Indiana University Athletics
Media Monday: Penn State
10/19/2020 2:30:00 PM | Football
Media Monday: Penn State
Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana head coach Tom Allen, offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack on Monday, Oct. 19.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Opening Statement…
ALLEN: It is great to be with you guys today. It feels awesome to be able to be in game week mode. We have been through so much to get to this point, so there is a lot of excitement from our players, from myself, and from our whole staff to be in this position. We are very thankful, very blessed. It has been quite the journey to get to this point.
We are going to be hosting the Penn State Nittany Lions here on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. I have so much respect for [Penn State head coach] James Franklin and what he has built there at Penn State. Obviously, tremendous tradition but they have done a great job building that roster. They have so much depth and talent up front. We are really impressed with their offensive and defensive lines. It is really where it all starts for us, as we all know. They have so much speed on both sides of the football. They are tremendously well coached. The new offensive coordinator [Kirk Ciarrocca] did a tremendous job at Minnesota. He brings a ton of experience and a high level of play calling and preparation. We know that makes them more challenging than ever, probably. We really have a ton of respect for the program that they run and how hard their kids compete and play. We know we are going to have to play our very best to be able to do the things we want to do against a Top-10 team in the country. We are really excited for the opportunity. To be able to begin Big Ten play here at home and be able to have our players, be able to exhibit all the hard work that they put into to this.
We are excited to be able to name our captains this week. We voted as a football team, and it was pretty clear who the guys want in those positions. It is an honor to be selected by your teammates and your peers. Michael Penix Jr. and Harry Crider are the two guys on offense that were selected as captains. Marcelino Ball, Micah McFadden and Cam Jones are the three on defense. Obviously, with the Marcelino situation he will not be playing this season as he will be having surgery this week, so he will probably not be able to be very active in that role on game day. At the same time, his leadership is obvious by the way his teammates feel about him. The way he has handled this tough situation with so much maturity, a positive attitude, and the way he has helped the guys in his position develop and coach those guys up. I am excited for that group to represent. Man, I tell you one thing though, we had so many guys get votes, more so than I can ever remember. I think it just speaks to the breadth of the leadership on this team and the guys that have been not just good football players the last couple years, but also young men that are respected by the teammates. A lot of other guys could have easily been selected. I challenged the whole team, they all need to understand that just because the guy is not picked as a captain, does not diminish his role on this team in a leadership capacity to help this team be what we want to be.
I wanted to announce that we are going to be having an equity fist that is going to be represented on our jerseys and our helmets as a patch to be able to do something for our university and for our athletic programs. We got together, myself and our leadership council, this past summer with all the issues going on in our country, with social justice, and we wanted to be able to do something to raise awareness. We got together as a whole university and came together with this equity fist. It is going to be representative on all sports teams, but we are going to be wearing it on our upper right-hand chest of our jersey and on the back of our helmet. In pregame we will be having it on both our shirts that we wear and the shorts that we wear. The players are excited about that as a sign of unity, as a sign of togetherness, peace and love that we want to promote. The respect for others that are different than us and look different. I have come from different backgrounds and I want to challenge our team. I want us to be a beacon of what it looks like to love each other and care about one another, no matter where you are from, and no matter whether you have differences or not. We have to be able to work together to make the world a better place, make Bloomington a better city, make the state of Indiana a better state, and have that impact across this country. I am excited about that and I know our players are as well.
We are excited about this week. I said it already, I will say it again. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to get prepared to play an excellent football team. I am looking forward to answering your questions and getting this week started.
Q: On the loss of Marcelino Ball and moving forward with the position…
ALLEN: Time will show what that is going to look like on the field. But, being transparent about the situation, I think Marcelino Ball is a unique talent. There is a reason why he has been a very effective force here for several years and why this was a tough loss. He has a unique skill set that not every player can have or does have. We are going to maximize the strength of our team in different ways. It is going to give a lot more guys opportunities. We are going to try our very best to be able to put those guys in position to maximize their strengths. I do see it being a situation where we will have multiple individuals who will be used in various capacities to be able to equal what Marcelino was able to do. Obviously, on special teams, guys have to step up and fulfill the role that he played in those teams. It takes a collective group effort of guys being able to be in position to do the things that he was able to do to make this team better. That has been our approach and we will see how it plays out.
Q: On opening with a Big Ten opponent…
ALLEN: I think there are several things that go into the game that make it more unique and more challenging. The most obvious one is the delay of the schedule, and the start to stop. Everything we have been through leading up to this point and the way that you had to prepare as a team. You do not have any preseason games, so you try to use your scrimmages as those preseason games and get your team ready. You have a lot of those unanswered questions, the lack of hitting. We all are dealing with the same situation, especially all the Big Ten teams right now. At the same time, I think that there are some advantages to having the time we have had. We have had an extensive amount of meetings to get to the mental side of it. Great foundation laid there. We have had… we were basically segmented because of COVID-19 and following the rules of how many guys you could work with at a time. Even during the time when we did the first fall camp and then we had the break, we still had things we could do with our players. I think we have had some more individual, even our younger guys have gotten more reps, and more attention from coaches because of the way and all of this was broken down. That is a positive. The rest of the things are very challenging. You throw in the mix of opening with a Big Ten team and there is no chance to get broken in. It feels a lot like 2017 when we opened against Ohio State here at home, which is my first official game as a head coach, in terms of a home game, I had coached in the bowl game prior to that. That was a challenging opportunity. It feels similar to that in playing a team of that caliber. The bottom line is, you have to have all those typical first game questions answered. The margin for error is much smaller and then you throw in the other variable that you mentioned, which is a new offensive coordinator. There is no question you watch what he did at Minnesota, but it is never going to look the same. The personnel is different and every year is a little different. You do not really know for sure. You have an idea, but you do not know for sure. You are trying to figure all that stuff out. There has to be a lot of adjustments made after the first couple series on both sides of the football and probably even on special teams. That is where our coaching staff has to be really, really sharp with that area, be able to adapt to what they are showing us and what they are doing to us. We have to have answers. You take all those things combined and it creates a much more challenging situation. Like I said, everybody is in a similar situation, other than the coordinator for us. I guess you could say the same thing for us because we have a new coordinator, as well, on offense. Both teams are facing a similar situation.
Q: On Penn State's offense potentially not having Journey Brown…
ALLEN: I would say it has very little [impact]. He is a tremendously talented player, but they have a stable full of running backs that are extremely talented. That is the first I have heard of that, but we would not dwell on that. Bottom line is that they are a great football team. Their offensive line makes them go, they have an excellent quarterback, a very talented receiver corps and arguably one of the best tight ends in in the country, definitely one of the best. I have tremendous respect for their personnel. They have recruited at an extremely high level with that position, so if he is not there, you will have somebody else that is extremely talented, a future NFL running back, taking snaps.
Q: On getting over the hump against a Top-10 team…
ALLEN: Well first of all, I do think it adds a sense of urgency and a heightened focus to your guys when they know they are playing a team of the caliber of Penn State to open the season in everything that you do. Obviously, we did not know this until a month or so ago, but at the same time, it has been something that once we knew we were going to a conference only schedule, for the longest time we thought we were opening against Wisconsin. Either way, we knew we were going to have one of the top teams in the country as an opener. It shifted from Wisconsin focus to Penn State once they changed the schedule. The bottom line is, that is the schedule that we were handed and we do not ever really talk about anything other than we have goals as a program and beating those Top-25 teams is something that we have not been able to do a lot in the past. As one of our team's goals, the team came up with these and that is the objective that we have. Obviously, playing a team like Penn State gives us that opportunity. When you talk about what is next for our program, it is winning these games. Obviously, being close is no longer acceptable, the goal, or the objective whatsoever. It is to find a way to finish and win these games. We have been in them, we have been close, but we now have to finish them. We have talked a lot about that. It is really process driven, so it is really the outcome of it all. When we take care of things the right way, obviously, there are a lot of variables that go into a game. The bigger the game is, the heightened attention to detail needs to be in all three phases. I think special teams is one that has been a major factor in these games when you talk about beating teams of this caliber. To me, that has been a big focus and will continue to be a focus. That is the next step for us as a program is to be able to find a way to win these types of games and elevate our program.
Q: On holding up against the offensive line/run game…
ALLEN: The goal was to improve that area. The bottom line is, they have a very talented offensive line that is pretty much wholesale back, except for one guy. They had a lot of good number twos last year, so they are one of the best in the entire country at that position. We are aware of that. Our guys have to meet that challenge head on. We talk about all the time in our program that big men lead the way, both on offense and on the defensive line. That is where the game is won. They took the game over in that fourth quarter and had that long drive, had several short-yardage situations, and we could not get off the field. We kept saying we just need one more stop, just one more stop, but we were not able to do that. Hats off to them as they obviously executed at a high level and controlled the line of scrimmage on that final drive, without question. That is where our guys have to… we have a lot of guys back from last year and a few more pieces to it. That experience and the guys being a year older, a year better with fundamentals, better technique and better execution. More guys that can help us, more guys that can play at a high level, to me, is the key. They are going to get a lot of snaps in the nature of games like this. We have to rise up and get stops in the run game, do a tremendous job of controlling the pass game, and that is an objective every single week. As you pointed out, statistically from last year, extremely critical against Penn State.
Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan
Q. On treating scrimmages like game situations…
SHERIDAN: I feel very comfortable, primarily because of our players and our staff. I think we have done a nice job because it has been an unusual year. We have had a lot of unscripted periods where both [defensive coordinator] Kane Wommack and I have had to call it and I think that has been very beneficial. It makes you think on your feet. It makes you problem solve, which is game-like. I feel very comfortable and excited for the opportunity. Like I said the primary reason why I feel so comfortable is because of our staff and our players. I think we have done a nice job of putting both the players and the coaches, as best we can under the circumstances, in as many game-like situations as possible.
Q. On the poise of quarterback Michael Penix Jr.…
SHERIDAN: I definitely think that is one of Mike's strengths. The moment is not too big for Mike. He has played high level and competitive football for a long time. Coming back from when he was in high school and even before that, just the level of competition relative to how old he was it was always a high level of competition, playing against good players in big games. From the time he has been here I do not think the moment has ever been too big for Mike. Obviously, that is a great quality to have in your quarterback. I think he is excited. I will let him speak for himself. I definitely think that is a great quality to have in your quarterback. Like I said, the moment is not too big. He is able to execute under pressure. He is able to operate at the level that we all would want him to regardless of who the opponent is, what is the situation. He is good in that regard without a doubt. It is definitely a strength and I would echo exactly what Coach Allen said.
Q. On the use of the run game this season with quarterback Michael Penix Jr.…
SHERIDAN: I think naturally, if you play quarterback you are going to be asked to at different times, whether it is designed runs or just loose plays, you are going to be asked to tuck the ball down and run. There is no way for us to prevent that. Obviously, you can limit some of the quarterback runs. You have control over that. I think all offenses across the country have that in their offense and they utilize it when they see fit. We recruit tailbacks to run the ball. We recruit wide receivers to catch it. We recruit quarterbacks to throw it. I think if a strength of one of our quarterbacks is to run it at times, I think you utilize that. Ultimately, I think it is difficult. If you are a quarterback and you run between the tackles and you get tackled by a 240-pound middle linebacker and then you expect them to get up and go rip a dig route, I do not think that is the easiest thing to do. I think you have to be smart. I think the protection of the quarterback is always important regardless of your style of play. You are trying to protect the quarterback whether it be in passing or in running the ball. So, we think Michael is athletic. We think it is going to happen naturally. He is going to be whether the coverage dictated it or whatever it may be, he may have to tuck the ball down and run, but certainly we are looking to hand the ball off to our tailbacks, who we have a lot of confidence in. Let our line block. If the quarterback is involved in the run game, sometimes that is dictated by situation or opponent. I think that would be the same for everybody in our league, is that there are times where the quarterback is going to be asked to be involved in the run game. I think across our league for the most part, people want the running backs carrying the majority of the carries. We will be in the same boat as that.
Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack
Q. On readjusting the defense without Marcelino Ball…
WOMMACK: I think there are certain things that we are going to ask Bryant Fitzgerald to do. We were very pleased in the last three weeks on what he has been able to accomplish. He is playing some really good football right now, so we are excited about his growth and production at that position specifically. Like we said before, when you have a guy that is a dynamic athlete like Marcelino, you have got to find a way creatively to get people in the right package for what you need in that situation. There are some things creatively that we may see in the first week here that we have got to be ready to adjust, both from a leveraging standpoint, a schematic standpoint, as well as a personnel adjustment. I think we are ready to do those things.
Q. On preparing for Kirk Ciarrocca's offense…
WOMMACK: You do not bring somebody in from our league with the offensive production that they had last year at Minnesota without giving them a chance to run his system. I am sure they will give him the freedom and authority to be able to do those things. Good coordinators and smart people find creative ways to get their playmakers in space and I thought Ciarrocca did a phenomenal job of that at Minnesota and featured the players that they had. It will be interesting to see how he features his players at Penn State because he has a little bit different dynamic in certain position rooms. There are a lot of similarities as well that I think will tie in well with what they did at Minnesota. Probably a really smart hire from a standpoint of what they were looking for and what they need to do moving forward. I think it is a combination of seeing what their personnel is, what he has done in the past and trying to blend the two. Sometimes I get to get a little creative in my scripting, to kind of anticipate some things that may come up.
Q. On the addition of Bryson Bonds to the safety depth…
WOMMACK: That one was certainly a godsend. Just from a depth perspective with Raheem Layne being out, and then Marcelino obviously a couple weeks later. He is so locked in, clean with his style of play, his footwork is in the right place, his eyes are in the right place, very little wasted movement, and he is getting better at just anticipating things within the framework of our defense. Usually you have freshmen that just have bad days where they take two steps forward and then one step back but he has just been on a steady, consistent climb. He happens to be a pretty good athlete, probably even better than where I thought he would be coming in from a physical standpoint. He has been an exciting surprise at every level. I say the word surprise just because I did not think he would be at this level at this point early on where we can trust him but he has done a phenomenal job.
Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana head coach Tom Allen, offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack on Monday, Oct. 19.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Opening Statement…
ALLEN: It is great to be with you guys today. It feels awesome to be able to be in game week mode. We have been through so much to get to this point, so there is a lot of excitement from our players, from myself, and from our whole staff to be in this position. We are very thankful, very blessed. It has been quite the journey to get to this point.
We are going to be hosting the Penn State Nittany Lions here on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. I have so much respect for [Penn State head coach] James Franklin and what he has built there at Penn State. Obviously, tremendous tradition but they have done a great job building that roster. They have so much depth and talent up front. We are really impressed with their offensive and defensive lines. It is really where it all starts for us, as we all know. They have so much speed on both sides of the football. They are tremendously well coached. The new offensive coordinator [Kirk Ciarrocca] did a tremendous job at Minnesota. He brings a ton of experience and a high level of play calling and preparation. We know that makes them more challenging than ever, probably. We really have a ton of respect for the program that they run and how hard their kids compete and play. We know we are going to have to play our very best to be able to do the things we want to do against a Top-10 team in the country. We are really excited for the opportunity. To be able to begin Big Ten play here at home and be able to have our players, be able to exhibit all the hard work that they put into to this.
We are excited to be able to name our captains this week. We voted as a football team, and it was pretty clear who the guys want in those positions. It is an honor to be selected by your teammates and your peers. Michael Penix Jr. and Harry Crider are the two guys on offense that were selected as captains. Marcelino Ball, Micah McFadden and Cam Jones are the three on defense. Obviously, with the Marcelino situation he will not be playing this season as he will be having surgery this week, so he will probably not be able to be very active in that role on game day. At the same time, his leadership is obvious by the way his teammates feel about him. The way he has handled this tough situation with so much maturity, a positive attitude, and the way he has helped the guys in his position develop and coach those guys up. I am excited for that group to represent. Man, I tell you one thing though, we had so many guys get votes, more so than I can ever remember. I think it just speaks to the breadth of the leadership on this team and the guys that have been not just good football players the last couple years, but also young men that are respected by the teammates. A lot of other guys could have easily been selected. I challenged the whole team, they all need to understand that just because the guy is not picked as a captain, does not diminish his role on this team in a leadership capacity to help this team be what we want to be.
I wanted to announce that we are going to be having an equity fist that is going to be represented on our jerseys and our helmets as a patch to be able to do something for our university and for our athletic programs. We got together, myself and our leadership council, this past summer with all the issues going on in our country, with social justice, and we wanted to be able to do something to raise awareness. We got together as a whole university and came together with this equity fist. It is going to be representative on all sports teams, but we are going to be wearing it on our upper right-hand chest of our jersey and on the back of our helmet. In pregame we will be having it on both our shirts that we wear and the shorts that we wear. The players are excited about that as a sign of unity, as a sign of togetherness, peace and love that we want to promote. The respect for others that are different than us and look different. I have come from different backgrounds and I want to challenge our team. I want us to be a beacon of what it looks like to love each other and care about one another, no matter where you are from, and no matter whether you have differences or not. We have to be able to work together to make the world a better place, make Bloomington a better city, make the state of Indiana a better state, and have that impact across this country. I am excited about that and I know our players are as well.
We are excited about this week. I said it already, I will say it again. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to get prepared to play an excellent football team. I am looking forward to answering your questions and getting this week started.
Q: On the loss of Marcelino Ball and moving forward with the position…
ALLEN: Time will show what that is going to look like on the field. But, being transparent about the situation, I think Marcelino Ball is a unique talent. There is a reason why he has been a very effective force here for several years and why this was a tough loss. He has a unique skill set that not every player can have or does have. We are going to maximize the strength of our team in different ways. It is going to give a lot more guys opportunities. We are going to try our very best to be able to put those guys in position to maximize their strengths. I do see it being a situation where we will have multiple individuals who will be used in various capacities to be able to equal what Marcelino was able to do. Obviously, on special teams, guys have to step up and fulfill the role that he played in those teams. It takes a collective group effort of guys being able to be in position to do the things that he was able to do to make this team better. That has been our approach and we will see how it plays out.
Q: On opening with a Big Ten opponent…
ALLEN: I think there are several things that go into the game that make it more unique and more challenging. The most obvious one is the delay of the schedule, and the start to stop. Everything we have been through leading up to this point and the way that you had to prepare as a team. You do not have any preseason games, so you try to use your scrimmages as those preseason games and get your team ready. You have a lot of those unanswered questions, the lack of hitting. We all are dealing with the same situation, especially all the Big Ten teams right now. At the same time, I think that there are some advantages to having the time we have had. We have had an extensive amount of meetings to get to the mental side of it. Great foundation laid there. We have had… we were basically segmented because of COVID-19 and following the rules of how many guys you could work with at a time. Even during the time when we did the first fall camp and then we had the break, we still had things we could do with our players. I think we have had some more individual, even our younger guys have gotten more reps, and more attention from coaches because of the way and all of this was broken down. That is a positive. The rest of the things are very challenging. You throw in the mix of opening with a Big Ten team and there is no chance to get broken in. It feels a lot like 2017 when we opened against Ohio State here at home, which is my first official game as a head coach, in terms of a home game, I had coached in the bowl game prior to that. That was a challenging opportunity. It feels similar to that in playing a team of that caliber. The bottom line is, you have to have all those typical first game questions answered. The margin for error is much smaller and then you throw in the other variable that you mentioned, which is a new offensive coordinator. There is no question you watch what he did at Minnesota, but it is never going to look the same. The personnel is different and every year is a little different. You do not really know for sure. You have an idea, but you do not know for sure. You are trying to figure all that stuff out. There has to be a lot of adjustments made after the first couple series on both sides of the football and probably even on special teams. That is where our coaching staff has to be really, really sharp with that area, be able to adapt to what they are showing us and what they are doing to us. We have to have answers. You take all those things combined and it creates a much more challenging situation. Like I said, everybody is in a similar situation, other than the coordinator for us. I guess you could say the same thing for us because we have a new coordinator, as well, on offense. Both teams are facing a similar situation.
Q: On Penn State's offense potentially not having Journey Brown…
ALLEN: I would say it has very little [impact]. He is a tremendously talented player, but they have a stable full of running backs that are extremely talented. That is the first I have heard of that, but we would not dwell on that. Bottom line is that they are a great football team. Their offensive line makes them go, they have an excellent quarterback, a very talented receiver corps and arguably one of the best tight ends in in the country, definitely one of the best. I have tremendous respect for their personnel. They have recruited at an extremely high level with that position, so if he is not there, you will have somebody else that is extremely talented, a future NFL running back, taking snaps.
Q: On getting over the hump against a Top-10 team…
ALLEN: Well first of all, I do think it adds a sense of urgency and a heightened focus to your guys when they know they are playing a team of the caliber of Penn State to open the season in everything that you do. Obviously, we did not know this until a month or so ago, but at the same time, it has been something that once we knew we were going to a conference only schedule, for the longest time we thought we were opening against Wisconsin. Either way, we knew we were going to have one of the top teams in the country as an opener. It shifted from Wisconsin focus to Penn State once they changed the schedule. The bottom line is, that is the schedule that we were handed and we do not ever really talk about anything other than we have goals as a program and beating those Top-25 teams is something that we have not been able to do a lot in the past. As one of our team's goals, the team came up with these and that is the objective that we have. Obviously, playing a team like Penn State gives us that opportunity. When you talk about what is next for our program, it is winning these games. Obviously, being close is no longer acceptable, the goal, or the objective whatsoever. It is to find a way to finish and win these games. We have been in them, we have been close, but we now have to finish them. We have talked a lot about that. It is really process driven, so it is really the outcome of it all. When we take care of things the right way, obviously, there are a lot of variables that go into a game. The bigger the game is, the heightened attention to detail needs to be in all three phases. I think special teams is one that has been a major factor in these games when you talk about beating teams of this caliber. To me, that has been a big focus and will continue to be a focus. That is the next step for us as a program is to be able to find a way to win these types of games and elevate our program.
Q: On holding up against the offensive line/run game…
ALLEN: The goal was to improve that area. The bottom line is, they have a very talented offensive line that is pretty much wholesale back, except for one guy. They had a lot of good number twos last year, so they are one of the best in the entire country at that position. We are aware of that. Our guys have to meet that challenge head on. We talk about all the time in our program that big men lead the way, both on offense and on the defensive line. That is where the game is won. They took the game over in that fourth quarter and had that long drive, had several short-yardage situations, and we could not get off the field. We kept saying we just need one more stop, just one more stop, but we were not able to do that. Hats off to them as they obviously executed at a high level and controlled the line of scrimmage on that final drive, without question. That is where our guys have to… we have a lot of guys back from last year and a few more pieces to it. That experience and the guys being a year older, a year better with fundamentals, better technique and better execution. More guys that can help us, more guys that can play at a high level, to me, is the key. They are going to get a lot of snaps in the nature of games like this. We have to rise up and get stops in the run game, do a tremendous job of controlling the pass game, and that is an objective every single week. As you pointed out, statistically from last year, extremely critical against Penn State.
Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan
Q. On treating scrimmages like game situations…
SHERIDAN: I feel very comfortable, primarily because of our players and our staff. I think we have done a nice job because it has been an unusual year. We have had a lot of unscripted periods where both [defensive coordinator] Kane Wommack and I have had to call it and I think that has been very beneficial. It makes you think on your feet. It makes you problem solve, which is game-like. I feel very comfortable and excited for the opportunity. Like I said the primary reason why I feel so comfortable is because of our staff and our players. I think we have done a nice job of putting both the players and the coaches, as best we can under the circumstances, in as many game-like situations as possible.
Q. On the poise of quarterback Michael Penix Jr.…
SHERIDAN: I definitely think that is one of Mike's strengths. The moment is not too big for Mike. He has played high level and competitive football for a long time. Coming back from when he was in high school and even before that, just the level of competition relative to how old he was it was always a high level of competition, playing against good players in big games. From the time he has been here I do not think the moment has ever been too big for Mike. Obviously, that is a great quality to have in your quarterback. I think he is excited. I will let him speak for himself. I definitely think that is a great quality to have in your quarterback. Like I said, the moment is not too big. He is able to execute under pressure. He is able to operate at the level that we all would want him to regardless of who the opponent is, what is the situation. He is good in that regard without a doubt. It is definitely a strength and I would echo exactly what Coach Allen said.
Q. On the use of the run game this season with quarterback Michael Penix Jr.…
SHERIDAN: I think naturally, if you play quarterback you are going to be asked to at different times, whether it is designed runs or just loose plays, you are going to be asked to tuck the ball down and run. There is no way for us to prevent that. Obviously, you can limit some of the quarterback runs. You have control over that. I think all offenses across the country have that in their offense and they utilize it when they see fit. We recruit tailbacks to run the ball. We recruit wide receivers to catch it. We recruit quarterbacks to throw it. I think if a strength of one of our quarterbacks is to run it at times, I think you utilize that. Ultimately, I think it is difficult. If you are a quarterback and you run between the tackles and you get tackled by a 240-pound middle linebacker and then you expect them to get up and go rip a dig route, I do not think that is the easiest thing to do. I think you have to be smart. I think the protection of the quarterback is always important regardless of your style of play. You are trying to protect the quarterback whether it be in passing or in running the ball. So, we think Michael is athletic. We think it is going to happen naturally. He is going to be whether the coverage dictated it or whatever it may be, he may have to tuck the ball down and run, but certainly we are looking to hand the ball off to our tailbacks, who we have a lot of confidence in. Let our line block. If the quarterback is involved in the run game, sometimes that is dictated by situation or opponent. I think that would be the same for everybody in our league, is that there are times where the quarterback is going to be asked to be involved in the run game. I think across our league for the most part, people want the running backs carrying the majority of the carries. We will be in the same boat as that.
Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack
Q. On readjusting the defense without Marcelino Ball…
WOMMACK: I think there are certain things that we are going to ask Bryant Fitzgerald to do. We were very pleased in the last three weeks on what he has been able to accomplish. He is playing some really good football right now, so we are excited about his growth and production at that position specifically. Like we said before, when you have a guy that is a dynamic athlete like Marcelino, you have got to find a way creatively to get people in the right package for what you need in that situation. There are some things creatively that we may see in the first week here that we have got to be ready to adjust, both from a leveraging standpoint, a schematic standpoint, as well as a personnel adjustment. I think we are ready to do those things.
Q. On preparing for Kirk Ciarrocca's offense…
WOMMACK: You do not bring somebody in from our league with the offensive production that they had last year at Minnesota without giving them a chance to run his system. I am sure they will give him the freedom and authority to be able to do those things. Good coordinators and smart people find creative ways to get their playmakers in space and I thought Ciarrocca did a phenomenal job of that at Minnesota and featured the players that they had. It will be interesting to see how he features his players at Penn State because he has a little bit different dynamic in certain position rooms. There are a lot of similarities as well that I think will tie in well with what they did at Minnesota. Probably a really smart hire from a standpoint of what they were looking for and what they need to do moving forward. I think it is a combination of seeing what their personnel is, what he has done in the past and trying to blend the two. Sometimes I get to get a little creative in my scripting, to kind of anticipate some things that may come up.
Q. On the addition of Bryson Bonds to the safety depth…
WOMMACK: That one was certainly a godsend. Just from a depth perspective with Raheem Layne being out, and then Marcelino obviously a couple weeks later. He is so locked in, clean with his style of play, his footwork is in the right place, his eyes are in the right place, very little wasted movement, and he is getting better at just anticipating things within the framework of our defense. Usually you have freshmen that just have bad days where they take two steps forward and then one step back but he has just been on a steady, consistent climb. He happens to be a pretty good athlete, probably even better than where I thought he would be coming in from a physical standpoint. He has been an exciting surprise at every level. I say the word surprise just because I did not think he would be at this level at this point early on where we can trust him but he has done a phenomenal job.
Players Mentioned
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QB
/ FootballFB: Curt Cignetti Media Availability (1/17/26)
Saturday, January 17
FB: Curt Cignetti Media Availability (1/16/26)
Friday, January 16
FB: CFP National Championship Game - Student-Athlete Press Conference
Tuesday, January 13
FB: Curt Cignetti Media Availability (1/12/26)
Monday, January 12