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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 1, 2016

Andre Robinson

University Park, Pennsylvania

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Andre.

Q. James Franklin mentioned how guys focus on ball control, ball security so much. What is the drill like at practice? Give us a sense how much is that drilled into you?
ANDRE ROBINSON: Coach is pretty crazy with the ball security. Rightly so. First thing he says to the runningback is the ball, the ball, the ball. Ball security is big in practice. We definitely go 100% in that. The runningbacks, he started having us stay after practice to do extra ball control with each other.

Ball security is huge. We had too many turnovers last week, but that's huge in winning close games.

Q. (No microphone.)
ANDRE ROBINSON: Not good. Mentally and physically, it just messes your head up a little bit. Luckily we haven't had too many this year. That's definitely something we're trying to get down to zero, or as low as possible.

Q. A lot has been said about this team being very close. As a new guy last year, when you came in, could you sense this team was pretty close then or maybe being on its way? What is it like being a new guy coming in? Easy to fit in right away or tough?
ANDRE ROBINSON: It's pretty easy. You get pretty close with your class coming in. Probably midway through the season, you get close with everybody.

I would say this year's team is probably a little bit closer than last year's team. Everybody has bought into the coaches' messages and everything. Everybody really cares about each other and loves each other.

Q. How much do you savor the opportunities that you have gotten this season? How do you think those can build to more opportunity later?
ANDRE ROBINSON: Every opportunity I get I try to take advantage of. The touchdowns were being in the right place at the right time. Definitely every opportunity I'm grateful for. Try to make the most of them, get myself more opportunities in the future.

Q. Guys were saying they could sense the closeness this summer, that this team was a little different. Obviously every team has different chemistry. Is there an instance that stands out to you in the summer?
ANDRE ROBINSON: One instance that stuck out to me in the summer, is holding each other accountable, we were running conditioning after summer workouts. A player, not a strength coach, called a player out for not touching a line. Brandon Bell. Everyone else was like, We're fine.

He said, No, if we want to be the team we want to be, we have to run this extra one, make up for it.

Q. Doesn't say much?
ANDRE ROBINSON: Yeah, he does a little bit. He actually gave us a pregame pump-up speech before Ohio State actually. That was just a really, really good example of leadership and holding each other accountable on his part.

Q. (Question regarding two-back sets in the offense.)
ANDRE ROBINSON: That's still on the game plan. We still practice that every week. We're doing a lot of extra stuff, especially with the empty sets, motioning guys in the backfield and everything. Yeah, that's definitely a possibility and is in the game plan every week.

Q. (Question about rooming with Saquon.)
ANDRE ROBINSON: During the recruiting process, we talked a little bit. Thought it would be in each other's best interest to room with each other. We got pretty close through that, yeah.

Q. How do you make each other better?
ANDRE ROBINSON: He helps me a lot more because he has a lot more experience than I do. I'm really, really grateful for the help he's given me. But I kind of help him when he comes off the field, if I see things that he doesn't see, he'll ask me what coverage it looked like there, what blitzes they're bringing, stuff like that. It's hard to pay attention to everything while you're on the field playing. I try to help out as much as I can from what I see from the sidelines.

Q. You mentioned the plays where the runningback is doing a lot of motioning. Is that something that was not in the offense at all in the summer and has been added?
ANDRE ROBINSON: We installed that as soon as we installed the offense in the spring. Different defenses call for us to do different things. Last week especially it worked really, really well for us.

Q. (No microphone.)
ANDRE ROBINSON: I just think it spreads the defense out a little more. I don't think they really expected it. We hadn't done it much. Last week especially. Even Ohio State it worked, but last week it worked really, really well.

Q. Back to Saquon. What kind of roommate is he like?
ANDRE ROBINSON: He's a good roommate. He might be a little messy. Back when we were in the dorms, he got a lot of texts. He'd always had his ringer on. That was annoying. Now we're in the apartments, our own rooms. We get along good.

Q. Anybody cook?
ANDRE ROBINSON: We both cook. We both try to cook. I think I'm a little better cook, but neither is too great.

Q. All the backs scored on Saturday. Talk about as a group how excited you get?
ANDRE ROBINSON: That was awesome. I was probably more excited for the other guys scoring than I was myself. That was something we had in our minds all week, that we wanted everyone to contribute to the game, wanted everyone to get in the end zone. We were able to do that. That's pretty awesome.

I don't know how many schools can say they got all their runningbacks in the end zone. We were really, really happy about that.

Q. (No microphone.)
ANDRE ROBINSON: I kind of had a relationship with Adam Breneman from playing against him in high school and things like that. That helped me get there. I think central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg is a pretty talent-filled area. Good connection there. I know there are some recruits committed here that are big-time prospects from that area now. That's definitely like a pipeline we want to keep going because of the talent in that area.

I literally talked to him. I was doing the interview. I talk to him probably every week. He's doing really, really well this week, him and my quarterback, Andrew Ford, I try to watch whenever I can. They're both doing very well.

Q. (No microphone.)
ANDRE ROBINSON: I haven't talked to him actually since he announced. I talked to him towards the end of camp at the beginning of the season. You hate to see that. Obviously for his sake, for his future, his life going forward, he made the right decision.

I know it's hard for anyone to walk away from a game that they love.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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