Tom Allen Previews Penn State

On playing in an environment like Penn State...

"It's a process we are going through, the noise level that we are going to be dealing with, especially for our offense. We've been working on that this week in practice, trying to simulate the crowd noise as best we can. Defensively, it's going to be loud. Our guys have played there, many of them, and had an electric atmosphere from game number one. Our guys have been in those environments before, but it's always tough on the road."

On the challenges Penn State's offense brings...

"They are a very, very talented football team. They are undefeated and ranked fourth in the country for a reason. They're averaging 40 points a game and have probably, right now, the best player in the game. Their tailback, Barkley, is playing at an extremely high level and a ton of respect for him and what a talent he is. Their quarterback is special and continues to make plays. Big receivers, big tight end, lot of talented guys. They've done a great job recruiting there and Coach Franklin's done a great job with their system. Much respect for them, but we are going to have a great plan. The guys have worked extremely hard and they can't wait to get there."

On the importance of special teams play...

"It's huge. They have their best player on special teams like you're supposed to. We do too. That's a philosophy that we've embraced here. Our specialists have performed well at this point, our return guys, our kickers, our punters. It has to continue. I think you have really good special teams when you have great specialists. That's what we've really emphasized a lot in the techniques, the details of each unit in our preparation. Our coaches have bought into that as well and had a really good week of preparation in specials teams. We know they're going to be a big part of the game. As we say, we want them to be at their best when it counts the most."

Indiana University Athletics

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