeant, but they'll both play.
Q. You spoke a little about your offensive line. Can you just assess them as the five-game hold so far?
I think they've done well. I really do. I think they've had a lot of poise and been consistent. They've played well as a unit. They haven't been perfect, obviously. But I think they're doing well.
They're not the biggest offensive line that's going to be put up on the field with a couple of teams. But they come up with the ball well. They know what they're doing. Both Dick Anderson and Bill Kenney, the two offensive line coaches, do a great job with them and get them well prepared. So, I'd have to say they've done a good job.
Q. Could you evaluate the play so far of Josh Hull and Tyrell Sales? And how far ahead are they than some of the younger guys like Nate Stupar, Michael Mauti and Chris Colasanti?
I think both Hull and Sales have played well. Of course, we take Sales out when we go to the nickel package because we want to get another pass defender in there. But I think they both have played well. And I think (Navorro) Bowman -- you didn't mention Bowman -- Bowman's played very well.
How much they are ahead of Stupar and the other younger kids, well, athletically they're not much further ahead of them. But as far as experience and wins and things, they're much ahead of them.
There's always...the younger kids are getting better each week. And the more they play, the better they'll get. The other kid, (Bani) Gbadyu is in the same boat. They're kids with a lot of athletic ability, but they've just got to play. You know, just see things and get hurt by certain things and learn from it and those kinds of things that you get from experience.
But the two kids you mentioned, they've both played well.
Q. You've spoken about the relative ease that you've had with the players on this team and some of the players have joked about busting your chops. Is it harder now to not blur the line between serious Joe and say, comical Joe?
Oh, I don't know. You've got to be yourself, I think. You can't be worried about, "hey, I shouldn't have told that joke" or "I shouldn't have horsed around with this guy." You do what you've got to do. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. If it works, great.
I don't think of it that way. I really don't. There comes times out there on the field in practice or even during the game when you want to feel like just horsing around a little bit with them because of the fact it just seems as if that's what ought to be done at that particular time, so you do it.
But I really don't have any pre-meditated program of what I'm going to do when I go into a game or when I go into practice.
But I do think the point I was trying to make with that is the fact that these kids will mature more, and I think have enough respect for their coaching staff. Not necessarily me, but the coaching staff, that you can horse around with them a little bit and they'll respond in a proper way.
Q. How far along has Mark Rubin come since he moved to safety last year?
I think he's doing really well. I thought that (Illinois) was probably as good a football game as he's played so far. He's gotten a lot more physically aggressive. He made some plays Saturday that were really aggressive football plays, which he might not have made a couple years ago.
Going back to the question about a couple of linebackers are ahead of a couple others. Well, it's tough to be aggressive if you're not really sure of yourself. You go, but you're not saying, "should I go? Shouldn't I go? Should I go all out? What can this guy do to me?" You don't have the kind of confidence that you need in order to put everything out. And it evens up that stage, and those other kids are good at that stage these days. But he's playing very, very well.
Q. You've spoken about being on the road already today. You have night games coming up later this season on the road. Is there an advantage one way or another, a disadvantage to maybe playing earlier on the road or later on the road?
I really wish I could tell you I think about those kind of things. I only think about things I can do something about. I can't say, "well, it's going to be tougher to play on the road this week because it's a night game" or "it's going to be tougher to play at home because it's going to be a 4:30 game" or something like that.
You try to evaluate the football team you're going to play. You try to put together a travel schedule to make it possible for your kids to be mentally and physically ready to play as well as they can. And you go play.
Sure you'd like to -- you'd love to have it where we used to have it where every game was a 1:30 game and you played that (time) every week and you get in a regular routine. But, that's not the way the game's played today. The game's played where one week you get this, another week you get that. And there's a time that's a factor in it when the game is played.
But there are pluses to that. There is the television; the crowd seems to be a little more enthusiastic when you play later in the day. All those kinds of things. You've got to say, "hey, here's what we've got." If you're good enough, you handle it. If you're not, you make excuses and you don't handle it.
Q. With Bowman and (Aaron) Maybin and some of the other kids that have made a lot of big plays on defense, I wonder if Josh Gaines isn't a little under the radar? Do you agree that he's a little under-appreciated in what he brings as a player and a leader and what he brings to the table?
I think that's a good point. I do think he is (under-appreciated). He's not gotten the kind of credit he should have in all the areas you talked about. He plays both defensive end and defensive tackle. We only had three kids on defense at the end spot last week.
We took a kid like (Jack) Crawford out of there (vs. Illinois). Though Crawford's going to be a great football player some day, we just played with three kids (at defensive end). We played Maybin, Gaines and Evans. And Gaines, when we needed a tackle played some tackle, defensive tackle. Played in there on the offensive tackle.
He does a good job. He's a quiet, sure, very confident kid who rubs off on the rest of the football team. He rarely makes a mistake. If he gets hurt, it's because you've got to block him. He's not unblockable. There isn't anybody that plays football that's unblockable.
So, I think the point you make is well taken. I think he is. I think he's probably not gotten the kind of credit the other kids get, because they're free-lancing most of the time on the outside.
Q. Earlier today Daryll Clark and Jared Odrick both indicated there seems to be a noticeable difference in leadership and confidence this year compared to last. Do you agree with that?
You guys get me in a spot. I hate to say something that's going to sound like it's -- that we don't appreciate what's happened.
We went to two bowl games the last two years and won both bowl games. It isn't as if we've been a bunch of bums out there. These are three good football teams in the last three years. In 2005, a couple seconds away from playing for all the marbles.
In the last two years we played good, tough teams in bowl games -- Tennessee, Texas A & M. So I think if the kids feel that, I'm glad. I think this team ought to be their team, and they ought to feel good about that.
But for me to get up here and say we've got more leadership this year than we had last year, that's not my style, really.
Q. To follow up on the question of leadership. Are there a certain set of -- you have a new group of captains this year. Have they added anything different this year? What kind of impact have they had on this group of players?
Again, I'll answer the same as I just answered. I think you better talk to the kids. I think the captains have been solid. We've talked about Gaines. Half the people around here don't know who Gaines is. But he's probably one of the stronger leaders on the team.
I think there's good leadership on this team, but I thought there was good leadership on the team the last couple of years. I'll back off on that question just like I did the last one.
Q. This is going to be the last time you coach against Joe Tiller. What are you going to miss about him?
Joe, I like Joe. I'm not going to miss coaching against him. He's a heck of a coach. He's gotten as much out of his squad as anybody's gotten in the Big Ten in the last 15 years.
He's just a good, solid guy. He's become a friend because he and his wife and my wife and I have been on trips together with the Nike people. We've gotten to be good friends. We've sat around many a night and just talked over football and other things. I'm going to miss him just being out of the profession.
Competing against him is not something that you particularly enjoy. He's a tough competitor. He gives you a big smile and the whole bit, but he's a tough guy. He's a tough guy.
So, I'm just going to miss him. I won't get to see as much of him as we're used to seeing him. But I won't miss coaching against him.
Q. You mentioned that you thought Josh Hull has played well. He's got 21 tackles in five games. You may not be aware of this, but he's been really heavily criticized by a lot of people in the media and by fans. Do you think any of that criticism is fair?
I didn't know he was being criticized. You want me to clear up what a good football player is?
Q. I'm asking do you think any of that criticism --
No, no, he's been a good, solid football player. I'm not going to get into (that) and justify criticism. I get into that all the time. People call me up and say, :Do you know what so and so said about you?" And I say, "No, I don't know what they said about me and I really don't care." And I think Josh is probably in the same boat.
Q. There's been more buzz in the last couple days about Penn State possibly being a national title contender, Big Ten title, obviously. How do you handle that hoopla with the team? What is the message you get across to them this week?
I just say we've got Purdue this week. If we don't pay attention to what's right in front of you, then all that stuff down the road isn't going to happen. We've just got to turn on, and go out there and practice well, practice hard, try to play as well as we can play. And, hopefully, we can win a couple more football games.
But, all you've got to do is point to some of the guys that were invincible. Playing two of the greatest college football teams in the country at one particular time. Now, it's not that you're struggling, but all of sudden they're not the guys everybody thinks they were two, three, four weeks ago.
I don't think that's a hard job, not on our squad anyway. It may be tough with some other people, I don't know. But I think our guys have their heads on pretty good. I think they'll be all right.
Q. What can be done to expedite Norwood's injury and to get him ready to go?
We've got the best medical staff anybody could ever have. He gets treatment every day. He's got to bring it along. The hamstring, when you're a skill player, is not easy to get over with. Because when you want to practice, you've got to go all out, otherwise, your timing gets off.
So it's just going to take time. He may be ready tomorrow for all I know, or he may be ready to go out there and test it today. We don't want to push him. It's not fair to him. I think he's got to come along when he's comfortable and the doctors have to agree with him that he's okay to go all out.
We're not going to push him. I don't think that's fair to him or the team. We've got a lot of football games to play. We've still got seven football games.
Q. How's Mickey Shuler? Where's he at?
Mickey will be okay. He played a little bit Saturday; he jumped in there. I didn't want to play him Saturday if we didn't have to. But I think Mickey should be okay now.
Q. Purdue has become known for their quick passing game. What kind of problems does that pose for a defense and how do you prepare for that?
Well, everybody's got a little bit of a quick pass game. It's just a question of how well they do it. You've got to be lined up properly. You've got to react to the ball and go from there, and you've got to tackle. The kid catches a five-yard pass, the way you get hurt is if you don't tackle.
So yeah, we've got to play our game. We're not going to change our game. Purdue does a lot of things. But they have a short pass game all day. They have done a good job with the little inside wide play. So we've just got to play our game. Be able to practice well, anticipate some things and be there when the ball's caught.
Q. You've had some trouble with fumbles this year; what have you done to address that issue?
We talk about it all the time. We have ball-carrying drills every day. But we've had troubles with them, yeah. We're constantly on top of the kids that do it.
The kid that fumbled Saturday, (Stephfon) Green, the redshirt freshman, he gets a little careless, gets a little carried away. Clark, obviously, was close, but it wasn't a fumble. He was down, but he still should protect the football. But you just talk about it and you have drills for it all the time. But you're still going to have fumbles.
Q. How much of that might be mental?
I don't think I would take any case with it right now. I don't think it's got to do with a matter of approach. Kids go into the football game knowing they have to protect the football and how important it is. So I don't really think that.
I think that you've got to give the other guy credit. Illinois has done a really good job the last two years grabbing the football and taking it away from people.
And we had stressed that when they played Lafayette - from Louisiana - when the kid grabbed the ball. Number 44 (Brit Miller) grabbed the ball, the kid ran with the football, took it and ran the other way for a touchdown. So we were very aware of that. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that didn't happen.
But you get in the pile, you try to make an extra yard, you switch a little bit, first thing you know the ball's exposed a little bit. And he was alert enough to see it and they grab it. Try to pull it out. Hopefully, you don't let that happen, but it's going to happen once in a while.
Q. Graham Zug's seen a lot of playing time recently with the injury. So what's he done in your eyes to earn that playing time?
Well, Graham Zug's a good player. The way he's practiced and the way he's played. I mean, he catches the ball well. He's a good wideout. He doesn't have quite the speed of the kids he's played behind. But he goes in there and he's very effective. He's earned the right to play.
Q. How's your leg feeling? Are you going to be all right for Saturday?
I think I'm going to be all right. My leg doesn't feel great. You know, that's a long way, Saturday. But, yeah, I'll be okay. I tell the guys on the team there is a difference between being hurt and being injured. If you're injured we don't want you to play. But if you're hurt, you better get out there. Right now I'm hurt.
Q. How pleased have you been over the years with how Jeremy Scott and John Thomas have gotten your guys ready to play? And how closely do you interact with those guys when you see something like, "this guy needs to be a little faster or this guy needs to be a little stronger?"
I try not to get too involved with them. I think they're both extremely capable people. Really committed and dedicated to getting the job done.
I'll go down there once in a while and watch the kids lift. Or I'll go down there and check the weights or I'll go down there and horse around with J.T. and Jeremy and a couple of the kids on the squad.
But I think they do a great job. I think the last thing they need from me is to go down there and start horsing around. I hate to embarrass my team, when I go down there and bench press a 400 pounds. Doesn't look very good (laughter).
Q. Back to Graham Zug for a minute. Is he related to you (laughter)?
Q. He comes from a Penn State family. He's been coming to these games all of his life. How cool and how surreal do you think it is for him to be on the field now playing where he watched? Those kind of questions you have to ask the kids. They're all different. How they react to different things.
I wish I could say, "well, I know this kid got," "well, this is the way he's reacting" or "this kid's acting this way." I think you have to talk to the kids about that.
Zug, I know he's from a Penn State family. He didn't have a scholarship. He came as a walk-on. I just gave him a scholarship this past pre-season because he's worked so hard and he's doing well. He deserves it.
I think any time anybody does something, when there are doubters that don't think he can do it. "What are you going out there for?" You could have gone to a couple of smaller schools and played and all that kind of stuff.
He shows people that, "hey, I'm better than you thought I was. " I think there's got to be some satisfaction. And that would be me. I'd be walking around with a sign, "See, I'll show you." But we're talking about Zug. He's got to be himself.
But everything he's gotten, he's deserved. Nobody gave him anything easy. And nobody, even when he came here, thought that he was going to be the football player he's become. That's hard work. He's worked hard and he's a great student. He's a heck of a kid.
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