What They're Saying: Michigan Week
Michigan's tight press coverage has attention, concern of PSU offense
"On film, Michigan has a very physical defense. They’re very fast. They have a lot of trust in their secondary. They have a lot of guys who have a lot of speed and are very technique-sound. They play a lot of man (coverage) the majority of the game, so basically we’ve just seen guys who are very sound in their technique with footwork and attention to detail and these guys are very comfortable with being one-on-one on the outside. That’s something they do pretty much every game so it’s something that’s not a risk for them. They’ve kind of lived in that environment and they’ve thrived in that environment." -- junior WR DeAndre Thompkins
"They take away those free-access (passes) and are playing tight coverage on the line – not letting your receivers get a clean release on the line of scrimmage and trying to hold them up and try to make their routes a little longer so that their front seven and their defensive line can get a pass rush and create havoc that way. (Michigan's DBs) are also physical at the line. They try to lock you up and get hands on you and they do a really good of of sticking on guys in their man coverage so it's definitely a challenge for (receivers to release into their route and for the OL to) be able to hold up front for another count longer, or however long it takes, to get our receivers open." -- junior QB Trace McSorley
Wolverines' DL and LBs jump out on film with their aggression and speed
"They’re extremely physical up front with their D-Ends and D-Tackles. They have probably the best D-line we have seen so far this season. I think it’s going to be a challenge for us and it’s something that I’m particularly excited about. I’ve been preparing for this opportunity on Saturday. Obviously, at defensive end they’ve got two starters, No. 3 (Rashan Gary) and No. 15 (Chase Winovich), who are extremely physical players, high-motor guys who are big playmakers for them on the defensive line. I’m just going to make the most of my opportunities and be physical with them. They’re going to be coming off the ball fired up and ready to roll, so it’s just understanding my role and my assignment on each and every play and just executing to the best of my ability is really all I’m focused on." -- senior TE Mike Gesicki
"The first thing that jumps out to you is how much speed they play with up front. No. 73, Maurice Hurst, he’s coming off the ball with aggression and he’s flying off the ball and getting into different gaps and running by offense linemen. Then you look at Rashan Gary and (LB) Devin Bush. The two of them play with their hair on fire and they jump out on film. Then there is No. 15 and No. 9 (Mike McCray). They make plays. They’re motor guys. They run all over the field. They’re sideline to sideline, playing to the echo to the whistle.They do a really good job of trying to create confusion to keep you guessing, bringing a lot of movement up front with twists, line movement, jumping gaps, and their linebackers do a really good job of playing off the defensive linemen with how they move and how they can fill up the remaining gaps. That’s going to be a challenge for us but I think we’re excited for it." -- McSorley
Nittany Lion DBs preparing for young, new-look Michigan WRs
"They’re a pretty good group of receivers. They’re also pretty young from what we’re playing before, because as you know what were playing before, those receivers were very experienced. These receivers were going against are very young. They have some great talent, but we’ll be up for the challenge this week again." -- senior CB Christian Campbell
“Last year they had a lot more experience coming back, but this year they’re a little younger. They’re still trying to find their identity. But they have some quality guys there. … (Freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones) is a very good athlete. He’ obviously someone they look to as a great player and has great potential being that (considering how) he’s playing as a freshman at Michigan. So we’re excited to get the opportunity to go against him.” -- junior CB Amani Oruwariye
White Out atmosphere one of the great aspects of college football
"I have several former teammates and friends who are now playing at the next level and they’ll tell you there’s nothing in the NFL that can even come close to Beaver Stadium, especially a White Out and all the excitement that comes along with one of these kinds of games. Just knowing that these opportunities only come around so long, I wanted to make the most of it (by coming back for his senior season). I knew i had a lot more left in the tank and we have six regular season games left, three of which are going to be at home, and I’m not going to take all those for granted because I know that when my time comes I’m going to miss playing in Beaver Stadium. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere. It’s the best in college football." - Gesicki
"It’s just the loudest thing you’ll hear. All you hear is just screaming, crazy, fanatic, like crazy fans, and just, like, the whole town is just lit up in white because everyone is wearing white. I don’t know, it’s just – you have to experience it most of the time to get a feel." -- Oruwariye
"It’s very hard to describe. My first-ever Penn State game was the Ohio State White Out a few years ago, and that blew me away. Before that, I was never a Penn State fan, never really thought about it much, and that changed my mind, and that’s kind of one of the reasons I fell in love with this place: the enthusiasm the fans have and how much people just care about football here." –– sophomore OL Connor McGovern
After bye week, Lions look to press the gas pedal on total team energy, speed
"It’s been a little bit since we played so we definitely can’t be surprised by the speed of the game or the physicality of the game. They bring both of those factors to the field. They’re extremely physical but also extremely athletic and fast. I think the (OL) up front, it starts with them, setting the tone and myself setting the tone with how we’re blocking and creating lanes for the running game. The receivers, the tight ends and the running backs in the passing game, we have to be able to create separation against man coverage. When they do jump into zone we have to be able to find open spaces and find that open window and make plays when the ball comes to us. I think it’s going to be exciting and something we’re looking forward to." –– Gesicki
"The first thing I’d say is maturity. Maturity takes you a long ways. Just because we had a bye week, it doesn’t mean we let off the gas and everything. We have to play faster and we know that. The bye week didn’t mean anything to us. We even had Michigan studied ahead, so that was the good thing. We were ahead on Michigan and studying a lot and we had a lot more time to study film. We don’t always have to go out to practice and bang each other all the time. During that bye week we practiced a little bit and we watched a little bit more film on Michigan. We’re a mature team that we don’t have to let off the gas." -- Campbell
For Penn State OL, run-pass-option causes conflicts in blocking
"When you know you’re passing, you’re sitting right back (into a pass set). But there are other times when you’re in the run and you think it’s going to run, and you’re up on the second level and next thing you know, the ball is being thrown over your head. So sometimes you have to have like a little voice in the back of your head to make sure you’re not downfield too far, make sure you’re following the linebackers, and the most important part is not getting down too far to make sure you don’t get the flag on you." -- McGovern
Campbell no longer speaks to HS coach who questioned decision to attend PSU
"I can remember on singing day – I’m not going to say a name – but one of my coaches asked me, 'Why are you going to Penn State? Y’all aren’t even bowl eligible. Why don’t you just go to another team?’ Really, he was just talking bad about Penn State and why I chose this and why I chose that. I really didn’t get too much into it with him. I just told him that I felt like it was the right thing to do and that God led me to this point, so I’m going to be headed to Penn State. I was like no matter what you’re talking about. I got a lot of responses, just like why are you going to Penn State State and why are you doing this and why are you leaving away from home? But, now they see." -- Campbell
Michigan's tight press coverage has attention, concern of PSU offense
"On film, Michigan has a very physical defense. They’re very fast. They have a lot of trust in their secondary. They have a lot of guys who have a lot of speed and are very technique-sound. They play a lot of man (coverage) the majority of the game, so basically we’ve just seen guys who are very sound in their technique with footwork and attention to detail and these guys are very comfortable with being one-on-one on the outside. That’s something they do pretty much every game so it’s something that’s not a risk for them. They’ve kind of lived in that environment and they’ve thrived in that environment." -- junior WR DeAndre Thompkins
"They take away those free-access (passes) and are playing tight coverage on the line – not letting your receivers get a clean release on the line of scrimmage and trying to hold them up and try to make their routes a little longer so that their front seven and their defensive line can get a pass rush and create havoc that way. (Michigan's DBs) are also physical at the line. They try to lock you up and get hands on you and they do a really good of of sticking on guys in their man coverage so it's definitely a challenge for (receivers to release into their route and for the OL to) be able to hold up front for another count longer, or however long it takes, to get our receivers open." -- junior QB Trace McSorley
Wolverines' DL and LBs jump out on film with their aggression and speed
"They’re extremely physical up front with their D-Ends and D-Tackles. They have probably the best D-line we have seen so far this season. I think it’s going to be a challenge for us and it’s something that I’m particularly excited about. I’ve been preparing for this opportunity on Saturday. Obviously, at defensive end they’ve got two starters, No. 3 (Rashan Gary) and No. 15 (Chase Winovich), who are extremely physical players, high-motor guys who are big playmakers for them on the defensive line. I’m just going to make the most of my opportunities and be physical with them. They’re going to be coming off the ball fired up and ready to roll, so it’s just understanding my role and my assignment on each and every play and just executing to the best of my ability is really all I’m focused on." -- senior TE Mike Gesicki
"The first thing that jumps out to you is how much speed they play with up front. No. 73, Maurice Hurst, he’s coming off the ball with aggression and he’s flying off the ball and getting into different gaps and running by offense linemen. Then you look at Rashan Gary and (LB) Devin Bush. The two of them play with their hair on fire and they jump out on film. Then there is No. 15 and No. 9 (Mike McCray). They make plays. They’re motor guys. They run all over the field. They’re sideline to sideline, playing to the echo to the whistle.They do a really good job of trying to create confusion to keep you guessing, bringing a lot of movement up front with twists, line movement, jumping gaps, and their linebackers do a really good job of playing off the defensive linemen with how they move and how they can fill up the remaining gaps. That’s going to be a challenge for us but I think we’re excited for it." -- McSorley
Nittany Lion DBs preparing for young, new-look Michigan WRs
"They’re a pretty good group of receivers. They’re also pretty young from what we’re playing before, because as you know what were playing before, those receivers were very experienced. These receivers were going against are very young. They have some great talent, but we’ll be up for the challenge this week again." -- senior CB Christian Campbell
“Last year they had a lot more experience coming back, but this year they’re a little younger. They’re still trying to find their identity. But they have some quality guys there. … (Freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones) is a very good athlete. He’ obviously someone they look to as a great player and has great potential being that (considering how) he’s playing as a freshman at Michigan. So we’re excited to get the opportunity to go against him.” -- junior CB Amani Oruwariye
White Out atmosphere one of the great aspects of college football
"I have several former teammates and friends who are now playing at the next level and they’ll tell you there’s nothing in the NFL that can even come close to Beaver Stadium, especially a White Out and all the excitement that comes along with one of these kinds of games. Just knowing that these opportunities only come around so long, I wanted to make the most of it (by coming back for his senior season). I knew i had a lot more left in the tank and we have six regular season games left, three of which are going to be at home, and I’m not going to take all those for granted because I know that when my time comes I’m going to miss playing in Beaver Stadium. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere. It’s the best in college football." - Gesicki
"It’s just the loudest thing you’ll hear. All you hear is just screaming, crazy, fanatic, like crazy fans, and just, like, the whole town is just lit up in white because everyone is wearing white. I don’t know, it’s just – you have to experience it most of the time to get a feel." -- Oruwariye
"It’s very hard to describe. My first-ever Penn State game was the Ohio State White Out a few years ago, and that blew me away. Before that, I was never a Penn State fan, never really thought about it much, and that changed my mind, and that’s kind of one of the reasons I fell in love with this place: the enthusiasm the fans have and how much people just care about football here." –– sophomore OL Connor McGovern
After bye week, Lions look to press the gas pedal on total team energy, speed
"It’s been a little bit since we played so we definitely can’t be surprised by the speed of the game or the physicality of the game. They bring both of those factors to the field. They’re extremely physical but also extremely athletic and fast. I think the (OL) up front, it starts with them, setting the tone and myself setting the tone with how we’re blocking and creating lanes for the running game. The receivers, the tight ends and the running backs in the passing game, we have to be able to create separation against man coverage. When they do jump into zone we have to be able to find open spaces and find that open window and make plays when the ball comes to us. I think it’s going to be exciting and something we’re looking forward to." –– Gesicki
"The first thing I’d say is maturity. Maturity takes you a long ways. Just because we had a bye week, it doesn’t mean we let off the gas and everything. We have to play faster and we know that. The bye week didn’t mean anything to us. We even had Michigan studied ahead, so that was the good thing. We were ahead on Michigan and studying a lot and we had a lot more time to study film. We don’t always have to go out to practice and bang each other all the time. During that bye week we practiced a little bit and we watched a little bit more film on Michigan. We’re a mature team that we don’t have to let off the gas." -- Campbell
For Penn State OL, run-pass-option causes conflicts in blocking
"When you know you’re passing, you’re sitting right back (into a pass set). But there are other times when you’re in the run and you think it’s going to run, and you’re up on the second level and next thing you know, the ball is being thrown over your head. So sometimes you have to have like a little voice in the back of your head to make sure you’re not downfield too far, make sure you’re following the linebackers, and the most important part is not getting down too far to make sure you don’t get the flag on you." -- McGovern
Campbell no longer speaks to HS coach who questioned decision to attend PSU
"I can remember on singing day – I’m not going to say a name – but one of my coaches asked me, 'Why are you going to Penn State? Y’all aren’t even bowl eligible. Why don’t you just go to another team?’ Really, he was just talking bad about Penn State and why I chose this and why I chose that. I really didn’t get too much into it with him. I just told him that I felt like it was the right thing to do and that God led me to this point, so I’m going to be headed to Penn State. I was like no matter what you’re talking about. I got a lot of responses, just like why are you going to Penn State State and why are you doing this and why are you leaving away from home? But, now they see." -- Campbell
