What did Utah's players and coaches have to say about Penn State?
Penn State will finish out its season later today when they face eighth-ranked Utah in the Rose Bowl. Throughout the week, players from both teams have been made available to the media, meaning there’s no shortage of thoughts and opinions on how today’s game will play out.
Below are quotes from Utah’s offensive and defensive players and staff.
Utah Defensive Coaches/Players
Offensive coordinator Morgan Scalley
Is there an offense you’ve faced this year that’s similar to Penn State in any way?
ScalIey: It’s going to be a great match-up. I think both teams are fairly even in the match-up, and it’s going to be a physical battle, and we’re excited for it. I look across at that film and what I see is a well-coached team, a team that prides themselves in physicality, running the football, a smart quarterback that understands coverages and a coaching staff that pays attention to the details. Much respect for Penn State and what they do.
Defensive Tackle Junior Tafuna
What have you seen from Penn State on tape so far?
Tafuna: You know, Penn State, they’re an amazing team. Offensive line, since I’m a defensive tackle, so I’d say the offensive line. I’d say they work great together as a group as well as individually. Really stout, really physical, as well, too.
I think also behind them, Clifford the quarterback and then the running back is very explosive, too, can make explosive things happen. I just think the backfield, up front, they’re great. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, the best challenge all year for us, and man, we’re humbled to be able to have this opportunity.
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You mentioned the physicality (indiscernible), the freshmen running backs Penn State has, that’s a big part of their offense this year. Has anything stood out when you watch those guys, anything may be different between the two backs you’ve noticed?
Hubert: Not entirely. I think that they’re aggressive. They fight for every yard that they get. And they don’t give up. They’re like Walter Payton in the sense that they’re not going to go out of bounds. They’re going to get every yard they can get. So yeah, they’re impressive and especially to be freshmen, I’m interested to see how they do the rest of their careers.
Speaking of offense, the Penn State offense, what have you seen from film from them? What are some things maybe you guys are expecting in this game at the Rose Bowl?
Reid: They’re a really good offense. I think across the board. O-line, running backs, quarterbacks and receivers, they’re all really good. So we’re excited for the challenge. Just, yeah, it’s going to be a good game, so we’re excited.
When you look at film and everything, a lot of people have said these two programs kind of mirror each other in how they approach the game. Do you see that, and is that a fair representation of how this is?
Reid: Definitely. I think we had heard that from the beginning when we found out that we were going to play Penn State. And as I have continued to watch film and study, prepare for the game, I’ve seen a lot of carry-over. I haven’t watched a lot of their defense. I’ve heard their defense is legit and tough, and I feel like that’s similar to our program.
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Utah Offensive Coaches/Players
Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig
You’ve got experience in this conference. How does Penn State relate to a typical defense in this conference?
Ludwig: I think the defense we’re facing in Penn State is elite, their national rankings are off the chart in every statistical category. That one that jumps out at me is they are the No. 1 defense in the country in creating havoc, which is turnovers, sacks, PBUs, hits on the quarterback. They have very good players, very sophisticated scheme. I know Coach Diaz in his first year has done a phenomenal job with that group. It’s the best defense we’ve seen this year without a doubt.
Do any players on the Penn State defense stick out to you?
Ludwig: Yeah, they all stick out to you. It’s a very well-coached football team. They’re very disruptive as a unit. That definitely has our attention. I know No. 11, the linebacker, is a premier player in the country, and he wreaks havoc in everything he does. That would be the one player that I would single out that jumps off the screen at me.
After watching Penn State on film, what’s something that sticks out to you?
Ludwig: Their aggressiveness. They do a great job rerouting physicality with the wide receivers. We have to do a great job of releasing. They have excellent ball skills, and when they are playing off coverage, they do a great job of getting their foot in the ground and breaking and driving on the receiver and the ball, but I’ve got great respect for the way they play and how they’re coached.
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Cam spoke super highly of Abdul Carter, No. 11 on Penn State’s defense. I was wondering what you have seen from his film and how you work around him.
Ludwig: Well, it’s hard to work around anybody. There’s some plays we’re going to try to work away from him and some plays we want to go right at him, but I’ve got great respect for the way he plays. That guy creates havoc snap in and snap out so we’ve got great awareness of 11, great respect for what he does.
But we’re not game planning around him by any means because they move him around so much, so we’ve just got to make it go.
Your quarterback and your offensive coordinator have mentioned Penn State’s No. 11 as a guy that sticks out. What have you seen from him on the tape, and what has stuck out to you about him and anybody else that you’ve kind of noticed on Penn State from watching film?
Bernard: I think No. 11, he’s a great player. He knows how to use his size. He knows how to get around the line. He’s very physical. That’s why we’ve just got to go at him.
We don’t think he wants to be hit so many times, so that’s our game plan. We’re just going to hit him, hit anybody else who tries to hit Cam. That’s the game plan. Also I was looking at, I think, 16 and 23, they’re pretty good players, as well. That’s the same game plan. We’ve just got to go straight at them.
We say this all the time, nobody wants to play with us, and that’s our mentality, that’s our mantra, and we’re going to make them not want to play with us.
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What are your impressions of the Penn State defense? And do they remind you of anybody you’ve played this season?
Rising: I think they do some different things. They have a great athletic front seven and the secondary I think is very good. They have a corner out but the guys that are behind them are good players and they will step up. It’s going to be a fun game for us.
We’ve seen Penn State, Manny Diaz with his blitz packages, they have done it a good bit and they have all been a blitz-heavy team. What stand out to you when you see that? Do you think they pressure a lot?
Rising: Absolutely. When they do it, they like to bring in their dime packages so that they have the fastest guys on the field. I think what they do is some very good things and it makes it really hard on the offense because they – just as much as they come, they drop out into coverage, so that’s why you’ve got to find that happy medium and just be able to adjust to whatever they want to do.
Penn State, their defense, Andy called them elite; the best defense you’ll face this year.
Rising: I agree. I think they do some things top to bottom on the defense. Their front seven is fast and they know how to get to the quarterback and just disrupt up front and also do a good job getting hands on balls up front.
So that, with a great secondary, is an elite level defense, so I think I agree with what coach was saying.
