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when you aren't good in terms of your fundamentals or techniques, they can hurt you, and hurt you in a big way. We're just going to continue to focus and emphasize those things. He's a unique guy. Some guys have speed and they can make you miss, but maybe they're not the biggest or strongest guy. This guy breaks tackles, he's able to make you miss, and he's got the ability to run away and score. So he's a threat, there's no doubt about it. You've been raving about Carl Nas- sib for months now. He wasn't a guy who came to Penn State with a lot of fanfare. What has been the biggest difference for him on the field? Has it been just about adding size and strength or is there a confidence fac- tor you have to hit? It's all those things. Typically guys put on 25 pounds. Typically they are able to get stronger and faster while putting on 25 pounds with the training that we do. He's one of the unique guys who has put on about 65 pounds and is faster and stronger than he was. So he can be a real matchup. There aren't too many defen- sive ends at 278 pounds who are as powerful and explosive and strong as he is and also have the football IQ that he does. The thing that's amazing, I don't know if I mentioned this to you guys or not before, last week was Carl's first start ever in high school or college. He never started a game in high school. So you talk about an amazing story of a guy who persevered, had a great attitude, kept believing in himself, kept working hard. I think it's all those things. I think it's size, it's strength, it's speed, it's mentality. He is one of the more driven guys that I know. On top of that, I think he is really con- fident, because that guy comes to work every single day. The more success you have day in and day out, that's going to translate to games on Saturday. I see that with him. Brandon Polk is obviously adding a new dimension to the offense. How did that idea develop? Did he run the jet sweep much in high school? Why him? What skills does he have that lend themselves to that and how does it put more pressure on the defense, aside from just gaining yards? It became very obvious to us early on. It's funny, if you look at testing num- bers, he's fast, but he's probably not the fastest guy on our team. He's probably in the top five, somewhere in that argu- ment. But it became really obvious there are some guys who test really well and then there are some guys who play really well, and then there are guys who do both. He was a guy who plays as fast as anybody on the field. He really does. When he has the ball in his hands, not only is he able to accelerate and get to top speed quickly, but he's also able to change direction without losing a step and make quick decisions. Even in his decision-making, he makes quick, decisive decisions. We thought he brought some things to the table for us, him and Thompkins. Both of those guys could bring some speed and misdirection to our offense that I think we need. I think you'll see those guys' packages continue to grow in terms of vertical threats in the passing game. That was something that we saw on film recruiting him, felt strongly about. That was something when he came here and tested this summer, he backed it up with most of his numbers. Once we got on the field, it showed as well. Although he's not the biggest guy, he also has very, very natural ball skills. If you have really good ball skills, it makes you faster and it makes you taller than you actually are because you don't have to slow down to catch the ball, and you're able to catch balls out- side of your typical catch radius be- cause you're able to change direction, control your body, and go up and get balls. He's got real confidence in that area, as well. He's just a neat guy. I've just been real proud of him and how he's handled it all. It's funny, he has that touchdown. He comes back to the sideline. His facial expression never really changed. I don't know if he was in shock. I don't know if he's still figuring it out. I don't know if that's just how he is, even-keeled. But I'm happy for him and I'm happy for our offense and defense and our team as a whole. A lot was made this off-season about whether or not Rutgers or Maryland are Penn State's rival. In- stead of getting into all of that, what do you think makes up a good organic rivalry? The word you just used, organic. It's something that comes up over time. Nobody comes up with it in a marketing meeting. It's something that happens over time between fans, schools, alumni. I think the word you used – or- ganic – is the best way to describe it. S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 15 PSUtixman@gmail.com www.PSUtixman.com Get your PSU Football Tickets at go t ti cke t s? k c i t t t e k man@g .PSUtixm www.PSUtixman.com at ootba Get yo k c i t t o gm .PSUtixman.com all ur s t s e k

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