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ranked pass-defense teams the follow- ing week because it skews your stats a little bit. We have played some very physical defenses. You look at Pitt; they have not allowed anybody to run the ball on them this year. You look at Michigan; they are one of the better defenses in the coun- try. So there's no doubt that we need to be better. It goes back to what I was just talking about, I think we are improved on the offensive line, but we need to be better in our pass protection on obvious passing downs, and we need to be more physical. We're getting a hat on a hat, but we're not creating movement, so we need to do that. We need to create more movement. We need to create more space because we've all seen that Saquon can be effective when he's given a little bit of room. Then, I think the other area where Saquon could be a little bit better is not trying to make every run an 80-yard touchdown. You have to be willing to lower your shoulder and run people over or get in a gap and push the pile for four or five yards. I think he's been try- ing to make the extra cut every single run, and there will be a time and a place for that. When you got together on Sunday, what were the spirits like of the guys? Did they do a good job of forgetting about what happened? And I wanted to know what your reaction was to Trace McSorley apologizing to the fans for their performance? I think the guys' spirits are about what you would expect. There's disappoint- ment and there's frustration. There's also kind of an awareness of what we need to do to get these things fixed and move forward. I was really pleased and impressed. Brian Gaia and Trace McSorley met with a number of the offensive players on Monday – their day off – and watched film on their own, which I think we need to do more of. The most successful programs I've been around, the players do that. It's changed a little bit in the last five to 10 years because guys do that on their own with the iPads, but I think there's a difference between watching your film on your own with your iPad and coming into the facility and sitting down with your teammates and watching it together and having a discussion. The technology has helped in some ways, and I think in other ways it has hurt. I think it's important for guys to get together, watch film, have discus- sions and learn from each other. There's still a lot of value in that, in the ultimate team sport. Trace is a very prideful guy, and I think as the quarterback, you always take a lot of responsibility. He knows that we can play better, as do the coaches, myself and everybody included. Trace is a guy who really takes that leadership role to heart. It's very important to him, and as you know, the head coach and the quar- terback are typically going to get too much credit when things go well and face the music when things don't go well. That's the nature of that position and the head coach's position. I think he understands that clearly, as well as our other quarterbacks, and I know I under- stand it very clearly. A4er the Michigan game, you men- tioned maybe needing to move some players to fill out the depth at line- backer. Did you actually end up hav- ing to do that, and when you talk about needing to move some players to one position to another, specifi- cally linebacker, what are some char- acteristics you're looking for from particular candidates? You're looking for a guy who is going to understand the defense well enough to get guys lined up and understand their responsibilities and make calls and adjustments because that's what the linebackers do, specifically the Mike linebacker. You also need body types, certain body types that are going to be able to handle the pounding and be able to take on an offensive lineman when the guard works the double-team and then works up to the next level. Someone who is going to slip that block like Mike Hull did so well. Mike wasn't a guy who we were going to ask to take on an offensive lineman, but he was going to slip the block. So there are a lot of different ways you can do it and there are a lot of differ- ent ways that we can be successful. We didn't move a whole lot of guys [last week]. Obviously, Von Walker is a guy who has played that position and had some success in the past, so he can factor in a little bit more. Koa is a guy who we have moved, and then we're just trying to create flexibility with some of those other guys. With Manny, it's [a matter of] con- tinuing to train him at multiple spots. Jake Cooper, continuing to train him at multiple spots. Brandon Smith, continu- ing to train him at multiple spots. Hope- fully we'll get some of these other guys back here sooner rather than later, in Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell. S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 13 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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