It's not like coach Paterno forgot how to coach football. |
It's not something we want to go in there and repeat. We want to take a different mindset, to go in with a whole different mentality and aggressiveness. |
It's really important and that's what we've been trying to focus on and let them understand that. Where this program goes after this game whether we win or lose is really going to be on them. |
Last year, we'd hang close in games, but we couldn't put together those big plays when we needed them. We'd been getting them from our passing game this year, and today we got it from the running game. |
Part of why Tony is so hard to tackle is that he's a big guy and you don't know what to expect. Sometimes he'll make a move and go by you or sometimes he'll try to run you over. As a defender, he keeps you guessing. I guess I have to accept being run over sometimes. |
Paul, they say you've been getting stronger down here by lifting your trophies. |
Physically I've been able to add a different aspect to my game by playing the pass and creating some turnovers, ... I definitely consider it a blessing to have been able to sit back and increase aspects of my game like my strength, my speed and the way I play the ball. |
Sometimes, when I go back home, they don't see us as much of a threat. I always take that as an insult. I come back, and I make sure to tell my teammates about that. |
That's why we're trying to be leaders and make sure that it doesn't happen the way it did the last bowl game where all of the seniors left and all the older guys went to the NFL. They didn't let the young guys know how important it was to keep this thing going. |
The big change of pace has been learning how to work through the sweat and being able to drink water, things like that. |
There are a lot of guys that are playing now for them that I played all the time in high school and hung out with around town in Cleveland, ... There's a ton of bragging rights at stake. |
There's a big difference from last year. Last year, we really couldn't make any big plays. This year, defenses know we've got the potential for big plays with the speed of those young guys. |
They're gonna make some athletic plays, and that's gonna be a challenge. Just making sure that once they catch the ball, they're coming down, that'll be the biggest deal. |
They're really gonna be set against not losing two straight home games. |
This is a huge game for our team. It will show everybody where we rank. |