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PURDUE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 11, 2011

Danny Hope

Q. How difficult has it been just to deal with that situation where -- with the quarterbacks?
COACH HOPE: Well, it's been a challenge just kind of the way it's all happened. We went through a lot of quarterbacks in a short period of time. We had five different starting quarterbacks, I think, in 13 or 14 games. That's unheard of in some ways. It was hard to get a quarterback developed and keep a quarterback in -- the same guy in there and create some continuity for a football team. It's been a challenge for the last couple of years.
We're in good shape now. We have Caleb TerBush, who's playing very well. He's going to get his sixth start this Saturday. He's doing all the little things. He's doing all the little things to improve. And we also have Robert Marve, who's competing to be the number one quarterback. He didn't get as many reps last week, but he probably played as well as he has at any point in time, the time that he was out there, as far as his throws and management of the offense. We're in good shape now. It's been rough sledding to get to this point.
We don't have a quarterback that's a two or three-year guy that's an accomplished guy. I like the improvement at the quarterback position, and I like the way these two guys are playing, and I think we can win with these guys.
Originally, we had a two-quarterback system that was a schematic thing. It was a game plan thing. Then we had a rash of injuries, and that changed my thought processes on how much we might run or play some of these quarterbacks or use them as runners or other positions on the field. Now we want to have two quarterbacks ready to play. That's the difference now compared to two years ago and prior to going into the season.
Two years ago, when Robert Marve was number one and Rob Henry was number two, I was really excited about a two quarterback system. That's different than two quarterbacks playing and two quarterbacks ready. I think that's what a lot of people have misinterpreted all along the lines. I never did figure out how they could.

Q. Coach, I just wanted to ask you about a team preparing for two quarterbacks. What about Penn State and the constantly changing quarterback situation?
COACH HOPE: Of course, last week we had to prepare for two quarterbacks. You have to assume that both the quarterbacks should be able to run somewhat of the same system so that everybody on the football team doesn't have to change just because which quarterback's in the game. Both the quarterbacks can run the same offense in a lot of ways, and then there's some things that one quarterback might do a little bit better than the other quarterback. And you have a plan, and you identify those guys when they're in there on the field just like you would any other personnel adjustment.
But it's not two completely different game plans based on who's in there. You have a game plan based on what Penn State does, and a game plan based on what Minnesota does, and then certain things that each one of those quarterbacks might bring to the table, you might have a little wrinkle for. It's not as big or colossal as some might imagine.

Q. You mentioned the linebackers as a group. Is there anyone that stands out among Penn State's linebackers? Hodges or Carson? Stupar?
COACH HOPE: I think they're all really good players. I think they play the game at the speed the game's supposed to be played at. They're confident with the guys lined up in front of them. I think that makes a big difference, what happens after they make their keys and reads that allows them to get to the ball in a hurry with a lot of disruption across the line of scrimmage. I think they're an exceptional group. They're really complemented at the front with the guys that play in front of them.

Q. What do you see changing on film when they have McGloin in there and have Bolden in there?
COACH HOPE: At the beginning of the season, I think they were trying to do the same thing with both guys. I think Bolden may have made a little bit more of a quarterback run game possibility, maybe bootleg a little more, I think. The other guys were more a drop-back guy, might be best suited for what he brings to the table.
Either way, they have five senior offensive linemen and a senior tight end that's going to be tough and good. They're going to hand the ball off mostly. I think that takes some of the complexity away from the two quarterbacks in there, handing it off with the backs on the offensive line most of the time. That shrinks it down a little bit. Both quarterbacks are good players.
I think McGloin has been a little more consistent as a passer, but they're both good players. They're a run first offense for the first part. They can throw it, and they do a good job of it. But they're going to try to beat you up with their offensive line and their backs.

Q. Let me ask the same question about your two quarterbacks. What changes when one goes in the game as opposed to the other?
COACH HOPE: Not a whole lot right now. I think there's certain things we do well and we need to hang our hat on offensively right now and to continue with some consistency and get the ball in our play makers' hands. I think we have some play makers. If we can get it in their hand, I think we can explode offensively in different ways. I think shrinking it down plus the football team last week, I think it will help our football team some this week. I think both of those guys can run the same offense.
We might do a few things a little bit different, a game planning situation. There's some throws that Robert Marve can make that very few other of your quarterbacks can make. And Caleb's 6'6", and there's certain defensive front and certain teams that you go against that you might want to haul a drop-back guy in there. We might be able to have some luxuries as far as how we utilize the quarterback. That's nice. That's good.

Q. How about from the front? Caleb seems like a level headed guy and Marve seems like a live wire. Is that something that everybody in the offense has to deal with?
COACH HOPE: Caleb, he's got a flair about him. He doesn't demonstrate it as openly as Robert, but Caleb is a real tough guy and a real take charge type of guy. So is Robert. I'm real comfortable with either one of those guys out there on the field taking charge of our offense and wanting to win, getting guys in the huddle, getting their attention, being a good leader on the field. They have a little bit different style, but I'm very comfortable with either one of those guys being able to go out there and take charge of huddle. We're in good shape with that.

Q. Has there been any point since Marve came back and you just kind of thought perhaps I should just pick one? Or is this something you always wanted to do no matter who your quarterbacks are?
COACH HOPE: We haven't been in position to pick one in a long time. Just now we have five starters, and that's a record around here in a couple of years. That's unheard of anywhere else. So we really haven't been in position to really just pick one. It's not like picking out the clothes you're going to wear that day. You've got to pick out stuff that's going to make a difference to your football team.
So you get a chance to get out there and get a fair amount of reps and compete and play both of them. They both can help us win. It was really hard to get Robert caught up reps-wise with the injuries and the transferring and all that. And then Caleb too, he was behind reps-wise. Neither one has played a whole lot. It's been a lot of work and a great challenge. Again, I like where we're at. I think we're in a good situation.
We could go with either one of those guys and win a ball game, and I think our players believe in both of those guys. They're both really good quarterbacks, and they're both playing really well right now. There's not a whole lot other to be read into it other than that really.

Q. Is there anything you can tell us new about Justin Kitchens and his availability this weekend?
COACH HOPE: I think we'll be okay. One of those shoulder things that feels okay most of the time. We'll have to back off a little bit. We've got guys banged up. We played a physical game. This is going to be a physical game. And the fall break being this week gave us flexibility options as far as getting our team ready. We're going to have to cut back some towards the end of the week in order to be fresh. It's a very strong, physical football team. We're going to have to go hard and finish plays and feel good as a football team going in.
So we practiced well yesterday and have a good plan for today. We're in good shape, and I think Justin's going to be in good shape too.

Q. You talked a little bit about your offense limiting turnovers. Just what did you see out of your defense doubling the number of turnovers that you took away?
COACH HOPE: These hustles to the football and a swarm to the football was a difference maker. Some of the takeaways was their offense not executing. They're just laying the ball on the ground. But if you're not swarming to the football, then you don't get on it first. We just swarmed to the football and made a big difference, I thought, in the takeaways we had defensively on Saturday and just the tempo we were playing at. I think we were playing at a lot higher tempo, a lot more aggressive.
They seemed a lot more sure. They seemed faster as a football team this past Saturday than at any point in time this season to me. I think that showed up, particularly on the defensive side of the field. We tackled really well. I think all of those things made a difference this Saturday. We did everything better defensively this Saturday. That made a difference as far as the starters in the game.

Q. Russell came up with two fumble recoveries. A lot of that maybe is being in the right place at the right time. Does it say something about him too in his development as a player?
COACH HOPE: He's getting better. There's no question he's a lot better now than he was in the first game. He's gotten better every week. I think he could see himself gaining some momentum as a player in some areas. You could see the light coming on for him. It's a great potential. I think he's going to be a really special defensive end, particularly down the road. And some this year too. He's gotten a lot better, no doubt about that. Much better.

Q. Staying with defense, as you look at last Saturday, is that the blueprint how you want your defense to play from a physical standpoint, as you mentioned, the swarming standpoint? You reiterate with them, this is how you need to play.
COACH HOPE: Absolutely. It's great to see us play at that level. You can reference to it throughout the course of the week, and that's how we need to play again this week, for that level. But, again, you know, it can't just be a redemption. Can't be just we didn't play the week before, so we get angry and we want to go out there and prove what we can do. And then you redeem yourself, and all of a sudden everything's okay, and it becomes a standard.
That's the message I've been sending to them. The level of play on Saturday from our football team, from an emotion standpoint and energy standpoint, I'm glad you have enough pride to go out and redeem ourselves after a poor showing. We played the best we have all year long. That's a great sign for a football team. But it's not about redemption. That should be the standard of play for our defense.

Q. How do you get that message across?
COACH HOPE: We tell them and show them and emphasize it and tell them not to accept any less. And put them in the same positions to play like that again. Get them in a position from a coaching standpoint to play like that as well. We think we took a big step Saturday, not just defensively, but the whole football team. I hope that it carries over into this week and throughout the course of the season.

Q. Is that a concern for you this week that they rest on their laurels a little bit, don't have the edge that they had coming into the last game?
COACH HOPE: No. I think they can look at the quality opponent and realize they'd better pick it up. Even more so to have a chance to go and play well enough to win. It's a great challenge. I think they're excited about it and getting ready to play. I don't view it as a concern. The fact that they rebounded and responded is a good sign. So keep pressing forward.

Q. What's the optimum number of penalties you want to see out of your club? 13 against Notre Dame, and you almost cut that in half the last game. Where do you want to see the penalties?
COACH HOPE: Zero, you know. That doesn't happen very often, particularly for us. But any time you get into double digits, it's too many, obviously. We have to do better. We do a little bit better this week.
A couple times it's mechanics, racing up to the line of scrimmage to try to set the tempo of the play, to keep the defense off balance a little bit. It's important to the offense, whether you're hurrying it up or speeding it up, you race up there a couple of times and snap the ball in a hurry, and we weren't set. A couple of those were mechanics things. We can work on it in practice. We reduced our numbers a little. So we're going in the right direction.

Q. Talk about the depth at running back, and you've been able to turn out a lot of rushing yards this season so far, but I believe you've only had one 100-yard rusher. Is that as simple as saying look at the depth at running backs? Are you starting to get some of that depth into the game sooner as opposed to earlier in the season?
COACH HOPE: Yes to both probably. I think it's a great attempt by our offensive coordinator to get the ball in the play maker's hands. We'll take Antavian Edison and put him in the backfield. Or take a good running back out of the backfield and put him in the slot position and have a plan to get the ball in our play makers' hands a certain amount of time. It's our game plan.
We actually go in during the course of the week for every opponent and write on the board who the top play makers are, who our offensive staff think are the top play makers and how many times we'd like those guys to touch the ball if we had 75 snaps. And we figure out how to get everyone so many touches in some ways. Then it has to happen on the field, but it's a design plan, and I think a lot of that has to do with how well we're spreading the ball around right now. And they're all showing up, and they're all making plays.
We're able to wear the opponent down run game-wise with fresh backs. If you just have one back, it's tough to do that with, one back that gets all the carries. We haven't had a stable of healthy backs here in a while. We do now. We have a good stable of healthy backs here now. We have some older backs that are tough guys and physical at the running back spot. I think all that is a big part of the chemistry of our football team and our offense right now.

Q. Hi. Staying with the running backs, Ralph had a catch, I think Reggie had a catch too. Why is that something that maybe you can exploit offensively? It seems like getting those guys in space, they can be pretty good out there.
COACH HOPE: I think we do a pretty good job of running the football and establishing the run game to set up the play action pass. I think it starts with that. Sometimes the running backs can get lost in all that. He had to get the run and pass. I think one way we're strong, Bolden is a big part of it. We have handy running backs. We feel confident those guys will catch the ball.
Sometimes those plays are ways to keep the defense off balance in some ways. We always go into every game with some things in mind to keep the team off balance offensively. You can't have teams teeing off of you every snap. Sometimes those plays really stick out, and we're calling them to keep the defense off balances sometimes. A lot of different reasons, play calling reasons.

Q. Did Reggie catch that ball?
COACH HOPE: Sure.

Q. Obviously, they ruled it a catch. Did you watch it again?
COACH HOPE: Yeah. He caught it, kept it, did a great job with it.

Q. Okay.
COACH HOPE: Obviously, you don't believe me. It's in the books, isn't it?

Q. It is.
COACH HOPE: He caught it. Too late now.

Q. Why is Akeem Shavers special?
COACH HOPE: He's a really tough guy. Plays the game with a lot of heart. He's got A-plus-plus work ethic. He really does. He's an exceptionally hard worker. He'll do anything you ask him to do on the field or in the classroom to give himself a chance to excel. He's a tireless worker.
He's no nonsense when it comes to football. He pays a lot of attention. Again, he's a physical player. He's fast. He can shred the defense in some ways vertically with the speed and power that he has. He's a really good player and has been a great addition to our team. It's made a difference. We thought he would, and he has. He's a lot of fun to coach.

Q. Really getting into the meat of the schedule now, why can this team handle it? Why can you go forward and have success?
COACH HOPE: We think that we have good players and good potential as a football team that's still developing. I've said that I think we're going to be a good football team. I don't think we're near as good as we're going to be. I think it's going to be a work in progress. It has been that way. I think we are getting better.
A lot of that has to do at the quarterback position. Our quarterbacks are getting a lot better, and that makes the football team, all those guys play around them a lot better. That gives all the play makers a chance to be great play makers. I think we have upside to the football team. I think we're getting better, and that gives us real optimism as a team.

Q. Akeem talked Saturday about practicing after the Notre Dame loss. What did you guys do differently after the Notre Dame loss going into the Minnesota game?
COACH HOPE: We went out and spent a little more time trying to establish the run game, a little more time on some physical drills, got after it, hit each other a little bit more in practice, really cranked up the intensity level some. I thought that was good. I thought he got the cobwebs out after a tough loss. Guys can sit around and wonder and not be able to move on.
I think to go out and practice hard like that, after a loss like that, sometimes it's good for the losing hangover. I thought they went out there, and they were disappointed. They took it out on the practice. That attitude was good, and it carried on throughout the course of the week and into the game on Saturday.

Q. Is that something that -- after you guys found success on Saturday, is that something you guys are going to try to keep up throughout this week and the rest of the week?
COACH HOPE: We got after it good yesterday. More tackling drills in and fall break, and we were practicing hard. Everybody was bristled up a little bit about that. So it was a good day for football.

Q. Ralph Bolden ran for 50 yards in the past two games combined. Does that concern you at all or speak about the depth at the running back position?
COACH HOPE: It speaks about the depth at the running back position. He was injured in one of the games before the open week, and he came back kind of slow. We weren't really sure where he was at. Then we didn't have the ball very much against Notre Dame. Nobody had many carries. I would like to have played TerBush some more. But we didn't have very much snaps. It was a result of that some.
Against Southeast Missouri, we were way ahead. We were getting after them pretty good with the run game. There was no sense to have one of your top running backs in mop-up football in the second half against Southeast Missouri. Some young backs have emerged. Shavers has done really well. He has to share the wealth in some ways. It's the best way for our team and the best way to keep Ralph healthy and ready to go.
As long as we're productive like we're being -- he's still a great back. He may get it 30 times Saturday. You don't know. We may be ahead in one game and didn't have to run him. We were careful with him, but it slowed some of his numbers the past couple of weeks. But he's still a great player, still a huge part of our offensive plan and the best player we have.

Q. Coach, can you talk about the position your team is in right now? There have been naysayers out there, but you're 1-0 in the Big Ten, and you've got an opportunity in front of you. Can you talk about that a little bit.
COACH HOPE: We're excited. Part of the plan was to do all we can do when Big Ten play got here. We want to be competitive for one of the top spots in the league. That's where our focus was as a football team. We'd like to have a better record coming in, but some of that was good for the growth and development of our football team. Part of the growth and development of the football team is a better way to put it.
We feel good about where we're at and what we can do. There's always going to be naysayers out there when things don't go exactly the way that you want them to go. We try to emphasize to our players not to do that. You can't pick up and read something about how bad you're going to be, read your own obituaries. We've mentioned that to the guys. They're tone deaf to it for the most part.
If they go out and practice real hard and have a reason to believe they've paid the price to go out and win, all of that is just material. You've got to be strong and give them a reason to believe they can win, and we do that.

Q. Are you fronting the ball as much as you are, or have you run the ball as much as you have because of inexperience, or is it more so because your personnel dictates that this team should run the ball?
COACH HOPE: A little bit of both and some carryover from last year and a necessity for last year. A little bit of both. Ball security is a big part of it. We really want to win the turnover margin, greatly increases our chances to win. Right now when you're developing your quarterbacks, maybe running the football allows you to be a little bit better from a ball security standpoint.
Early in the season, we're willing to take a little more pressure off the quarterback so we don't have to go out there and throw the ball 50, 60 times early in the season in order to develop our football team. There's going to come a point in time where we're going to have to go out and throw the ball a lot to win. The development is really important, and I think the running game is taking pressure off of the quarterback.
So for both reasons, the development of our quarterbacks and personnel at the running back position. We're pretty strong at that spot right now.

Q. Folks know about Bolden. They're learning about Shavers. What about Reggie Pegram and Akeem Hunt? What have they brought to the table?
COACH HOPE: They're all similar for, reasons I think, they're tough guys when we go for runs. Their coach, Coach Jackson, in the interview process, he really got my attention. What are some of the things he hung his head on as a position coach when he talked about ball security and finishing runs, and he taught me his techniques that he used and believed in, the finish runs and the importance of the blocking part of it. Down in the detailed part of it, he really had a great plan. That's how you develop a running back. You know they can run with it. They can make people miss and do some things with the football, those other things that they have to do very well to be a great back. And I think he gets that out of them, and I think it's reflected in all of our running backs.
Hunt, you know, he's just really tough and explosive and just seems to love football, but he's a great talent. He's extremely fast. He's one of the fastest guys down at the Georgia Tech track meet last year coming out of high school. His team was the two-time defending 4x100 state champions. He was second in the long jump, and they were third in the 4x400.
I believe that out of all the football players that signed BCS scholarships at Georgia, Akeem Hunt had as many as all of them. He's really a class sprinter and a class athlete and a good football player too. It's a great combination. Sometimes you get a fast sprinter, and you have to make him into a good football player. But he's a fast sprinter that's a really good football player too. He's a great get.

Q. My last question. Who, if anyone, has been out on the offensive line? Obviously, if you're running the ball this well, somebody's got to block the ball?
COACH HOPE: I think they've all done well. Kelly is doing better his senior year, which means he's on a plateau. He's still getting better. I think Rick Schmeig at the center position has done really well. Mondek has brought athleticism to our guard spot. Justin Kitchens has been a nice surprise for a guy that hasn't played much at all. He's played winning football in just about every game he's played in. He played on the offensive line until halfway through spring ball.
We moved Mondek from tackle to guard because Kitchens is a heck of an athlete, but I don't feel he's an offensive guard. Nick's a little stouter and a little heavier, about a 500-pound bench presser and runs well. I think he's a lot better at the guard position.
I think our offensive line has good potential. I think they played pretty well. Sometimes they're criticized based on the number of sacks we have this year, and I don't know how many sacks we have this year, but I don't believe half of them were credited to offensive line play. I'd be surprised if half of them were, quite honestly. It's more to do with quarterback development. I don't believe half the sacks are O-line sacks, quite honestly. They just get credit for them.

Q. Coach, do you feel like your team is game tested heading into that environment in Penn State?
COACH HOPE: How game tested are we? I think the environment out here at Notre Dame with the bright lights and the excitement and the magnitude of it, I think that can be matched in some ways. As far as going into that type of hostile environment, we haven't done that. I think we have a good plan to give ourself a chance from a snap count standpoint to handle the noise here as well as any other team could.
We've been really good at that the last two, three years. Sometimes we're in it, and sometimes we're not. I can't even tell the difference. It's very, very loud there. It's one of the toughest places to play. I think it will be a challenge. I think that's something we're pretty good at anyway. It's something that evens things out more. Obviously, it's a very intense game, a very intense environment. We haven't played anything quite like that this year. We've got other tough road games down the road. It will be a great experience for our team.
Again, you want to go in there, and you want to see that environment, and you want to feed off of it. You can go in there and be awestruck by it or go in there and have it really excite you and add fuel to the fire and seize the moment and really have a great experience with it too. That's the way we want to go in and perceive it and respond to it. I hope we feed off of it. I hope it's not a deterrent. I hope we can feed off of it as a football team. Have to approach it that way.

Q. How big of a concern is it for you as a coaching staff to take your team into an environment like that? Other than the Notre Dame game, you really haven't experienced it this year.
COACH HOPE: We've done it before. A couple of years ago we went down to Eugene. That was really a tough environment. It was a late at night game, really offset hours-wise. I think we played well down there. I think we do pretty well on our road play throughout the last couple of years. I think we have good focus from our football team.
Obviously, it's going to be a challenge. How much of a challenge? I don't know. It depends how well they respond to it and how well they can execute the plan that we have. Change some things. You can't audible as much, just little things it changes. Sometimes simplifying might be better for our football team anyway.
So we'll find a way to manage it and feed off the environment and manage the crowd offensively.

Q. How would you manage Penn State offensively? You touched on their running game. How about just overall? What are they trying to do out there?
COACH HOPE: They're trying to knock you off the ball and run it. They're real good at it, very good offensive line. Really good offensive line. Five senior offensive linemen and a senior tight end, and they go out there and establish the run game. They're doing kind of like what we're doing. Try to establish a run game and maybe take pressure off their developing quarterbacks that are playing and make sure they have the right guy in there and also make sure they have two guys ready and prepared.
So they're similar to us in some ways except their defense has been outstanding. They're dominant defensively. They're a great football team. They're really, really good.

Q. Coach, you just referred to the defense, how impressed you are with them. Let me ask you about two of the players on defense specifically. I believe they're senior co-captains, Astorino, one of their safeties, No. 28, and you refer to the D-line, Still is No. 71, one of their defensive tackles. How good do they look on film?
COACH HOPE: They're great players. 71, the D-lineman, to me, he plays to Ryan Kerrigan type standards. He disrupts the line of scrimmage, where he's creating havoc across the line. Every time you watch it on film, every guy he's lined up on for a portion of the game is mismatched in some way. He's a dominant football player. He's a great player, great football player.
You've got to get past the line of scrimmage first. That's been people's problems. They can't get through the line of scrimmage. They've got some good football players on the line of scrimmage, and he is outstanding. He really is.

Q. Danny, obviously, you get asked a lot, being a Big Ten coach, about Joe, but this will be the first time you'll go against Joe as a head coach. I know your mind will be on the game, but still to get a chance to visit with Joe Paterno on the field as a head coach before the game, how special of a moment will that be for you?
COACH HOPE: It will be awesome. It will be brief. I don't do a whole lot of chitchatting before the game. It would be an honor to be on the same field with a guy like Joe Paterno. It's an awesome thing. I'll get a picture of it, and it's something I'll Cherish forever, no doubt about that.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you very much.

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