	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 5, 2017

Joe Moorhead

University Park, Pennsylvania

THE MODERATOR: Now joined by offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joe Moorhead.

JOE MOORHEAD: Good afternoon. Any questions?

Q. What is the biggest difference you've seen going into year two with this offense, particularly when you have all the quarterbacks returning?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think we have the base foundation of the offense. The kids have a very solid understanding of what we're doing and why. And I think year two of fall camp, I think we're seeing better attention to the little details, the intricacies, and operating at a higher level.

Q. Hey, James talked a little bit before about the challenges of picking a third team quarterback. You guys are pretty solid at one and two. Can you tell us about the guys that were involved and how they've kind of developed, including Clifford, who's only been here for a little bit.
JOE MOORHEAD: I think obviously Trace and Tommy solidified themselves as one and two. Jake and Cliff are battling it out. Both are doing a great job. Jake was dealing with issues last year he was battling through injury-wise and fully healthy now. Sean comes in with a very advanced understanding of offensive football. Obviously, Coach Specht at Saint Xavier did a great job with him.

It's very early in camp. They're both doing a great job. Competition brings out the best in everyone. We'll continue to give them repetitions and see where it goes.

Q. Can you describe the progress that Tommy has made, not only physically, mentally, maturity, from the time you've gotten here.
JOE MOORHEAD: I think it's been -- you know, he's just improved across the board. I think the one word that you mentioned probably describes it best is maturity. There were some things mechanically we worked on with Tommy with his off-arm to tighten his release a little bit, but I think overall Tommy's approach to the game and his understanding of the preparation aspect of it is a critical component to his success.

He's got tremendous physical tools. He's blessed with the ability to throw the ball well, and he's an awesome runner. But the mental part of it, he's made tremendous strides in the understanding of our offense. He's taken positive steps forward every day, and he's picked up where he left off at the end of spring ball.

Q. One of your players was saying, when you huddled with your team at a certain point in the Purdue game last year, you said they were going to score a touchdown on a given play, and they did. How often do you do that, and how are you able to do that?
JOE MOORHEAD: Well, we don't use the word huddle, but that's okay. We prefer the term congregation. We kind of mill around, but that's tangent.

I'll do it occasionally, and sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. In that instance, I happened to be right. It feels good. I think there were one or two other occasions throughout the course of the year. To me, it's about instilling confidence in your players that any play you call has the opportunity to go the distance. That happened to be right that time.

When you hand the ball off to 26, you stand a chance to be right more often than not.

Q. What is Trace's next step in his evolution as a quarterback?
JOE MOORHEAD: His next step? Well, I think that brings up an interesting topic. You know kind of this thought process that's prevailing that you hear about -- and frankly, this is gross mischaracterization, number one, of the application of our offense and the role of the quarterback -- that Trace just drops back and picks the deepest receiver and chucks the ball up and hopes the guy makes the play. That's, in a lot of ways, ridiculous at best and, quite frankly, asinine at worst.

I don't have all the answers, but I do know this. A kid couldn't lead the league in multiple passing categories and set school single season records and be on the verge of multiple other school records if he was just throwing the ball indiscriminately down the field. In a lot of ways, I feel that minimizes the role of the people who game plan the plays, the person who calls them, and the player who executes them.

I think Trace, he just has to understand -- and he does. The preparation aspect of it is incredibly important. He does that. He's understanding the offense better. Just keep doing the things he does, and we're going to -- we don't -- you hear people say, well, are you guys going to be able to consistently live on the 50-50 ball down the field? That's not what we do. Our offense is designed to stretch defenses horizontally and vertically and create mismatches by a number of personnel. So the things that we did throwing the ball down the field, they didn't happen by chance, they happened by choice.

To answer your question, Trace is going to continue his overall development by working on his preparation, his effort, and his execution.

Q. Last year, going back to 26, you guys were very successful hitting him on wheel routes and things like that. What more can you do with him in your passing game and getting him involved? How would you like to get him more involved?
JOE MOORHEAD: In the passing game, I think he had close to 400 yards receiving and almost 2,000 yards of total offense. Coach Huff does an awesome job with Saquon, and as we go through the game planning process, whether it's Saquon out of the backfield or lined up in the slot sometimes, it's just a matter of -- one of the other things we talk about in the pass game, aside from stretching defenses horizontally or vertically, he's creating mismatches by number or personnel.

That's part of the thing with the balls that we throw downfield, including the ones with Saquon, it's part of the process of where can we get him matched up on the person who can't defend him, like some of the other guys? They say 100 percent of the ball is overthrown or incompleted. So we find a matchup we feel we can exploit, whether it's Saquon or someone else, we're going to give him an opportunity to go out and make a play.

Q. So I think one of the interesting story lines this year has to be Brandon Polk, a guy before you came here was utilized on jet sweeps. You got to work with him when you came in last spring and through last summer and obviously the injury that warranted the redshirt. With Trace being his high school teammate and them already having some chemistry, what kind of role and impact do you see Brandon Polk having on the offense this year?
JOE MOORHEAD: Brandon is very, very fast. He has great change of direction. He has the ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. He's had a great camp so far. We're only five into it, but he's done a very good job making plays. And the slot position, the H position in our offense is one that's expected to make a lot of plays.

Coach Gattis is doing a great job with the receivers, and Brandon is getting his opportunities. We'll continue to go through camp and see where he fits in, but he certainly has the ability to help us score points.

Q. Trace last year was very abundant in his crediting you for making sure he kept his concentration downfield, even in broken pocket situations where he could have ejected. Do you think that's a quality that's intrinsic, or can you teach it? It seems like sometimes it's just a feel that the quarterbacks have, either they have it or they don't.
JOE MOORHEAD: I think it's a combination of both. A term we use in the quarterback room is feel the rush, see the coverage. Our pass game is dictated by throwing the ball to the receiver based on the coverage on the appropriate footwork. So he's thrown to his first read-off at one hitch, his second read-off at two hitches, his third read-off at three hitches.

When he gets flushed out of the pocket or he's forced to not be able to make the throw on his footwork, we'd like him to keep his eyes downfield. So it's exhaust your progressions quickly, run the ball, throw it away, and I think he's got a very innate ability to maintain his vision downfield through his progressions even though there may be things happening in the pocket that don't allow him to throw in footwork.

Q. (No microphone)?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think he had a knack with it, but it is something that we work on. I think there's guys that, at the first sight of pressure, they want to tuck the ball and run. But with the playmakers that we have and what we do schematically, I think he understands that, if he can buy time in the pocket and keep his eyes downfield, that someone's going to open up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297