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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 15, 2019

Steven Gonzalez

University Park, Pennsylvania

Q. Coach Franklin was just talking about how this team has really grown since -- I mean, your first year here and some of the guys who are kind of holdovers from that group like yourself, fifth year. I had a chance to talk to Garrett Taylor after the game, and he said in year five, he feels like there's never been more of a complete buy-in in the program than there is right now. How does that work considering how young so much of the roster is and how have you seen it develop, and is it a sentiment you would agree with?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: I think it's just something we've been building over the years. You know, since I've been here since my freshman year, it kind of felt like some guys like were kind of close-knit, some guys weren't. And I think every year since then, everyone has gotten really close-knit. Everybody talks to each other and everyone is part of the team and together, and there's a lot of chemistry.

I just think year by year, it's slowly been growing, and I think there's been a lot of buy-in from obviously the young players but also the older players.

Q. One note that Franklin did make about the young players is there is sometimes a sense of you guys don't quite understand what it took to get to this point where top 10 is expected and championship expectations are here, whereas when you got here it was a different scenario. How do you guys kind of make sure that that mentality is engrained within those younger players who are coming in with a different understanding of Penn State than the one that you encountered?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: I mean, we just kind of try to tell them like, hey, look -- we try to tell them a little bit about our past and the things we went through as freshmen, and we kind of said like how different the program has been since then and how much it's changed, and how much I feel close-knit that we all are together. I think we just try to remind them and try to kind of just give them some background information on that, and they obviously listen, they understand, and obviously they buy in.

Q. Are you a fan of College Gameday?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: Yeah, I mean, when I get to watch it. I'm normally busy getting ready for the game.

Q. I'm curious if you have maybe a favorite sign or something you've seen or favorite part of that show that you might like.
STEVEN GONZALEZ: I mean, I don't even remember. I mean, when I get to watch it, I think -- was it a couple years ago, Ohio State, someone said that Saquon likes to kick dogs. I think that was pretty funny. I thought that was ridiculous, but it was funny. It made me laugh when I had seen it. But yeah, like I said, I'm normally getting ready for a game, so by the time I'm able to actually sit down and watch it, like I'm not able to watch it. It's off the air already.

Q. Going back to Michigan in '16, was that kind of a low moment for you guys? How did you guys, as you look back now in the series with Michigan -- which they've had your number some, you've had theirs -- been kind of a wide swing in these games.
STEVEN GONZALEZ: Yeah, I think we're just two great programs, two great teams. Obviously both teams are really well-coached, and we just go back and forth. But I think that year in '16 after that game, I think it kind of like opened our eyes, like hey, we need to continue to buy in more now than ever no matter what the situation, what's going on. Like we need to continue to buy in, and obviously that worked out for us, and it's continually been working out for us.

Q. For someone who hasn't been to the white-out before, how would you describe it to someone who's never seen it?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: It's college football at its finest. For some people, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So for me to have it for going on my fifth year having it, it's a blessing, and it's like one of those things you -- like I said, once in a lifetime. To me it's kind of the same experience I had with the Rose Bowl. Not many people are able to say that they've been to a Rose Bowl. I think it's one of those things where you can only experience it once. If you're able to experience it more, then that's awesome. But it's college football at its finest, to be honest.

Q. Do you remember was your official -- a white-out game, do you remember -- or the first time seeing the white-out, even if it wasn't your first one?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: I think I was supposed to go to the white-out the year that we won in four overtimes and I wasn't able to make that trip because I think I had a high school game or something, so I was a little upset that I missed that game. But I think my first white-out was my freshman year, to be honest. I think it was my freshman year. I remember seeing it on TV, obviously seeing it on the internet, but I think my first actual being in the stadium during a white-out was any freshman year.

Q. I asked James about Rasheed Walker and you've spoken about him before, what's kind of impressed you -- because we haven't been talking a lot about him through six games, which is typically a good thing. What's impressed you about him and how good do you think he can be long-term?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: I think he'll be really good long-term. He has obviously the physical traits along with the mental traits to be a very successful player in the future. But I think for this year -- right now and through the first six, seven games, I think he's slowly improved every game. I think the first game obviously for every guy that makes his first start is always a little tough and it's always a little challenging.

But I think you can see -- throughout every week, throughout every film week after we play the game and we watch it the next day, you can see that he's gradually improving, and obviously physical traits are always going to be there. He's always going to be athletic, he's always going to be long. So I just think the improvement mentally is the big piece of him that's -- I can personally see him improving in.

Q. How do you see that?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: Obviously less mental mistakes when we're grading film. But yeah, I mean, like I said, things like that you can kind of see throughout the weeks. He's had less and less of those, and he's been improving, and it's been impressive to watch. He played really well last week I thought against Iowa.

Q. Noah Cain is a physical runner and Pat Freiermuth was saying Saturday night it took a while to fully appreciate him since you guys aren't going live in practice and that physicality isn't always on display. When is the first time that you realized Noah was going to be something special for you guys, and what's it like blocking for a guy who can eat up yards like he can?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: We always knew all four of those guys in the running back room were special. They all have their individual traits that makes them special. For Noah specifically, I mean, just -- I remember seeing him in spring ball and in camp. He was just very downhill. He would hit -- the minute he sees the hole, he hits it. He's very downhill. And I think what impressed me the most was as seeing him in the games and things like that, seeing when he's running, he can take multiple guys with him and just drag them. I thought that was pretty impressive for a guy his size. I mean, I don't know, I've never seen that like in person. So to see that with him, I mean, it makes you want to block more and it makes you want to block longer to the whistle. And you can obviously see in the film, a lot of us when we see him dragging a couple guys, we try to help him out and push him, and it's impressive to watch. He's been really playing well.

Q. Just the running game and in general, James was saying earlier that you guys reached a critical point with being able to have such an effective four-minute offense. How much better is that now compared to where it's been in the past? And just how much, I guess, of a boost does that give you guys moving forward knowing you've kind of got that to hang your hat on?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: It gives us a pretty big boost. We work on that every week in practice, every Tuesday, Wednesday, we work on situations like that, like two-minute, four-minute. We work on those critical game situations where we need to be prepared if we ever see that in a game. You know, it's kind of like second nature to us, to be honest.

Q. Does anything surprise you about Sean Clifford through six games? I know you probably had expectations for him, but the two turnovers or something that stand out from our perspective. But what have you seen in terms of his mentality, going on the road, encouraging his teammates?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: I think the thing that stands out to me is his confidence. It grows every week. You can tell from Idaho he was a little nervous, obviously. Every quarterback that's starting in his first game for an elite college program will feel that way. So I mean, for him to just kind of grow his confidence and to grow his -- to raise his skill level every week has just been really impressive to watch, and he's been playing really well, and we're obviously going to do our job and block our best so that he can do his job well.

Q. Michal Menet was named the co-offensive player of the week by the staff. Seems to be playing at an all-Big Ten level so far. Where is he compared to where he was last year as a first-time starter, and when you see him to your side, how much is he handling business, game in, game out right now?
STEVEN GONZALEZ: He handles his business all the time throughout the week, in practice, and off the field, getting in the tubs, watching film. I just think it's hats off to him for his work ethic and kind of how he handles the week leading up to the game. And I think that's kind of what's been setting him apart from, I guess, any other, I guess, competitors you could say. I think that's just kind of been setting him apart from other guys, that his work ethic throughout the week has just been really impressive to watch.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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