Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530530
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 5 17 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M They Said It "I just emphasized that we still have a lot more to play for, don't be down. You know, we lost to a good team. We just have to stand together, and our ultimate goal is to win a national championship." — Junior running back Nicholas Singleton on his message to the team after its 45-37 loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game "To be quite frank, they sped up our defense. That's a credit to their offensive coordinator. They did an incredible job of speeding us up. We also just made a lot of mistakes. That's a credit to them. When you have such a talented [opponent] … the margin of er- ror is very, very small. "I feel like defensively, we made more mistakes in that game than we've made in almost any other game. And you know, a great team can capitalize. I feel like Oregon did that today." — Redshirt senior defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas following Penn State's loss to the Ducks "I think he's one of the best tight ends to ever play college football. I know that's a bold statement, but I'm amazed by him, and he's got a really good coach in Andy Kotelnicki, the offensive coordinator at Penn State." — Urban Meyer, former Ohio State coach and current FOX Sports analyst, on Penn State senior tight end Tyler Warren "They ought to bring the Mackey Award tonight, put it on a private jet, fly it to Tyler Warren, give it to him on Sunday, and then he should get an invitation to New York [for the Heisman Trophy ceremony]. He's done it week in and week out. He's a big-time player, and he's doing it when all eyes are on him, and he's the focus of the game plan." — James Franklin after Warren wrapped up a record-setting regular season by catching 6 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in Penn State's 44-7 win over Maryland "If we were on the front line of a war just now, we'd all be dead. Our fight wasn't even close to Penn State's fight. Not remotely close." — Purdue men's basketball coach Matt Painter after his team lost to PSU, 81-70, on Dec. 5 "Who says this is just a quarterback award? Re- alistically, it's a longshot this goes to a running back, but Barkley has been a dream addition for the Eagles' offense — and a nightmare for Giants general manager Joe Schoen and the New York regime that let him walk." — ESPN writer Brooke Pryor on Saquon Barkley, who placed fifth in the network's list of NFL Most Valuable Player candidates for the 2024 season "The first half was the best half of defense we've played since I've been here. That's the standard of defense that I want us to have. … That defense, it travels. You take that defense on the road or anywhere else, and that's always going to give you a chance to win. It wasn't just one or two guys, it was eight or nine guys, 10 guys." — Penn State men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades after watching his team amass 9 steals and force 14 turnovers in building a 16-point halftime lead en route to an upset win over No. 8 Purdue "We're playing a lot of meaningful football right now. We don't take that for granted. At the end of the day, this is what we signed up for, to have opportunities to be in a position like this. We can't complain about some of the things that come with it. We're in the position we always wanted to be in." — Junior quarterback Drew Allar on the mental and physical grind of a season that could potentially extend into late January Junior quarterback Drew Allar is looking forward to leading Penn State into the College Football Playoff after guiding the team to an 11-2 record and a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS