Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/202299
O'BRIEN CONTINUED FROM 15 mental issue than physical? How do you help a kid get over a tough time with turnovers? I have a lot of confidence in Zach Zwinak. I have confidence in [Akeel] Lynch. I have confidence in Belton. We have three guys who are pretty good, so it's a competitive deal. If there's one guy making mistakes, obviously, the other two guys are going to play more. Right now, Zach's got a little bit of a fumble issue. I do think it's a little bit mental. I talked to him for a long time [on Monday]. These kids, they're unbelievable. They're very hard on themselves, and I don't think [Zach] should be that hard on himself. I think it's just a matter of, "Let's figure out what you're doing wrong." I think there are some technical things we can help him with coachingwise, and I think he'll improve. Again, the number one job of the ball carrier is to take care of the ball – ball security. So we've got to help him improve, but he's got to help himself a little bit, too, and I think he'll do that this week. The hit on Christian Hackenberg after the false start whistle at Ohio State, is that something you felt needed to be brought to the attention of the Big Ten? I don't cry about spilled milk. Whether I agree with it or not, it doesn't matter. I play by the rules. We all play by the rules. I think that that the whistle blew. I don't think that was a dirty play at all. I'm not sure the [Ohio State] guy heard the whistle. It was a very loud stadium, and he kept going. It wasn't anything that was dirty. So I didn't really point anything out. I just felt that that was just an unfortunate thing that happened. But I think Christian is a tough kid. Have you utilized the tight ends like you envisioned at the beginning of the year? I have. We threw the ball to the tight ends eight or nine times on Saturday, and we didn't connect – whether it was a drop or a bad throw, or maybe not the greatest route in the world. Maybe it's coaching. Maybe we've got to put them in better position. But I've played the tight ends very simi- lar. Maybe that's part of it. Maybe we're doing some things that we need to change up a little bit too. It comes down to coaching and doing a better job. When the ball's thrown to you, you've got to catch it. I think these guys know that. I don't think we've underutilized the tight ends. As far as the amount of reps, we've used them the same. Since you've been here, you only lost back-to-back games one time, and that was your first two games. What allows you as a coach to bounce back so well? We talk to our guys all the time about 12 one‑game seasons. We try to separate it that way. We go week-to-week, and we try to make sure that the kids understand that on Monday, when they come in, let's review some of the tape from the previous Saturday game. But also, boom, that game is over as soon as we're done, and we focus on the task at hand. We have to give [the players] a lot of credit when it comes to those things, and I think the coaching staff does a great job of separating those games. You've got to get focused on the next game. Get 15% OFF each time you visit your student Lion Co untry L lioncountrylodging.com odging .com PE ParentNN STATE Discoun t Plan O C T O B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 3 17 B LUE WH I T E ON L I N E. COM