Dec. 30, 2008

Penn State Nittany Lions - Media Day Quotes
December 29, 2008
Los Angeles Downtown Marriott

Head Coach Joe Paterno
Opening Statement...
"It's good to be here. It has been a great week. I think we're ready to play. We'll find out in a couple days. It's a great challenge to play a team as well coached as Southern California is and as talented they are. It's fun to watch them because they play with such enthusiasm. They are so aware of where they are. We're looking forward to it. Up to a point, we'll find out."

On the break between the Rose Bowl Game and the end of the Big Ten Conference season...
"I don't particularly like the arrangement where the Big Ten doesn't play any games. We were through before Thanksgiving. Everybody is playing. It's as if the Big Ten goes into hibernation and these other teams are competing and competing against good teams. I think we're at a little bit of a disadvantage but I don't think that will really have an effect where it will have an impact on the outcome of the game. I think Southern California, the more you watch them, the more you are impressed with them. I think Southern California is one of the four-five best teams in the country, without a doubt. They may be the best team in the country. Certainly the best coached or better coached than anybody. I think the six weeks off bothers me a little bit. I think Southern California, playing a home game, hasn't had quite the logistics problems we have had, as far as getting back and forth to practice. We spend almost two hours a day sitting in a bus going back and forth to practice, which has bothered me more than anything. I'd like to give these kids a chance to have fun. We're ready to play. If we get licked, it's because Southern Cal is a better team."

On the variability of one play in a football game...
"Football games are a funny thing. There will be 140 to 150 plays per game, any one of which, if someone gets a little careless with the football or has a foolish penalty in the clutch, if it's a close ball game, will have a bearing on it. I watched a little bit of the Missouri vs. Northwestern game last night and Northwestern was pretty much in control of things. They kicked the ball off before the half and [Jeremy Maclin] run the ball back 80 yards. After half time it was a different ball game. So I think that any one play have something to do with the eventual outcome [of the game]. What that play is going to be? You'd have to be Nostradamus to know."

On critics of the Big Ten's bowl performances...
"Some years you have teams who maybe play a little better in bowl games. We've won three straight bowl games as a Big Ten member. We were in a BCS bowl game [Orange Bowl] three years ago and we won that one. Whether you have to carry the whole conference on your back, I haven't thought of it that way. I think its Penn State playing against Southern California. It's a real challenge for us regardless of whether we are a Big Ten school or not a Big Ten school. I hope we can play well and our kids can walk away from the game saying we gave it our best shot."

On the ability of USC to go on a scoring run...
"You watch so much football on television these days, one [team] blends into another. Quarterback gets hot and all of a sudden they're on a streak. I think the observation of Southern California is absolutely right. If they get you on the ropes and they get a couple things going. Hang on. What Pete [Carroll] does so well, you never know if they are going to be in a single back [formation] or double back, [because] they do it with the same personnel. Once they get you a little of place they know exactly what to do with it. You don't know if a tight end is a tight end or if he is really a slot back. If they get you on a run, they smell blood. Another team like it, off the top of my head, we probably played a couple. I'd be making it up if I told you now I really knew."

On signing a three-year contract extension...
"I think the university was very gracious. They wanted to put something in writing. We prolong the thing until it became a recruiting [hindrance]. Kids wanted to know. We needed a contract. Penn State is a little different. This thing called loyalty permeates almost everything I've done at the University. Loyalty to coaches, loyalty to faculty, loyalty to my assistant coaches. It never really was a factor for me. Finally I had a little bit of time. I thought maybe we should put something down so we can tell the media I've signed a contract. They put something in writing and they did it. It was nothing we really needed. It has helped in the sense that some kids know when I tell them that I'll be around three, four or five more years that it is probably a reality."

On USC's defense...
"[USC's defense] is right up there at the top. We've played a great defensive game in 1978 when we played Alabama in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship. John Majors, the old coach at Pitt and then at Tennessee, said it was the best defensive football game he has even seen. It was pretty close. Southern California hustles. They get good position. They take advantage of any mistake you make. They are very impressive. They have big kids who can run. [Brian] Cushing, a kid we tried hard to get. The outside linebacker, the middle linebacker, two safeties, you are looking at kids big enough to play linebacker. That can do some things that they can do in the secondary, rush the passer well. They're smart. They come off blocks well. They're one of the better defensive teams I've ever seen. They've been consistent. Every time you give up 11 touchdowns in a year against some of the teams they have played. You have played darn good defense. They do everything well. If you make a mistake they hurt you . Tie that in with the kicking game. That kid kicks off the ball and you start from your 20. It's a formidable combination of their great kicking game and their defense. Smart tough kids who come after you after every down. They don't let up. They come after you after every blow."

Wide Receiver Deon Butler
On the success he has had at Penn State…
“I never questioned my ability once I got here. Penn State was the right place for me. I knew I could succeed. I never really thought I would have a record-breaking season. I knew I could contribute to a Division I team, but maybe not to this extent.”

On choosing to attend Penn State…
“I fell in love with it. The crowd and the fans are great. My teammates, I’ve loved them all since I’ve been here. Coach Paterno is a legend. All of those little factors are what made me come to Penn State.”

On what it means to be the all-time leading receiver in Penn State history…
“It means a lot when I step back and look at the list and see my name up there with the other great players that have had successful careers in the NFL. When the season ends I will be able to reflect on it a little more.”

Quarterback Daryll Clark
On USC’s defense…
“The thing that stands out about them is their speed and how big they are and how intense they play. All around, they are a real solid defense.”

“This is a different team than [other teams Penn State has faced]. They’re a little bigger, a little stronger. It is a real intense football team. You can’t beat these guys by being tricky. You just have to line-up and play.”

“The entire defensive unit [stands out]. You have 11 guys get after the ball as soon as it’s thrown or handed off. They’re really intense. They have speed. The stats don’t lie.”

On watching film to prepare…
“You watched games to see how other quarterbacks play against this team. You evaluate them and see how you will play against them. Those teams are different teams. That is where it stops.”

On keeping focused…
“Once the game is around the corner, you stop paying attention to the stats that are shown on TV and whatever is said outside the locker room and the team meetings. You just put everything together and play your game. You can’t worry about what they’ve done in past years or throughout the season. They’re playing one more game and you are playing one more game. You’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

On USC safety Taylor Mays…
“He’s a beast. He can really run fast. He can cover a lot of ground. I am going to have to work my eyes a little bit and see if he is looking off.”

Defensive Tackle Abe Koroma
On the advice the coaches have given the team…
“The coaches told us to step back and focus on the things we needed to do [to be successful]. There’s not a straight path to it. We just try to come out here and do the right things in the right way.”

On more media attention being given to USC’s defense…
“I’m not surprised they are not talking about us. We know what we have to do. We see what is going on in the media and on TV, but we don’t pay attention to that. When the ball kicks off [in the Rose Bowl Game], we’ve got a job to do.”

Linebacker Sean Lee
On coming to the Rose Bowl injured…
“It’s a dream to play in the Rose Bowl. We were at the Lawry’s Beef Bowl and they played a big highlight film and right then, [I was] jealous because I wanted to be on the field. At the same time these are the kids I came in with and they’ve worked extremely hard. To see all their hard work pay off has been really rewarding.”

On wanting to play…
“It’s tough and I’ll be at practice, pacing back and forth, wanting to be on the field. Especially now, physically, I feel a lot better. That’s really tough.”

On coaching this season…
“If you go through the process of game planning against a team, you watch them during the game and how they try to attack you. You just get used to the looks they throw at you. I feel like, now, I can go into a film session and watch a certain team we’ve played three years in a row and know exactly what they’re going to try to do and what they’ve done in the past.”

Aaron Maybin
On the NFL draft…
“I’m not thinking about the [NFL] draft right now. Everything is focused on USC. I’m not thinking about next year at this point. Everything I’m focused on has to do with the Rose Bowl [game]. I don’t want the focus to be on me at this point. The team has worked very hard to get to the point where we are at right now and to be in the position to play such a great game. I’ll be doing my teammates a disservice if I brought the attention to myself. I just want to get this game out of the way and then think about it.”

On the assessment of the season…
“Aside from the [Iowa] game, we played very well. We lived up to our expectations. Obviously there is still room for improvement and there is a lot we could do differently. We’re hoping this game could take us to the next level.”

Safety Anthony Scirrotto
On looking back at his career at Penn State…
“It has been great. There has been a lot of learning. There have been good times and bad times, but that is what this whole college experience is all about. To end it [his career] playing in the Rose Bowl Game is awesome.”

On the talk and distractions that the Rose Bowl Game brings to a team…
“We are going to hear it, we know it is going to be there, but we just channel it out. We know what we are here for and that is to play a game. We aren’t doing anything but studying film and practicing. We put all of that other stuff to the side and let everyone else worry about it. We are just here to play.”

On the chemistry of the Penn State defensive backs…
“We just have great chemistry back there. We have been playing together for a while and we are all on the same page. We all work together as one unit. We all rely on each other to pick each other’s slack up when need be.”

Wide Receiver Derrick Williams
On the Rose Bowl Game match-up between Penn State and USC being just another college football game…
“We are playing just another college football team, but they have a good one. They’ve been here four years straight. They’ve won their [Pac-10] conference to get here [Rose Bowl Game].”

On Penn State’s being the underdog…
“I think people have been underrating us all year. What can we say? What can we do, but go out there and play. We are one win away from being in the national championship [game]. People have been saying we are the underdogs, but all we can do is go out and prove that we are a great team.”