Penn State Nittany Lions College Football Pregame Quote, 12/27/2024

Q. What makes Ashton Jeanty unique? What are some of the challenges that he presents?

COACH ALLEN: Well, he’s special. I tell you, I’ve enjoyed, -well, I don’t know if I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s been impressive to watch his film, studying him. The thing that just sticks out is he doesn’t- go down. I mean, he gets hit and he has tremendous balance. I just think the ability for him to break tackles is really phenomenal.

All 1944 yards after contact, which is mind-blowing, shows how effective he’s been after people hit him. Just his toughness, his grit. He carries the ball so many times. In today’s game, that just doesn’t happen anymore.

So much respect for him. Then you hear all the different things about him as a person. Just a lot of respect for what he’s accomplished. He’s a great, great player. So, to me, it’s about finding a way to do the thing that most people can’t do, which is get him on the ground.

Q. Are there any aspects of [Ashton] Jeanty’s game that maybe show up in Nick Singleton’s or Kaytron Allen’s, that maybe you’ve seen before that can help you prepare for him?

COACH ALLEN: He’s kind of a combination of both. He’s got the power that Kaytron brings and the burst that Nick has. We’ve seen both consistently during spring ball and during training camp, and we’ve gone against good running backs in the Big Ten. But he’s different now. He’s really, really good. But those guys that we played against in practice, it really helped, and we think we have two really talented running backs, which we do.

Anytime you get a chance to go up against other relief guys, it’s going to help you, but he does some things that most people can’t do. We take a lot of pride in being great tacklers here at Penn State. You have to do that to play great defense. But obviously, our biggest responsibility this week here is to find a way to effectively corral him and tackle him. Those guys have helped us along the way to prepare for that.

Q. Going back to the SMU game. You guys were a little chaotic on the first drive there, until SMU called that time-out, then you guys settled in from there. When you look at the way you’ll start this game, is there anything, after reviewing that tape, that comes to mind in terms of how do you start fast on defense?

COACH ALLEN: Well, first of all, you prepare for tempo. You try to as best as you can. You can’t simulate it. They went about as fast as I’ve ever seen a team go. Officials can obviously help with that or hurt with that. But man, they were flying. It took several snaps to get our cleats in the ground, get comfortable with where they were moving, how they were moving in and out of different formations.

As you can tell, we got way more comfortable as the game unfolded. But those first few snaps were really tough. To me, it’s just about making sure ‚Äì we’ve seen now two games in a row with a really super-fast tempo. Then you mix in some unusual formations as well, whether it’s unbalanced, tackle overs, unique looks, things that you aren’t used to seeing or you haven’t seen from them. I think that’s what we’ll probably get from Boise.

It helps you prepare for all those different things. A different style of offense that we’re playing this week, but at the same time, they have the ability to do different things. Some similar things that Oregon did as well with some of their looks.

Anytime you have a chance to play elite teams and they put you in conflict, you have a chance to watch the film, you correct it, you go back and try to think, what can we do to help our guys be in a better position? At the end of the day, you’ve got to get your cleats in the ground. There’s no magic call. But it definitely won’t work if you’re not set and your eyes aren’t right, and you’re not in position.

Just got to do a great job of that and really be ready for the unexpected, per se, and just the things they may throw at you. We’re going against an extremely talented offense, one of the best in the country. Talented players and a great coordinator that’s had success for his whole career. A lot of respect for them. But, we’ve got to have our cleats in the ground and be ready to play from the opening snap. This is going to be a 60-minute battle.

Q. I want to stay on the Ashton Jeanty questions. Have you ever been around or seen a back like him, just in terms of a guy who can do so many things? Is there any kind of comparison for him? How challenging has it been to try and get – I believe [Tyler] Holzworth was running the scout team, just trying to get someone who mimics all that Jeanty does.

COACH ALLEN: We played against Derrick Henry when I was at Ole Miss. Obviously, he’s taller, but similar, in regards to very hard to get on the ground; a guy that can stiff-arm you and just kind of play with you. It’s almost like he’s up here, and everybody else is just trying to jump on him.

But it’s hard to really say anyone is like him. We played some really good backs in the Big Ten the last nine years that I’ve been in this conference. But Henry comes to mind, as far as just the size piece, because it’s just hard for different reasons.

The thing that sticks out to me is how you get him on the ground. I already said that a couple of times. But the way he’s built, he’s so low to the ground. I think that he really, truly just does a really good job of balance, and to be able to take on blocks ‚Äì or excuse me, tackles just kind of bounce off of him almost effortlessly at times.

It amazes me to see how many times, how many good players have a shot at him, have a good angle on him, and just don’t have any success at all of getting him on the ground. Or you think he’s about to go down and he doesn’t because he has such powerful legs.

We talk about the strike zone, where the strike zone is so compressed because of his build that it’s hard to get a good shot on him. You’re going to have to gang-tackle him. You have to get every possible guy on that field around him, and they, obviously, will make that hard per their scheme and have a really good offensive line. It’s very physical and they have a really good system to be able to do things off of what he does.

Obviously, we played a lot of good backs over the years, but he’s going to go down as one of the greatest we ever played against.

Q. Wanted to ask about the defensive-line, how impressed are you with the job Deion Barnes has been able to do?

COACH ALLEN: He does a great job. He’s a young coach. Part of that position is learning how to capture those guys, how to motivate them, and how to relate to them. I think because he played here and he played at a high level, he’s able to really get their attention and coach and teach technique relentlessly, just over and over and over again, and get them to play really hard.

To me, that’s what I care a lot about, is how hard you play. That speaks to how much you care as a player and how much you care about your teammates, the people you represent, yourself and your family and your coaches.

Deion is just a guy that can relate to them because he’s walked a mile in their shoes. He’s a guy that just really, really believes in technique and fundamentals. He grades himself and holds them accountable. I love that about him. They all get treated the same in terms of expectations and how hard they practice and how we’re going to perform. If it’s not to that standard, he’s going to hold them to that. He’s going to get after them.

They respond to him. That’s really the key. So that’s what you’re looking for when you have coaches. Obviously, for me coming here, these guys were all here when I got here as a coach. All the on-the-field coaches, just a really, really talented group. Deion is one of those.

He’s got a bright future and just continues to grow and develop. For me working with him this year, it’s been great seeing him grow and come in and learn some new things, doing things maybe they didn’t do last year. Also, me kind of picking up and learning things that they did last year that we’re trying to continue to do. I relied on him to help me with that, and I really respect and appreciate the job he’s done for us.

Q. We’ve talked extensively about some of the more prominent aspects of Boise State’s offense. It’s hard to bring Ashton Jeanty down. What’s the most underrated aspect of Boise State’s offense that you’ve seen on film?

COACH ALLEN: Probably the quarterback [Maddux Madsen]. He doesn’t get a lot of press, but he s a tough, gritty kid that is accurate with what they ask him to do. He’s very, very effective. That’s a testament to the scheme that they put together. Coach [Dirk] Koetter has done a tremendous job with that, and just putting him in conflicts so you can’t gang up on him and trying to stop the run game.

I think he distributes the ball well and he can throw on the move. The movement throws they use with him, he’s very good at. He’s also got the ability to run the ball. He made some tough runs and some big runs at some critical times.

I always look for that when I’m watching an offense, and just to be able to see, can he make something out of nothing? Can he take tough situations and be able to extend plays and get key first downs and make the right throws at the right time? That, to me, is a big deal.

They obviously have some weapons at receiver and tight end. So they’re a complete team. They’ve got good receivers, they’ve got good tight ends, and a really good offensive line that blocks and plays hard and physical. But I think if I had to just pick one guy that might be one that is really, really valuable, nit doesn’t get talked about enough, is their quarterback.

Q. Tom, I’m wondering how much did you guys use the Oregon tape. Being a common opponent, how much of that was a focus for you guys? How much did you get out of that?

COACH ALLEN: I think that because of the familiarity we just had with them and playing them so recently it got our attention, right out of the gate. It s just the fact that they played them so well at Oregon, which is a hard place to play.

You try to look at everything and you look at even things in the past, and you’re trying to figure out what they might do to hurt you. But everything we can do, every person you can talk to, you’re just trying to find a way to paint a picture for your players and what they’re going to see and how they’re going to attack us. We try to put that all together, and the Oregon game was a big part of that, yes.

Q. Cameron Camper is obviously someone you’re familiar with, recruiting him in Indiana. How does he open things up for Ashton Jeanty and that running game to allow this to work?

COACH ALLEN: I love Cam. He’s a special person and special player. Love his family, and so happy for him. He had a tough injury. It’s great to see him come back from that. Now he’s back to full health, full speed.

He’s a long receiver that can get open. He runs really good routes. He’s very smooth.He has tremendous ball skills. He can stress you. His catch radius is really big. He’s a tough guy. He just competes. I know him well, and there’s no question we’ve got to do a great job of stopping him and preventing him from making key plays and key conversions and explosive plays down the field. That’s what they rely on him to do. He’s done a good job of that.

But yeah, he definitely is one of those other valuable pieces that makes them really, really difficult to defend, so we’ve got to do a great job with Cam.

Q. What were your initial interactions like over the winter with Dom [Dominic] DeLuca? How does his story resonate with you as the walk-on story?

COACH ALLEN: You can’t help but love Dom. We had a chance to have dinner a couple different times and just to tried to have him in my office one-on-one, talking to him, getting to know him, getting to know his parents and getting to know who he was as a person.

I love to hear his story. We always talk about his high school days and playing quarterback. Talking about playing with a torn ACL, winning a state championship, all those different things. You just love the guy that comes here. It was his dream. We talked so much about the tailgating that his family has done since he was a kid. They would come here for all the games. He s sat there and watched in the stand since he was a little boy. Now he’s coming here and making plays. What a cool story.

For me, it’s so much respect. I kind of feel like, for me, I’m living my dream as well as a college football coach in the Big Ten. I kind of consider myself a walk-on in the coaching profession. I had to come work my way up through the high school ranks, and then small college ranks. I didn’t go right into the Division I level. It took a long time to get here.

He had to earn it the hard way as well. He had to come here as a walk-on. To see him make the kind of plays he made last week on the national stage in front of the whole world to watch was so awesome.

But I’m not surprised. He’s a really good football player. He’s got so much toughness and moxie and he’s really smart. He can anticipate things. That’s what led him to getting those critical picks at critical times. He s a great player and a great person. He s fun to coach and I look forward to having another year with him.

To me, he embodies Penn State football. Tough, hard-nosed kid that loves this place, loves representing his home state, and I’m thrilled he’s one of our leaders.

Q. There’s a lot of players on the defensive-line that get a lot of attention. Of those players, Coziah Izzard might not be someone that gets talked about as much, but he had a really strong game against SMU. As a veteran guy, what have you seen from him overall this season at defensive tackle? How do you feel that he has stepped up particularly over the past month or so since Hakeem Beamon and Alonzo Ford are no longer available?

COACH ALLEN: It made his emergence even more valuable and more critical for our success. When I first got here, you could talk to the coaches and you talk to the strength staff, they all talked about him: Hey, this is one of those guys where we feel like he may be our most talented interior defensive lineman, from just a raw size, strength, speed. He had some injuries and wasn’t able to consistently be available to be climbing as a player.

It’s been great to see him just get healthy, stay healthy, and be healthy here. As you mentioned, he s really been playing his best football recently. This time of year is when we need him to be doing that. He played his best game of the season against SMU, and we need him to do that again this next weekend here on Tuesday night against Boise State.

To me, it’s just been consistency and practice. He’s a great athlete every day. He’s an awesome young man. He’s fun to be around. He always has on a smile, and he just works. He’s a big man.

Being able to have him in the rotation now, making plays; not just out there taking snaps, but out there making a difference. We’re going to need him to keep growing, keep developing here these last few weeks of season to help us do what we want to do. Obviously, it all has to continue this week. I’m just really proud of him, and we need him to step up, and he truly has.

Q. Tom, how has Jaylen Reed’s value to your team increased as the years have gone on? Especially after KJ’s [Reed] injury? In what ways does he make his teammates better?

COACH ALLEN: First of all, when KJ went down, I had to sit down with him ‚Äì not that he wasn’t doing anything. He was already one of our leaders. I was like: Hey, you’re going to have to take this thing to another level. My challenge to him was you’ve got to bring guys with you, and to get to Zakee [Wheatley] to elevate himself.

I said your role now is going to be magnified, and not just in your game performance, but practice. That, to me, was probably the biggest challenge and the biggest thing we needed to make sure, that he was kind of filling that void because KJ was such a strong, consistent voice, and just a level of consistency in his practice habits that were pretty special.

That, to me, I think has really helped Jaylen Reed to be able to take that next step. Obviously, his role on the field, we had to make some modifications in terms of him not playing as much at a certain position. He was playing more line-in position before the injury, and he had to come back and play more in the high position there as a rover, the three.

But I just feel like that leadership is probably the biggest thing where he’s had to really grow and was forced to because of that situation, and it was awesome to see him do that. Then the production has been what everybody gets to see, the key interceptions at critical times and the key tackles.

He’s one of those guys that s always texting me, Hey, Coach, put this on me. He wants to be the guy. He wants me to know I can count on him and trust him, and he’s going to have my back and he’s going to get the job done. I know he sees that as we’ve moved into the playoffs here and felt that.

Even with a disappointing performance against Oregon, he took that personal. I just think his leadership, his ability to make plays, and his value to the team has been elevated because of the void that was created there. But also, it’s been neat to see him respond to that and embrace that and want to do that.

A lot of times, you’re a good number two, but when you’ve got to be the one, it’s not the same. Obviously, those guys being the great players just became the key focus. He needed to step up and he has. That’s to his benefit. It’s going to help him benefit in his own future as he moves into the NFL when he finishes playing here.

Q. Who are some of the 2025 signees who are practicing with the team right now? And what’s the importance of letting them kind of experience this week with the rest of the program?

COACH ALLEN: We’ve got a couple of guys on defense, Braswell Thomas and LaVar Arrington and Daryus Dixson. Those three guys are here with us. They haven’t started yet. They will here soon, once they get their physicals. But they were out at practice today.

But I think the benefit is getting a chance to be around the team and starting to learn how we do things. They get a chance to physically participate, those that are able. Most of those guys will. I don’t think you can put a price tag on all those additional reps that they’re going to get and just having it to where the next time we get on the field, which will be spring football, it won’t be their first time doing certain things and how we practice. They’ll start lifting weights and start sitting in meetings and learning the system.

I just think anytime you have a chance to be a part of something like this, especially now that we’re in playoff mode and playoff practices and get a chance to go to the bowl site, it s a cool experience.

I just think that the practical example would be, hey, they get a chance to play more football. Number two, they’re learning a new system. Number three, how do we operate as a Penn State football player in terms of meetings, weight room, meals, you know, balancing all the things, being away from home the first time.

Just trying to get a chance to really work through all those things and get a chance to do it with your future teammates, is a pretty cool thing. We are excited to have those guys with us and looking forward to being able to work with them here real soon.