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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 10, 2019

Nick Bowers

University Park, Pennsylvania

Q. You've been around for a minute, how long does it take for what you see on film and talk to coaches about to be something that you recognize as it's happening on the field?
NICK BOWERS: I think it depends on how much time you put in on your own. You have to put in a lot of extra time besides the time with the coaches. You have to put in a lot of hours outside going in with your teammates watching film and breaking it down, but I mean, once you get the gist of it, it doesn't take that long.

Q. Was there a moment, maybe not a specific moment, but over the course of the time you've been here where you feel like I'm officially confident about all this?
NICK BOWERS: I couldn't really pinpoint a time, but you just kind of know how to prepare. I think you don't really understand how much you need to prepare for games once you figure it out from older guys, you know you have to come in -- high expectation on the time you put in, but you need to figure it out.

Q. What challenges does the defense present to the offense?
NICK BOWERS: They are a very physical team. They are well-coached. They play hard. They play fast. You know, they are an ACC team. They are a good team, yeah.

Q. Could you talk about the dynamic of having originally planned to play at Pitt, and then coming here and do you still get it from friends and others back home?
NICK BOWERS: Yeah, where I come from, you're either a Pitt or you're a Penn State fan. When I made that transition from Pitt to Penn State, the coaching staff changed, and I thought I made a great relationship with Franklin, so that's why I made the flip.

But you know, I think I'm trying to figure out if I got those people to flip from Pitt to Penn State -- I'm hoping I did, and worked with quite a few of them -- last year, a lot of them come to the games now.

Q. How many guys do you know on the Pitt team and is there discussion at all during a week like this?
NICK BOWERS: Yeah, I used to know a lot more, but I don't really keep in touch with a couple of them. I played against Tre Tipton in high school, and so I haven't really talk to him in a while, but I talked to him in the beginning of the process and obviously a couple of the players, but not really, no.

Q. What's it been like for to you watch the development of the path Pat Freiermuth? What appreciation do you have for his physical skills?
NICK BOWERS: When he got here, we knew he was a special player. He was very mature, mature guy. He does everything right. Pat's one of those guys that works extremely hard. Spent a lot of time off the field and I think coaches knows that, but he makes blocks, he runs, catch the ball. He's a very well rounded tight end.

Q. You knew John Petrishen, he was on the team, on the practice field in August, and now he is a member of the Pitt Panthers program. Is he somebody you keep in communication with, and was that a strange transition, because Franklin said they had to go back to the drawing board with their signals because he knew them all.
NICK BOWERS: Yeah, lived about 30 minutes apart from each other back home. When we got recruited we stayed in touch. He's one of my best friends, so obviously I keep in touch with him.

I don't think anyone on the team was mad at him. I wasn't mad at him. He had to do what's best for him. You know, things happen.

Q. Along those same lines, when it comes to changing signals, how much did that process work in terms of how time consuming is it? Is it confusing at all? Have you done it before?
NICK BOWERS: I think we've done it before. It's not really a challenge. I mean, you know, get to come in and work every single day and you're expected to know those signals, so it's up to you if you want to play or not, so it's your choice.

I think you pick it up pretty quickly. You kind of get the gist from the other signals, but I mean, for the most part, it's just about your preparation and yeah, basically, if you don't want to prepare -- but I think all the guys, they do a good job of preparing on their own time and coaches will give us those signals and you're just expected to know them when you come into practice today.

Q. You mentioned what the programs mean to people back home. Probably not growing up with as many Pitt/Penn State games, but what have you noticed the last few years in the environments and what are you expecting this weekend?
NICK BOWERS: Yeah, I think the fans do a good job of packing the stadium. I mean, this is my first time getting to play in this game. So I haven't really gotten to experience that whole effect. I'm pretty excited for Saturday.

Q. We've had a chance to speak with you about Sean Clifford in the past but now a couple games in, three touchdowns second half when you were facing a deficit, what have you learned about him through 120 minutes of football?
NICK BOWERS: Yeah, I this I Sean has similar traits -- he's a guy that prepares very hard. He comes in -- try to come in with different positions to help them with different things and different schemes. He's been preparing like he's a starter for the past two years. We've noticed that. For us, like even in spring ball, the past couple years, we knew that Sean was going to be special, and the last couple games, he'll really getting in a rhythm. Everyone on the team support Sean and we're excited.

Q. Comparing him to Trace -- a lot of guys you've turned to Trace when it's a dire situation or you're down. How did Sean respond in that way, not just what we saw in the first half with him?
NICK BOWERS: Yeah, we voted Sean captain for a reason. He's a great leader on and off the field. Before the games, he really brings offense together and gives us that game day speech to get us going.

With Sean, he's a great captain. He does everything right. He's someone a lot of guys look up to.

Q. One more sophomore captain question. Pat Freiermuth, Franklin used the term, he's aligned with the coaching staff, feels like he's an extension of the staff on the field. Impressive for a sophomore. How do you see that playing out?
NICK BOWERS: Yeah, Pat, I would agree with that a lot. You'd see him in practice, he takes a lot of extra time with the young guys. He is a young guy but he has experience like he's an older guy. So he -- younger guys have questions about schemes with the offense, he does a good job of stepping aside and helping them learn things like that, so I think that's where that aligns right there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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