Last week of the out of conference schedule. You know the drill. Transcript here.
NEED TO KNOW
- Did not rule out giving Stephfon Green more carries this week and said situations will dictate what runner Penn State chooses to use.
- Drew Astorino's shoulder "still bothers him" and the coaches have tried not to work him too hard in practice; "He's doing a good job."
- On Evan Royster: "We knew what (Evan) Royster could do. We got ahead fairly early in that game. We had pretty good control of the football game. It was a good time to play some of the younger kids. We'd like to get (Silas) Redd in a little more. It's tough to play a lot of them. Particularly when we're playing a lot of football with one back and with the wideouts that we have. But, no, I think Royster practiced really well last week. And I think he was ready to play a very, very solid football game on Saturday. I don't have any gripes with him. But I do have a concern about making sure that we keep some of the younger kids have an opportunity to get some exposure."
- The running game "isn't there yet."
- Andrew Szczerba is likely done for the season.
- Curtis Drake isn't close to coming back.
More after the jump.
OTHER STUFF
- Sent good wishes to Mark Dantonio.
- Challenged the players last week in practice, including threatening some of their jobs. Said practice was "more aggressive."
- On Temple: "Looking at some tapes. This is not the same Temple team that we've played. Last year they played well. We had some things happen to us that made it a little bit made the score look a little more impressive, last year. But I think when they look at the tapes and they know the kids by the way, this is a young Temple team. Al's got a young team. And they play with a lot of enthusiasm. And, as I mentioned earlier, good size, good athletic ability. I think nowadays with all the tapes that are available and kids can take tapes home and the whole bit, unless they're stupid, they can take a look and see some of the people they're going to play against and they realize this is a better Temple team than any we've probably played in the 21 years or 23 years that was suggested."
- The tight ends are improving, but still have a ways to go.
- Blamed a lot of Evan Royster's issues on the offensive line.
- Believes the donation for the new ice facility is great, and even said he thought it should have been built ahead of the baseball stadium. Said he "doesn't care about the State College Spikes" and doesn't think the stadium has done much for Penn State baseball.
- The regular "Al Golden has done a good job" stuff.