Scot Loeffler Monday Press Conference Transcript (Penn State)
Sep 13 (Sat)
5 p.m.
Scot Loeffler Press Conference
Sept. 2, 2024
Bowling Green, Ohio
SCOT LOEFFLER OPENING STATEMENT: Happy Labor Day. I hope everyone enjoying the weekend. After watching the tape, [I have] very similar comments [as] after the game. We have to get better. There are some things that we really did well, and there's some areas in our play that needs to improve and over these next few weeks to put ourselves in position to do the things that we want to do. We have to really take steps. So, generally I'm happy about how we played, but just like I said, there's some things that we definitely need to improve upon to make a run at this thing. [We’re] going to Happy Valley. [I’ve] been there many times. I think Coach [James] Franklin and his staff have done an unbelievable job. You look at their talent, and it's as good a Penn State team as I've seen in a long time. They don't have too many holes at all, if any, and I think he's done a super job recruiting [and a] super job developing the team. They’re really well coached, super talented and they'll make a run in my opinion for the Big 10 championship. I think that's the type of caliber team that we're facing this weekend.
QUESTION: How does the environment in Happy Valley compare to Michigan’s Big House?
LOEFFLER: I think both places are awesome to play at. Just like I said, I think this is my either eighth or ninth trip to Happy Valley. I think the student section rocks. Football's important at Penn State as well as it is in Ann Arbor. It's one of those top five special places in the country and the people do an unbelievable job supporting their team. Just like I said, this team reminds me a lot of the Michigan team last year. I think they’re super talented. I think they have every piece that it takes to win it, and [I’m] very impressed – not shocked – that Coach [James] Franklin’s done such a good job of developing such a great roster.”
QUESTION: What were your thoughts on Jaison Patterson’s two blocks he threw on Justin Pegues’ 100-yard kick return touchdown against Fordham?
LOEFFLER: We said all week that we were either going to return a kickoff or we were going to return a punt [for a touchdown]. We had a good scheme. I think Jaison [Patterson’s] effort was outstanding, but there were also some really good efforts [by others]. There was a great double team on the sideline. I thought ‘Little J’ [Justin Pegues] did a great job hitting the hole. Congratulations on him becoming the Special Teams MAC Player of the Week, which is great but I think that award should be for that whole entire [kick return] unit. That whole entire unit really, really blocked really well on that play and I really loved Jaison's effort in terms of…That off-returner was unbelievable on those two blocks being able to get two knockdowns.
QUESTION: How much of having players on your team with experience playing in big environments help you this week?
LOEFFLER: The good thing is just like you said. A lot of our team has been there before. We played in some really great places [like] Tennessee, the Big House and now going to Happy Valley. There's a lot of challenge to it. There's a lot of challenge with communication. We have to be on point. We have to know exactly what to do because it is hard to hear. It's a loud place. The student section will be rocking and rolling. There'll be an unbelievable amount of people when you're just warming up. I remember always taking the quarterbacks out to warm up there and the entire student section is packed whenever we were the first people to go out to warm up. [Football’s] important there. They do a great job with supporting their team, very similar to us. I thought our students on Thursday were outstanding. That was awesome. I thought our crowd was as good as it’s been.
QUESTION: What is the key to forcing turnovers against a Penn State team that does a great job protecting the ball?
LOEFFLER: That's what gave us a chance in the first half [of the Michigan game] last year. You have to be able to create a couple turnovers early, create some momentum swings, hit a couple plays you’re not supposed to hit and most importantly the offense and special teams taking care of the ball. We have to find a way to either punch the ball out, get a strip sack from behind, being able to force an interception all of which are very difficult versus this [Penn State] team. To give yourself a chance in that type of environment, the turnover war like anything else, like any other game, is critical. But really, whenever you're going in and you're such an underdog, you have to be able to create some turnovers and create some momentum swings very early in that football game.
QUESTION: What are your thoughts going up against Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who coached QB Connor Bazelak at Indiana and knows him so well?
LOEFFLER: I have a ton of respect for Coach [Tom] Allen. There's some guys that played for me that he had been their coordinator before. I think he does a great job in every aspect. They’re fundamentally sound. Their scheme is great. Their gap integrity is off the charts. On top of that, they have really good players. I'm talking really good players. [I’m] super impressed with the front seven. [They’re] ridiculous. No. 11 [Abdul Carter] will be another one of those great defensive ends that’ll get drafted in the first round [of the NFL Draft]. He’s a first round draft pick, and I think their back end – that's where I think they're completely different in comparison to when I used to play against him in the Big 10. I think their secondary is lights out. I think they all can run. They’re long. They’re physical, and I bet you Coach Allen’s a ton of fun coaching this group because they are super talented.
QUESTION: How much is preparing for a team like Penn State historical and how much of it is what they put out on film during their first game of the season?
LOEFFLER: It's a little bit of a challenge for us on offense because Coach [Tom] Allen hasn’t called [the defense] in a while. You're digging up old film of when he did call it. You’re obviously putting in a ton of stock into the film that was from this Saturday against West Virginia. Offensively, we're somewhat familiar with the offensive coordinator [Andy Kotelnicki] because he was at Buffalo and then he was at Kansas. We study Kansas’ tape all the time. I think offensively, Penn State does a great job with a bunch of different personnel groupings similar to us. There's plays off of plays very similar to how we do it. They're trying to set up plays based upon what type of sets, formations, run schemes and the play actions off of it all marry. I think he does a great job and [it’s] very similar to the defensive side of the ball. I think the offensive line is very good. A guy that I worked with coaches the offensive line [Phil Trautwein] and I think he does a great job along with [offensive analyst & analytics coordinator] Frank Leonard helping out over there. Then, I think the quarterback [Drew Allar] is outstanding. The backs are great. It's a great formula. Anytime that you have a good offensive line, you can run the ball and play great defense, it's hard to beat.
QUESTION: What has the residual been from all of the positive light nationally that Bowling Green got after the Fordham game? Are those clips from SportsCenter something you send to recruits?
LOEFFLER: I hope they’re sending it to the recruits.” (laughter) “That's great. Any time that an athletic program here is able to give a national exposure to the university, I think that is a positive. I think the university and the athletic department works hand in hand. It was great whenever we had that [FOX] special with Orel Hershiser about our baseball program. Anytime that you have the opportunity to showcase this university, I think it's great. It’s a great university. Enrollment is up. We have things as President [Rodney] Rogers says, ‘We have some momentum going right now,’ and we have to keep it going. We have a lot of work as a football program to do over these next three weeks. We need to find ways to improve and just like I said, we have our hands full this week. This is a really, really good football team.
QUESTION: How has the vibe changed with the air of excitement and possibility since you first started in 2019?
LOEFFLER: We haven't changed in terms of how we've worked. I think the minute we walked in the door, we’ve had a blue collar mentality and a great work ethic. We’ve really worked super hard to revamp the roster. We’ve worked really hard to coach these kids and hold these kids accountable on and off the field. I think we've done that. We've improved the football program. To compare walking in the building three years ago to these last couple, it's night and day. That was just a challenging [time] for our staff [with] challenging events [and] challenging situations – probably the most in all our coaching careers if you asked our staff. We had to really rebuild from the complete bottom up. It's been a great learning experience. It's been great to rebuild the program, but we have to obviously keep this momentum going, find a way to finish and be consistent. These last two years that we went to a bowl game, we could beat anyone in the country and we could lose to anyone in the country. That was just based upon being consistent and being disciplined in our habits. We're really working hard to every single day have championship habits, which hopefully leads to a lot more wins.
QUESTION: How valuable is it to have three grass practice fields?
LOEFFLER: I think they’re great. To be able to have the grass practice fields I think is definitely a huge advantage. Not too many people have grass anymore. You try to practice on the surface that you're going to play [on], but every once in a while we'll go out there and save our legs and get off the turf.
QUESTION: Is this the healthiest you have seen QB Connor Bazelak since early last year being able to move around as well as he did against Fordham?
LOEFFLER: I think Connor [Bazelak] … I thought the beginning of the season [last year], he did not play the way he played the last half of the season. I think he's even better now. He's worked his tail off and bought into taking the right foot work, having elite body position, creating natural look offs with his eyes [and] being able to close and create momentum because of body position and footwork. If you watched last Thursday, he was extremely decisive. I thought the last six or seven games of the year he was as decisive as any quarterback in our conference. I thought fundamentally last year, there were still things to change with him. We’ve changed it with him, and on Thursday night, he looked like a big time quarterback. He was on rhythm the entire game. There was zero indecisiveness. His body position was awesome in every aspect of the word, and he was accurate. I thought he made great decisions. He just needs to do that. He doesn't need to do anything else but take the right foot work with great body position, trust the protection, go one to two to three to four to sometimes five [with his reads] and be able to put the play on the shelf [and] save it for another day or be able to create a scramble and get some positive yardage. I think he feels really comfortable with our offensive line, and we need to keep him healthy. I think he is the key to our success, and right now with the situation with Cam [Orth] and developing Lucian [Anderson III] it's critical that we keep him up right. He's tough and he’s smart and he's playing well.
QUESTION: How do you coach players mentally so they go into these big games on the road and play some of their best football?
LOEFFLER: We don't approach these big games any different than what we would a MAC game. We really don’t, and I think it’s the consistency with our preparation and how we do business basically [from] Sunday to our last walk through on Saturday. I think our kids understand our process. They understand our expectations of what a Tuesday or Wednesday practice needs to look like, what a Friday practice needs to look like, all our walk throughs, the meetings [and] being locked in. I thought last week our preparation for Fordham was outstanding. You know how I am. I've come in here and I've said we've had a great Tuesday practice and the most God-awful Wednesday I’ve ever seen. I pretty much say it how it is, and I thought our preparation for Fordham was outstanding. I think that's why we played well. Now, do we have a ton to clean up? Absolutely. Do we need to get better? Absolutely. Do we need to get some guys going at some particular positions to improve to make a run at beating really good opponents? Absolutely. But, we need to focus this week completely on improving and moving the needle of our program and then going to Happy Valley and give it our best effort, protect the ball, hopefully create a couple of turnovers, get a special teams play that we're not supposed to get and see what happens.