Is the weather a concern for SMU Saturday? Rhett Lashlee talks that, Penn State stars, and more

Penn State and SMU meet on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. It will be cold. That much is a guarantee, as temps won’t climb out of the 30s and the wind chill will likely make it feel colder than it actually is on a day with a high of 27 degrees and low of 12. One would have to be living under a rock to not realize how much conversation there has and will continue to be this week about a southern team like the Mustangs coming north. Of course, it gets cold in University Park, Tex., too. Perhaps not like in University Park, Pa. But, regardless, Rhett Lashlee, the third-year leader of the 11 seed in this year’s 12-team tournament, refused to make it into the big deal it is externally when asked how his team is preparing for it.

“They’re playing in the same weather we are,” Lashlee said. “They have to play in it just like we do. And I don’t think they’ve played a game at home on Dec. 21, either. I don’t think the weather is a big deal. Both teams are playing in the same conditions. We know it’s going to be really cold. It’s our 11 vs. their 11 that will decide the game.”

You can read everything else Lashlee said about Penn State on Tuesday and watch video of his news conference below courtesy of BWI sister site On The Pony Express.

On how SMU is preparing for the expected environment at Beaver Stadium

“We’ll do the best we can,” Lashlee said. “We went indoor and cranked up the noise for half of practice. We do the best we can. We’ve not been in this environment. There’s nothing you can do to prepare for it.  You have to get there, adjust for it, and go compete. It’s a huge home field advantage, and they earned the right to be at home.”

On Lions defensive end Abdul Carter

“Abdul Carter is the best defensive player we played during my time at SMU, based on the film I’ve seen,” Lashlee said. He has been the Mustangs’ leader since 2022. “So he’s a problem. And the thing is, he’s not the only problem. They’re really good on defense. The other couple of ends are really special. Like, if they didn’t have Abdul, we’d be worried about them. We are worried about them. But, Abdul is so dominant. Their team speed stands out on defense. So you know, you watch, like last year, he played more linebacker. So you watch, games from last year, and you see him at linebacker, and he is just incredible. He’s physical. He flies around and makes plays, and then they move him to defensive end this year, and he’s got as good of a get off as anybody in college football.

“There’s a reason he’s a top five, top 10 pick in the upcoming draft. And you know, on top of it, our tackles have to deal with the noise of trying to hear the snap count. And so there’s a lot of things in his favor that he doesn’t need, on top of the fact that he’s just probably as talented a pass rusher as there is. But that’s not all he is. He’s an all around player, and what really stands out to me is how his motor, he plays the game the right way. You got a lot of respect for how hard he plays. He’ll chase down plays from the backside.”

On Penn State tight end Tyler Warren

“They’re tight end, I don’t know if you defend him,” Lashlee said. “I think you try to just contain him and slow him down a little bit. He’s going to get his. He’s a matchup problem. If you play man, he’s definitely a matchup problem. If you play zone, he’s still a matchup problem because he’s so big, and all his own becomes man once the ball is in the air anyways. And whether you have one guy, two guys on him, they do a really good job of moving him around. he plays a bunch of different places. It’s kind of like when we had a Rashee Rice. He was going to get his catches.

“So, obviously, we hope that we can keep them from being touchdowns and explosives. But he’s special. There’s a reason he won the Mackey Award and he can do all the things he can do. He’s got a big time NFL career ahead of him. We definitely got to be aware of where he is. Rarely do you see a tight end where the offense kind of runs through them. And to some degree, that’s what they do with him. So I don’t think we’re going to stop him by any means. But, maybe we can make it hard on him, maybe we can slow him down. Maybe we can keep him from just totally dominating the game and and try to make some other guys have to make some plays.”

On what Penn State running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen bring to the table

“We have a challenge,” Lashlee said. “When you run for 300 yards on Oregon, you’re pretty good. And I remember recruiting Katron Allen when we were at Miami when he was coming out of high school. Big, physical back. And both those guys have done a really nice job for them. They compliment each other with that one-two punch. I think what they do on offense so well is, and then I know their OC’s talked about it, it’s kind of what I grew up under Gus Malzahn learning the philosophy of, ‘look we’re going to do what we do.’

“They end up running the same couple of run plays over and over. It’s just they window-dress it and get to it a bunch of different ways. And so whether they shift in motion or give you unique pictures to still run inside zone or counter or stretch or whatever the run plays are. To them, they’re running the same plays over and over again. But to the defense, they’re presenting different pictures. And I think that’s what good offenses do. And so that’s the challenge.

More: SMU coach Rhett Lashlee on having his backup QB against Penn State: ‘Having that experience is definitely a plus for us’

“It’s one thing to say, ‘Okay, we got to stop really good players with a really good o-line, and they have a big time tight end that can hurt you and play action and a quarterback, etc.’ So it’s hard to just sell out to the run. That’s hard enough. But then when they’re going to give you different pictures, they’re going to move and shift and do all the things they do to just gain a slight advantage here there, it makes it even tougher. But that’s the assignment. This game is going to come down to the same thing most of our games have come down to.

“The more physical team who can win the run game, the team that can value the football and the turnover margin, and the team that can be the most explosive, or limit explosives, usually is going to win the football game. And this one’s going to be no different. So we got to find a way to slow those guys down and not let them just control the game flow at all times with what they want to do on offense.”