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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 26, 2017

Mike Gesicki

University Park, Pennsylvania

Q. Wanted to ask you about Juwan and the progress he's made since he's been here, obviously the big catch, but he's done a lot in between there to get to this point and he's been hyped up this year. What are your thoughts on his growth?
MIKE GESICKI: Juwan put a ton of time into the on-field success that everybody's been seeing this season, especially on Saturday night, coming up with that huge touchdown catch to win the game for us.

But you know, he deserves all the success that he's having, with all the time that he's put into this. There was times in the summertime where I would call Juwan, trying to get food or something at 10:30 at night, and he's in Holuba running around and running routes and something like that.

There was times toward the end of training camp where I would call Juwan at 10:00, 10:30 at night and be like, "Hey, man, let's go catch." And we could go over to the building and catch. Juwan has been dialed in and completely focused on this season and has put a lot of time into it. It's no surprise that he's been able to have success.

Q. I know you talked about DaeSean at Big Ten media days and how he's an underrated guy on this team but now that he's so close to taking over the career mark for receptions, what's your relationship like with him and how appreciative do you think he's going to be when that comes and how happy will you be for him?
MIKE GESICKI: Yeah, you know, DaeSean is another guy that puts a ton of time into this, his entire career. Whether it was his freshman year before he even stepped on the field or whether it's this past season, you know, going into his senior year. He's never wavered in his work ethic.

So for him, you know, to be so close to have this record; Penn State football has been around for a long time and he's about to have the record for most catches by any player in Penn State football history. For him to have that at his fingertips and be able to work for that and understand that that's been a goal of his -- but also he understands the team goals and where he fits in, as well.

So I think that DaeSean, being my best friend on the team, one of my best friends on the team, I've kind of been there with him through his ups, his downs, his good games, all that cooped of stuff. Ultimately when that record does happen for him, there's not going to be a guy happier for him than me and there's not going to be a guy more appreciative of it than him.

Q. On Saturday we saw you guys in a two tight end set for a couple snaps. How much time do you spend working on that?
MIKE GESICKI: We put a fair amount of time into that kind of stuff to make our offense more diverse and give us more opportunities. You know, the one play that we ended up running on that fourth and one play was something that we didn't even practice to be honest with you. He just kind of drew it up right there, literally drew it up on a piece of paper and said: You're going to go here and you're going to go here and this is what you're going to do. That's kind of what you can do when you're Coach Moorhead and you're a football genius.

You know, he kind of put that together for us and we were able to execute, but obviously having an additional tight end in the game, it gives us another guy in there to make some big blocks and to ultimately push us forward and get a first down. Hopefully something that will grow in the future in this offense because we have some guys in our room that are extremely talented.

Q. When people talk about being a matchup problem, what does that mean to you? Speed or size or who you're going against or route running? What is that?
MIKE GESICKI: I think it's all those kind of qualities that you just said. I think it has to do with being able to run, jump, use my size, use my abilities, but it also has to do with me understanding my abilities and understanding who I'm going against. If I'm going against a bigger guy, then I have to use my speed against him. If I'm going against a smaller guy, I have to be able to jump up, make a play or anything like that.

So being a mismatch, it's something that, I mean, I've been called before and all that kind of stuff. But ultimately in this offense, we have a ton of mismatches, honestly. We have a bunch of guys that can make plays and that can defeat man coverage or can -- you've got 26 who can defeat all 11 guys, all that kind of stuff.

So you know, honestly, you could say it's me but there's a ton of guys on our team that could be mismatches for defenses.

Q. You said Coach Moorhead just drew up that play on fourth and one. How often does that sort of thing happen, and how much does it say about your team that you guys can adjust on the fly like that?
MIKE GESICKI: Yeah, I mean, the actual play that we ran was one of our basic plays. It's just running it out of a different formation that we haven't gotten to practice in that exact scenario.

Coach Moorhead, we are able to kind of change some of our plays and run out of different personnels and run out of different formations and all that kind of stuff. I think it shows that our offense is extremely talented. We have guys that we can place in different positions to be successful.

You know, ultimately, that's one of the reasons why we are able to be successful, because of the guys that we have that can be moved around and right at the -- can just be put in right then and there and make a play.

Q. We were talking with Coach Franklin a lot about social issues and obviously some of your teammates have Tweeted and spoken out about those kinds of things. I believe you're part of the leadership council and Coach Franklin said you talked about it and obviously talked about it last year around election time. What's it like being in that position and hearing everybody's opinions and perspectives, and is it difficult when you're in a locker room with a 100-plus guys?
MIKE GESICKI: I think it's important for our team to have those kind of discussions and kind of be involved in what's going on and all that kind of stuff.

So you know, ultimately we have a ton of guys on our team that all have different opinions. You know, everybody should be given the opportunity to express themselves in the way that they want and what they think is important to them and how they want to express themselves.

So I think it's important, being in the leadership council and hearing all these different opinions kind of shows the diversity of our team and shows how many different guys we have that have come from different backgrounds and have so many different beliefs and opinions.

So I think that it's important. I think it's something that we take pride in, not only as a team but as individuals on our team. Having those conversations have been good for us and if need be, we'll continue to have them.

Q. Obviously the focus is on Indiana this Saturday, but curious, when you think about last year's game and how you were obviously down in the second half, but defensively, they had a lot of success piling up Saquon. What do you remember most about that game and trudging through those first three quarters before you broke it up and won?
MIKE GESICKI: Indiana is an extremely talented football team. From what I know of the defense obviously.

At least last year when we did play them, they stacked the box and they understood that, you know, our best player, we're going to try to hand the ball off 25, 30 times a game. So when you're doing that, you know, they are going to load the box and try to stop them. Ultimately we had guys last year, like Chris, who came up and had two touchdowns in that game.

You know, we had a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field. So I think that being a tight end, being a receiver, you have to be excited for those kind of opportunities when a team is willing to load the box to try to stop the run game and they are going to play some man-to-man coverage and maybe a little Cover 1 to give you an opportunity to just know that the man in front of you is the man that you have to beat to get open.

So they have a lot of confidence in their abilities, which they should. They have been extremely successful with that. But ultimately being a competitor and being, you know, a receiver, a tight end, it's something that you look forward to. You know, just knowing that the man in front of you is the difference between you making or not making the play. It's exciting.

Q. You're obviously in the middle of a grind of a season in the Big Ten. Do players care at all about the throwback aspect of this game, the unis or the different painting in the end zone? Do you think about that or what's your thoughts on it?
MIKE GESICKI: I mean, generations of greatness -- it's an exciting game, something we look forward to. Obviously you saw the excitement we had when we found out about it in June, and now that it's here, it's something we've been looking forward to.

We have been breaking in the white cleats in Sunday practices. It's an opportunity for us to kind of honor the tradition of Penn State Football because there has been so much rich history in Penn State Football.

So for this game to kind of honor all of those different teams and all those different successful years that Penn State Football has had, it's something that we are looking forward to and it's exciting for us.

Q. Any part of the uniform that sticks out to you?
MIKE GESICKI: Me, speaking for a lot of the guys, we're pretty excited about the white cleats, definitely. Just because obviously, you know, here at Penn State, we're wearing black cleats every single day, every single game. We understand that. We love it.

It's a great tradition. It's something that we appreciate and something that we want to continue to keep going. But to be able to switch it up for one game, it will be cool, a new look. I haven't worn white cleats since high school, so it will be fun.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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