Everything SMU players said after loss to Penn State

SMU players spoke with the media following the Mustangs losing 38-10 to Penn State in the 1st round of the College Football Playoff. Here’s what they had to say.

Q. This one’s — Bill Embody, On The Pony Express. This one is for Rod. Not the way you want to have your SMU career end, but can you put into words what this season has meant to you as a guy from Dallas and just going on this written to the playoff?

RODERICK DANIELS JR.: It was a fun journey being from Dallas and playing in the College Football Playoffs the first year with the 12 team playoffs and I was basically blessed to be able to do it with these guys up here and everything we did this season, I’m going to remember this year for a very long time, one of my favorite years of my life and just move on and hope my boy Kevin keeps doing what he’s doing next year.

Q. Steve, SB Nation. Elijah, how did that defensive start forcing two punts, getting those two fourth down stops kind of really energize your unit and kind of keep you guys in that game for a bit?

ELIJAH ROBERTS: Yeah, it was good to get a good start like that. We wish we could have taken the ball away a little bit more often early on in the beginning, you know, help put our offense in better positions, but, you know, I felt like defense came out ready to play. We were ready to have the game and at the beginning of the game, you were able to do see that a little bit.

Q. Jacob Richman, Lone Star Live. Elijah, what do you hope people will remember about this team and about this defense when they look back at it?

ELIJAH ROBERTS: I want people to just remember how much fin we had on the field together, like, I honestly know that watching us, offense, defense, that we look like we’re having so much fun. From the beginning of the season all the way up until the last second we just played. I just want people to understand how hard we played, how much we really, like, love this game and put our time into this. We have a team that’s very dedicated, all the way from the coaching staff to the even the media people here. It’s just — we have such a great staff and like you said before, our program is going to be in a good place in the next few years for sure.

Q. All season we’ve asked you guys about what different games said in terms of a statement for the growth of this program and obviously you guys are sitting here after a game you didn’t get the result you wanted, but when you think about this season, maybe for Elijah and Roderick, what does this season say about the group that Kevin is bringing back next year and what SMU can be?

RODERICK DANIELS JR.: I would say he brung us here already, so he already know what it’s like when he do come back next year and he’ll be able to lead those guys. He’s a great leader and I know they’re going to be in good hands when they’re with Kevin next year so he knows what he’s doing and they’re going to be all right.

ELIJAH ROBERTS: Yeah, like Junior said, it’s hard not to love SMU now. Just on the outside looking in, I know today didn’t go as planned but if you’re a recruit, if you’re a transfer or something like that and you really want to have a special place to come play, like why not here? We’re just on the rise right now. Kevin will be back. We got a lot of guys coming back on the team, so SMU will be good for sure.

Q. And Elijah, the ride for you to come in as kind of a tweener two years ago and to then emerge as one of the better defensive players in college football, what’s your ride been like and just what are your emotions right now?

ELIJAH ROBERTS: Yeah, I told all the coaches after the game, man, thank you guys for trusting in me and bringing me here. I was in the portal. I didn’t really have a lot of options. I did, like, here and there but it was just to be a backup. Like teams would tell me, hey, we’ll bring you in but you’re going to be a backup. Just having that, like, opportunity here. I thanked every coach, every person who I shook hands with, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for help, being in this chapter of my life and thank you for changing my life, you know. I really appreciate this program forever, man, and this has honestly been the greatest two years I’ve had playing football. Ever.

Q. Coach Lashlee was quick to say that the weather didn’t impact the outcome because obviously both sides had to play in it, but, Kevin, how hard was it just to throw the ball in these kind of conditions? And for the rest of you, did the conditions impact any part of your game even though it impacted Penn State as well, did it impact the way you guys were able to perform?

ELIJAH ROBERTS: I don’t think so. I know as far as us up front, the D-linemen, kind of getting that first pop and that first strike, your hands kind of got to get a little adjusted but honestly, everybody was just so ready to play, I don’t think it affected us at all.

Q. Steven Landsdale, Pony Fans. As transfers from Temple and Michigan, you guys at least had played in weather like this before. Did you talk to any of your teammates about how to block out the conditions or handle them and deal with what you’re facing today?

MATTHEW HIBNER: Yeah, I mean, for the most part, it’s really just the mentality. I mean, there’s little things you can do as far as latex gloves under the gloves, things like that, but it wasn’t raining. It wasn’t snowing. It wasn’t anything crazy. It was partly cloudy most of the day. Once you get out on the field and you start playing, it just feels like every other game. For me, at least, the weather’s never really been a factor and I think most of the team felt pretty much the same way.

Q. Kobe, just what are your thoughts on your career just coming from kind of a late addition from Temple and coming into this program and emerging as not only a leader, but one of the best players on the defense and just how do you kind of bounce between that and just the ride coming to an end?

KOBE WILSON: Um, I just think that growth has been a big portion of my career, so me growing as a player as well as a man, every year has been progression for me and the coaching staff has played a big part in that by developing me as a player and a man and I felt like that shows a lot about SMU and the culture they set because I wasn’t — like I wasn’t starting at Temple. When I got to SMU, I got the starting role and then I started producing and that’s not because of me, but because they put me through that developmental stage and they got me better to where I am today, so I just felt like growth has been tremendous throughout these years.

Q. Matt, Chris from The Athletic. The first couple of drives, the fourth down play, the pick sixes, how frustrating was that as an offense that you guys are kind of moving the ball and not finishing drives and getting it down and actually giving up points.

MATTHEW HIBNER: Yeah, definitely frustrating. We know who we are as an offense and we didn’t display who we were as an offense today and we all know that. Everybody made mistakes, everybody could have played better. It’ll be fun to go back and watch the film and learn from it all, but, you know, it is disheartening that we came out and started a little bit slow. Did the same thing against Clemson. It’ll be something to reflect on and really evaluate how we can be really intentional about fixing that issue in the future.

Q. Jacob Richman, Lone Star Live. For both of you, what do you hope that people will remember about this team for years to come when they look back on what you guys did this year?

KOBE WILSON: I just hope they remember how hard we played on that field and, like, we never gave up. That first half was like 28-0, but then they only ended up scoring ten points and we scored ten points so just how hard we played on that field from game one to this game and how much we love each other and how great this coaching staff has done with us. I hope they just remember that and the culture that we brought back to SMU. I felt like we brought that swagger back here and now more people are going to want to come here rather than the Baylors, the TCUs, the whatever, so we just hope that people take that into account and they just keep supporting us and keep loving on us.

Q. You mentioned the 28-point margin at halftime, but like Coach Lashlee was saying, a lot of what happened in the first half was self-inflicted. I wonder if you could share at all anything about the conversations in the locker room as you guys tried to regroup and gather yourselves for the second eh half.

MATTHEW HIBNER: Yeah, I mean, even at half, it wasn’t necessarily about making adjustments. I mean, Penn State’s obviously a great defense, and they were able to make things harder for us and, you know, sort of putting us in situations where turning the ball over was more likely to happen, but at the end of the day, we just needed to get back to, you know, just the fundamentals of football, running through our plays, doing it, executing better. I felt like we did that to an extent. It just should have came out and did it in the first half.