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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 15, 2019

PJ Mustipher

University Park, Pennsylvania

Q. I just want to ask you about the white-out first off. For people who have never experienced that before, how would you describe it?
PJ MUSTIPHER: It's going to be tough for people who haven't experienced it to describe it, but it's like a sea of white, just everybody is wearing white. Everybody is really loud. And for me, that really helps. And for this defense, that really helps because you can't hear anybody next to you, in front of you or behind you. So I would describe it like that.

Q. How do you guys adjust your communication for that, because you've got to audible, you've got to change, you've got to talk to each other, but you're on the field during a time when no one can hear each other?
PJ MUSTIPHER: I think we work on it throughout the week. We're used to that loud environment when we're playing in Beaver Stadium, so I think we're just communicating. You can always give hand signals to the guy next to you. That's what we do on the defensive line. If you don't get the call, you just signal over to your brother. But in Beaver Stadium, we're used to that crowd being with us, so we just prepare throughout the week with being together, just doing it each and every time. If you don't get it, just look over to your brother, and it's really as simple as that.

Q. In the preseason everybody says that somebody is going to be good or that a unit is going to be good. How nice has it been for this defense to be pretty much as good as advertised right out of the blocks?
PJ MUSTIPHER: I mean, when you put in the work all off-season, you know it's definitely nice to have something to show for it. And I think coming into the season, we wanted to be the best defense in the country. That's the type of work we did all off-season together. It wasn't just one unit, it was all the units coming together, making that decision, and then going out and executing during the off-season. You know, it's definitely paid dividends so far in the season, and we're just going to continue to grow each week.

Q. When you're not starting a game, what are you doing early on? Are you looking out on the field at specific things, or what's kind of going through your head?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Yeah, you're definitely watching when those guys are out there. But I think the most important part is when the starters come off the field, you're asking what are you seeing, what is the offense doing? So when your chance is to go out there, you know what you're going to get from the offensive line. I think that's the biggest part. When they come off the field, you're asking them what they're seeing so you're prepared to go out there.

Q. With the number of D-tackles and D-ends you're rotating, do you get a sense that the other offensive line is kind of getting tired as the game is going along? How much of an advantage is that?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Oh, it's a huge advantage. Our room is deep, but coming here, Coach Spencer always said what makes Penn State's defensive line unit so special is that we're able to rotate, and that's what we do each week. As the game goes on, the guys -- you definitely start to see the offensive line wearing down, and we're just continuing to rotate, and we're so fresh because we have so many guys that can rotate and that can go in there and do the job.

Q. (Indiscernible) big-time recruits, started all your games in high school. How does the coaching staff kind of get you to buy in to maybe not necessarily being a starter, or is it just a matter of you're getting so many reps that it doesn't matter?
PJ MUSTIPHER: I think that's who we are. Whether we're starting or not, we're always going to prepare like we're the starter. Each of us wants to be great, and each of us has to be great in order for this unit as a whole to be great. Whether we're starting or not, the guys in this room, we want to execute to perfection ourselves because that's what we know it takes to be great as a unit.

Q. Can you kind of take me through the dog tag ceremony, how it works? What's the atmosphere like when you guys do it?
PJ MUSTIPHER: I mean, Coach Smith always talks about brotherhood, and I think that's what the dog tag ceremony embodies. It was definitely great that the fans during the HBO documentary were able to see that because not too many people know we do that. We were all in the hotel, Coach Spencer goes around with the key chains, and we just all have our key chains in there with our nicknames on there. So we pick it out, we tell who it is, what we picked, and then we hug our brother. It's just a unique thing that we do, and it just goes to show you that this brotherhood is so strong.

Q. Are you wearing that during the game or is it in the locker room, or where does it actually go?
PJ MUSTIPHER: You can wear it during the game, but the thing was with me for last year, it got pulled off during the games and it broke. So I don't wear it, I just keep it in my locker before the game. But I wear it during the week and before the game, so yeah.

Q. Coach Franklin mentioned that Rob Windsor talked to you guys Friday night about his message, kind of filled with gratitude. What do you remember about what Rob said?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Rob's journey was unique. Me coming here last year, I was able to play, I had early success. But for Rob, he didn't have that early success. He had to go through the redshirt year. He had to go through the hardships of not playing, because when you're not playing it is tough to watch the team. But Rob said that he had to overcome a lot of things, and what made him so special is that he realized that he had to overcome things and he was willing to sacrifice to get where he's at today. So it was just special.

I think the most important thing out of that was that he sacrificed and then the next day he was able to go out there and perform the way he did. So I thought that was truly like special for him.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about his personality because he was in that postgame interview and some people get a sense for it. He told us this off-season, big expectations for himself, not just this year but for next spring with the NFL Draft. He kind of laid that all on the line. Is he as confident as he appears to be on the daily, and how does that kind of resonate with your group?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Yeah, he's confident because he's willing to put the work in. Rob is always talking to me as a younger guy about sacrificing. He sacrifices daily. Like each day, whether we're out -- for instance, we could be out at lunch, and when we -- we go to this place where we get burgers. And I'll get the burger, but he'll get the one with the lettuce on it, know what I mean? Like it's a healthier option because he says like that's the key to success, and that's what's going to take you from good to great.

So, you know, each day he's working on his craft, he's working on being better off the field, whether it's stretching, eating right, and that goes a long way to what he's able to do on the field. And that's why he's able to have that confidence. Rob is a unique guy all around.

Q. Sticking with some of the veterans in the locker room, I heard from Robert after the game, too, and Garrett Taylor, they feel like the buy-in is at a different level than where it's been. You seem to notice that just two years on campus. But for the younger guys that weren't a part of the earlier struggles that there were, how do you kind of find that common place where you're all coming in seeing a different program, a top 10 program? How do you meet in the middle in terms of your mentalities?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Well, it starts in the off-season, and it starts when we all come together in those player-led meetings. We all as a unit, offense and defense, made up our mind that we want to be great. Losing, it sucks, point blank, period. We lost some games that we felt we should have won last year, and we made up our mind that that wasn't going to be the case this year. We had a lot of time to really understand who we wanted to be as a team, and I think we talked about it all off-season. And then we went out and did it, like I said, this off-season. I think that's the most important part. We all bought in, and we were like, look, we're all here, we're all going to do this and we're all going to be great, so I think that's what we did.

Q. There were some times last year, some of the losses where the defense was able to come out and make a stop after the offense couldn't run the clock out. How rewarding is it to stand on the sideline and watch Noah Cain do exactly what you would probably hate to see coming from the other side of the field, and what does it do for this team to have that kind of closer?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Yeah, well, we always have our offense's back, whether we have to go out there and make a play for them, because we know they're going to do it vice versa. But on Saturday, just to see Iowa -- I mean, Noah go out there and just carry that ball and just keep pounding that defense, pounding that defense, it gives us a little bit of a break to catch our wind and stuff like that. But he eventually scored, and we were thrilled about that. But whether we have to go out there or not, each unit has the other's back.

Q. Carl Olsen is a guy who's meeting with you guys pretty regularly. Is there something that he's said that's stuck with you or resonated with you at all?
PJ MUSTIPHER: He talks about -- Carl always talks about what are you doing when you're not on the field, and I think that's what I just talked about. What can you be doing to better the team when you're not on the field? And I think when the offense comes off the field, whether it's good or bad, you've got to be supporting those guys. You've got to be helping them get through whatever they're going through, whether it's good or bad. So he always talks about that, and I think that's a message that definitely resonates with me. Because when I see Cliff running off the field and I'm going on, I'm always dabbing him up, making sure like, look, we've got to go to the next play whether you scored or whether you didn't. So I think that's a huge part of what Carl tells us throughout the week.

Q. So body language matters then?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Oh, yeah, body language definitely matters because you have to have that next-play mentality. And if you don't, you're going to get stuck in the past and then you're not going to be able to move forward. That's a huge part of what Coach teaches us and a huge part of what Carl tells us.

Q. Just curious, looking at the Michigan film early this week, what do they do that maybe is a little bit different from what you guys have seen this season? What's the big thing you guys have to be aware of when you face the Wolverines?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Oh, yeah, I told the defensive line, I told Coach that this is going to be our biggest test in the interior. They have three guys in that middle who are very good football players. You know, they're downhill blockers. They want to get on you, and they want to drive you down the field. There's no blocking to shield you off from the gap. They want to take you and drive you down the field. They're physical, and they're violent. It's going to be a great test for our interior but all across the board. They have a very good line, and we saw that last year. I was able to watch film from this year, their last couple games, and I was able to watch the film last year. These guys, they're a great offensive line, and I can't wait for that challenge.

Q. Even if you don't have a lot of time to watch College Gameday, do you have maybe a favorite sign or something you've seen, whether it be on the internet somewhere or anything that sticks out to you?
PJ MUSTIPHER: I don't have a favorite sign, but I'll tell you this: Growing up, I grew up watching College Gameday, so I was one of those people who woke up at like 8:00, 9:00 in the morning when everybody was still asleep just to be able to watch College Gameday because I thought it was so unique how they would go around to each different place, and you could see the different environments and atmospheres that they were at. And I would watch it until 12:00 when it ended and the games started to go. I love College Gameday, and it's going to be great for this university and the students that they come here this week. I don't have a favorite sign, but I love College Gameday as a whole and what they do.

Q. Can you believe for the last couple years you've been at a school where College Gameday was? Does it kind of resonate with you?
PJ MUSTIPHER: Yeah, it does resonate with me because this is why I came here. I came to play in the big games. I came to play in an environment that people want to come to, such as College Gameday. They love it here. So that's why I came to Penn State, and yeah, it's definitely a shocker, but at the same time, this is what we came here to do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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