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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 18, 2018Nick ScottUniversity Park, Pennsylvania Q. Brought this up just before with Mark. You, Mark, Johnathan, all coming in the same position, ambitions to start. You ended up at defense. Those guys ended up having to fight for the opportunity long term. How have you guys made an impact on the program and your point of view the way you persevered and stuck with the program and found your roles? NICK SCOTT: I'd say first and foremost the biggest thing that helped us was that all of us had an extremely positive attitude. When you come in here, everybody has the aspirations to start and make a big impact. Obviously that wasn't the case for us, but we found other ways to affect the team in different ways. So myself I felt that it was best for me to move the defense and have an impact there Mark Allen he's been extremely positive. A leader in the running back room for years now. Somebody that the younger guys could come to whether they were above him or below him on the depth chart. Johnathan Thomas, Coach might have touched on it a little bit, but he's done anything asked of him by anybody in this program. He's excelled at it and been positive all the time and just been working. And he's a guy like Mark where anybody can come to him. He has the utmost respect from everybody in this program. And so Saturday was extremely awesome to see him get his first career touchdown. We were all happy for him. Q. Obviously captains with him this year, you were special teams captain last year. Where have you seen Blake grow in a leadership role and also just as a punter? NICK SCOTT: So one thing about Blake is he's always working. He's always trying to perfect his craft. He's always outside kicking balls. He's extremely vocal in the locker room, which is how he sort of stepped into that leadership role. But it's really nice to see him grow the way he has. He came in sort of on the quieter side but as he got more and more impact on special teams he's been an outlet and voice of encouragement as well as laying the hammer for the younger guys in executing what we want done on special teams. Q. Were you on the punt team last year or gunner or anything? NICK SCOTT: Yeah, I believe I started on all four special teams last year. Q. What's it like when he's trying to pin someone within the 10, 20, on the punt team, what's it like kind of just trying to get down there and how do you think he holds it up? NICK SCOTT: I think he does an extremely good job. We have some great gunners, a lot of speed on the outside which you put that all together with Kyle Vasey who gets a free release, I think we're pretty good. Of course we want to improve in every area and keep taking steps forward in the area but Blake is a weapon for us. And we have some guys like Vasey, and our gunners, Lamont, Donovan Johnson, guys who can get down there and pin people deep. Q. Special teams coverage, put yourself in the shoes of someone trying to contain K.J. Hamler, DeAndre Thompkins, how were those guys handling themselves in their roles and how much of a threat do they pose against every opponent this season? NICK SCOTT: Right. So I think those guys are doing extremely well in their roles. They're very explosive, very electric. So we're excited to see what they can do this weekend against Illinois. They've been consistent so far. And we've been following the game plan. We have some things in place for this weekend. So we're excited what they can do this Friday. Q. Last time you played Illinois you threw a touchdown pass, which was a very long time ago at this point -- NICK SCOTT: True. Q. -- to Hack. Do you ever have these moments where you go: My goodness I've played a lot of football here for a very long time? NICK SCOTT: Yeah, for sure. I tell people all the time I feel like a grandfather in the locker room being 23 years old, being a fifth-year senior. I'm definitely -- I wouldn't be surprised if I'm actually the oldest guy on the roster. But, yeah, I look back I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity I had and I only want to continue to be more successful this season. Q. What do you think these young guys are going to learn in Big Ten play about getting punched by teams, not literally punched although that would be interesting, like going down, that can be mentally, that's just like now we're behind, what do guys have to learn about that to get back out in front? NICK SCOTT: I mean, I don't think we ever coach or prepare to be behind. But you just gotta play four quarters of football. That's something we preach day in, day out we've got to play a complete game and deficits, leads, that will take care of itself. Q. How do you think the leadership is maybe different on the team this year, because you said you've been around a lot, a lot of different groups, is it different this year, do you think? NICK SCOTT: Yeah, it's a little bit of a difficult question. It's different in the sense that we had some guys who have left and so that sort of -- that's different leadership styles and personalities that aren't accounted for, but I would say in terms of respect, in terms of the message we're preaching and the goals we're going after, it's the same. Q. Franklin said a couple weeks ago he's turned the team a little bit over more so to the captains this year than he has in the past, mentioned training on and off as an example of that. What does it mean that he's given you guys a little more leadership in that regard? NICK SCOTT: It obviously means a lot in terms of trust. But in terms of details, that's something that we like to keep in house so, yeah, he mentioned that's what we've done but in terms of the details of that I'd rather not explain it. Q. That's fine. But he also mentioned this book Legacy about the all blacks and I think he showed you clips of it. NICK SCOTT: Uh-huh. Q. Has anyone read this book on the team? Somebody said he thought maybe he handed out copies. NICK SCOTT: I think some guys have read the book. He handed it out a little bit ago. The main takeaway he wanted us to get from that book is just the sense of ownership that those guys had whether it's a leader, the guy at the bottom of the roster, everybody takes ownership. There's no task too big or too small for anybody on that team. And that's something that he preaches towards us and that's something we want to live by. Q. Has he handed out books before or is this a new thing? NICK SCOTT: He's definitely suggested books in the past, yeah. Q. (Inaudible)? NICK SCOTT: I'd say it's extremely competitive. You gotta bring your A game all the time. There's no team that you can overlook. There's no team that's too good for you. There's no team that's below you. You always have to approach each game the same as if it's your Super Bowl. If you're able to do that on a consistent basis and give everybody the respect that they deserve in this league, you have a good chance of being competitive. Q. I think at one point in the third quarter, maybe second quarter, on Saturday you had four true freshmen playing on the defense at the same time. How have you seen your group manage the youth movement and also the experienced guys making sure they're doing what they need to do to accomplish early this season? NICK SCOTT: One thing I like to preach to the younger guys when you're on the field that you are the starter. So whoever is on the field, whatever their age is, how many years they've played here, if they're out there, that means that they have the coach's trust. So what they want to do is they want to execute. They want to withhold the standard of their respective position group of their respective side of the ball. If they're able to do that they'll continue to grow as a player and obviously gain more trust from coaches. Q. I think it was a couple weeks ago we were able to talk to Coach Banks on a conference call and he said that Lamont has kind of just growing into the position that obviously switching over from corner, where have you seen him make strides so far this season? Like, have you seen him from week one or spring ball to now make strides in what areas would they be? NICK SCOTT: I would say just growing into position he's definitely become a lot more confident. And he's also understanding the game better and better each week, which is a testament to our defensive staff, Coach Banks, Coach Pry, all those guys, and Coach Franklin. He's learning. He's learning every day. We all know he's extremely talented in terms of athleticism. So the sky's the limit for him. But he has come a long way in terms of his understanding of the game. Q. So it's been a very long time since Penn State has played a Friday night game. How are you guys preparing for that in terms of changing up the schedule? And Franklin mentioned some of the younger players it might be easy for them because Friday night games are like a high school thing. And how are the older players adjusting as well? NICK SCOTT: I don't think it's much of an adjustment. It's a regular game week for us. We're approaching it that way. Nothing to my knowledge has changed for us. It's just moved up a day, necessarily. But, yeah, everything is pretty much the same. Everything's in line with what we do each week. Q. What kind of guy is Tariq Castro-Fields like off the field and what have you seen from him in his first two starts? NICK SCOTT: Tariq, he's a real positive guy off the field. He's a guy that you can count on to do the right things day in, day out. He's very mature in that aspect. And you know he's played very well these last couple of games. It's no secret that he's threatened. He's a true freshman last year and he's stepping in and playing his role well this season. And I think like Lamont, the sky's the limit for him as he just -- his knowledge of the game increases, he'll continue to play even faster than he is right now. Q. We heard something from James Franklin I'm still trying to wrap my head away. Jayson Oweh, 6'5", almost 250, fastest 40-yard dash among incoming freshmen. Two sacks on Saturday. You see him every day working out on the practice field, what do you think this young man can accomplish? I'm sure you're well aware he did not have much football experience before he got to college. NICK SCOTT: Right. I think -- I hate to say it again, the sky's the limit for Jayson Oweh. These guys that we have, the younger players, they're extremely talented. With that talent they need to accompany the understanding of the game and how to attack their direct opponent. One of the things I'm most impressed with is the amount of support Jayson Oweh has from the older "D" linemen. They're constantly teaching him new things to add to his game, constantly working with him after practice, doing hand drills with him, just talking with him about how he can be a better defensive end. But I think it's a huge testament to Shareef Miller who is the leader of that group sort of taking Jayson Oweh under his wing and Shaka Toney, those guys. It's very impressive to watch him. He's extremely athletic, like you said. I think if he just continues to buy into this program and how we want to do things, which he's been doing phenomenally, he'll be a great player here. Q. Talk a little bit about Lamont before, what's his personality like out on the field? Because from where we're watching looks like there's a certain bounce in his step and I think you mentioned confidence. Could you talk about that a little bit? NICK SCOTT: For sure. Lamont is a high energy guy which we love about him. He does have a lot of bounce in his step. He's funny. Guys just want to be around him. He's got that sort of energy about him, which is great. He's a great teammate. He's a guy that can put a smile on anybody's face at any time. Like you said, you can see that reflected on the field with his speed, his energy. How he celebrates after the play. So, yeah, he's just a real cool guy. High energy guy. Lifts the team up when necessary and he's good at what he does. Q. It's very rare that you see a player get called out by an opposing coach like he was in the Pitt game. How do you think he reacted to that? NICK SCOTT: Lamont, he's extremely mature. And I think he's been reacting well to it. He hasn't said much about it. He's just been keeping his head down, working hard. Q. We've gotten to see Johnathan Sutherland a couple times the past few games on defense. Where have you seen him grow this season getting a little bit more snaps? NICK SCOTT: He's starting to play a lot faster, which just comes with his comfort. He's starting to sort of know his role. He's getting better at it, identifying his assignment, how people want to attack him and where he needs to be at certain times. Once he's able to do that, I think you guys will see he's extremely aggressive in his style of play, which is something that defensive players as well as coaches love about him. So just excited to see him continue to grow and gain experience playing more snaps for us. Q. You said earlier you know you joked around saying that you feel like a grandpa. I just gotta ask do any teammates actually call you grandpa, joking around with you? If not, who has the best nickname on the football team? NICK SCOTT: The best nickname on the team, nobody calls me actual grandpa on the team. But who has the best nickname on the team? I would probably say Mark Allen, some people call -- he likes to call himself a dog. Some people call him Big Dog Mark. But we've just started catching on more to calling him Scooby. Like Scooby-Doo the dog. I think he has the best nickname right now. Q. I think it was maybe last week or two weeks ago Mike Mauti was back on campus he was at practice. Did he talk to you guys was there any interaction? NICK SCOTT: We were able to talk to him a little bit outside practice and things like that. He's a great guy. He's a guy that I definitely look up to. I knew his name when I was recruited. I knew everything about him watching him and all that stuff and I knew he was extremely respected around this campus and especially on the team. When he came here he was definitely a guy that I was interested in picking his brain about and talking to him about his experience and ways I could be a better leader and things like that. And I look forward to staying in contact with him, using him as a guy just to work on my growth. Q. Is there anything you'd say really resonate with you in particular, or just kind of -- NICK SCOTT: Just his encouragement, just him telling me that to continue to lead and that people looked up to me and just doing whatever I could do that would better this team being unselfish, things like that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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