Kevin Wilson: Penn State Preview

On Preparing for a Tough Game this Week…
Well there were some things that we liked in the game, a lot of things to improve on. We are working hard with the kicking. It's late in the year where we have to be smart with our volume of work. We've got a lot of corrections that still need to be made. We are playing six, seven seniors. It's a lot of young guys, a lot of first year guys. So we are just trying to grow the team with our practicing. A lot of correctable things have been addressed. Hopefully we've put them in better positions to play smarter this week. We will need to.

On Stopping Penn State's Playmakers on Offense…
Well, they are coming in hot. They've got confidence and their line is coming along good. They've got a tight end that is their second leading receiver that can slip out and make a lot of plays in the passing game. They've got several big play receivers. But the running back is maybe the most dynamic player in the conference. If not, he's tremendous. He's leading the league in rushing. The quarterback is a competitive guy that is throwing it great and could run. So you've got to defend every guy and the whole field. You've got to defend the run and the pass. They are going to stretch you out. So we are going to have to get lined up, make our adjustments and we are going to have to tackle and play well. It's going to be a great challenge. I look forward to seeing how the kids play. A good week of practice and a great challenge on Saturday with this team coming in.

On Attacking the Penn State Defense…
Well in my mind, you go through the history of football, they've always been a strong, stout front, solid linebackers, big and long in the secondary. They don't give up plays. They make you earn it. They are going to be a team where we have to be smart with the ball, we've got to find a way to get the running game on schedule, get the opportunity to get scoring plays or when in the scoring zone, we need to score. This is a football team that is playing good defense and is going to make it hard. We win the one-on-one battle, you win the one-on-one block, you win the one-on-one route, and we are going to be a team that is playing great Penn State football. Difficult Penn State Football.

On Mitchell Paige and the contributions the walk-ons make to the program every year…
Mitchell comes in as a guy, a little bit as an athlete, but how big is he? How good is he? Battles the first couple of years, is having fun on the scout team, but got an opportunity with some injuries, got an opportunity with a little niche, took off and ran with it. As his confidence grew and he had success, he took his game to a high level. He is one of the better players in the Big Ten Conference. For a smaller guy he is strong. For a smaller guy he does play with substance. He's a very gifted young guy. Walk on guys are big for us. They were big for us down the stretch as we won games and got to a bowl game. There were nine touchdowns the last three games by walk-ons. There were 17 walk-ons on the travel squad. Recruiting is big for us, player development is big for us, walk-ons are the icing on the cake that makes our team complete and strong. Mitchell is a leader in that crowd. I'm a former walk on. Love those guys. I'm proud of Mitchell. He's a big part of why we are a great team.

Indiana University Athletics

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