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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 8, 2013Glenn CarsonQ.  As a linebacker how important for you and for the other guys is it that you guys maintain your assignments, especially against a quarterback that can run like Devin Gardner can? GLENN CARSON: Yeah, it's definitely important, especially when you get into a little bit more of an option team and a quarterback that can run the ball. It's really important for the linebackers to know their assignments, know their keys, know where they have to be on each individual play. Q. Saturday being a homecoming game, big game for you guys, how important is that to protect your own domain against another tough Big 10 team? GLENN CARSON: Yes, it's just one of those classic Big 10 matchups. We've got Penn State and Michigan, and everyone is really excited, I think. It's going to be a great turnout to the game, it's going to be a great atmosphere. I think everyone on the team is really excited to play this game. Q. Michigan has used their left tackle Taylor Lewan to kind of augment their running game, lining him up as a tight end and moving him over in a jumbo formation. What challenges does that present for you guys and is that something you've scouted at this point? GLENN CARSON: Yeah, it's something that we've seen on film so far at this point. He's a really talented kid. He's obviously, as everybody knows, a really good lineman, and we just have to kind of continue to scout those tendencies and kind of see what they're doing on film and how they're trying to utilize him as a player and just kind of stay on top of that. Q. Coach O'Brien always talks about you guys are a really resilient group. How do you keep that resiliency? GLENN CARSON: It all goes back to just the kind of guys that we recruit here. We have a high expectancy of just recruiting great character guys, and we bring in the right guys, and then obviously our team has been through more than any other team with all the sanctions and everything. Just going through all that, going through a loss and stuff like that is something that we've been through. We've been through hard times together, and we have a bent‑don't‑break kind of mentality, and we just continue to push through. We have a really tough group of guys, so we're just looking to get a good week of practice and play Michigan this week. Q. This defense has had some struggles early on in this season. What's the main factor do you think that's kind of contributing to those? Is it just depth or is it something more than that? GLENN CARSON: You know, I wouldn't point to one thing in particular, just I would just put it down to execution, just sometimes we're just not functioning as an entire whole, one person, like missing an assignment here or there, and that can hurt us, we're just really not going out and executing it sometimes, and we've just really got to fix that and just play all 11 at once. Q. (Inaudible.) GLENN CARSON: With great practices. If you see how you practice on the field, it will translate onto the game field. If we have a good hard week of practice and know our assignments, get in the film room, that's what's going to pay dividends in the end. Q. Mike Hull missed some time earlier. He said it was really tough for him to watch from the sidelines. Could you tell it was hard for him to watch you guys over there? GLENN CARSON: Yeah, absolutely. As many of you know, Mike Hull is a competitor and he's a tough guy and he loves to play the game. Obviously for any competitor to be sidelined and be in street clothes while his teammates are out there playing, it's a tough deal, and we're lucky and happy to have Mike Hull back. He's definitely happy, and it obviously pained him to be sidelined like he was. Q. You talked about the resiliency. I'm wondering what your sense is on how the team will bounce back after what was obviously a very difficult game. GLENN CARSON: Yeah, I think coming off a loss like this is just going to motivate us harder. I see more focus in our team after losses, so I think that losing that game will definitely keep us more focused and get us to work harder in practice, in the film room, in order to get a win, because we're hungry. We want to win. Q. When you say you seem more focused, what do you mean? GLENN CARSON: You know, they're just more determined to‑‑ we're hungry for a win. We really want it. We really need to get it. No one on our team likes the feeling of a loss. I mean, after the game, it's really tough for us to swallow, coaches and players, as well. We're just really focused on getting a win. The best way to get over that loss, that feeling of a loss, is to win a game, so we're really searching for this one. Q. There's certain realities you guys have had the last couple years. You know you're not going to a bowl game or whatnot. Can you kind of frame what this game sort of means to you, the opportunity, plus you have an open date coming, and based on where you've been taking a couple losses already? GLENN CARSON: Well, obviously we're coming off a loss, but like I said, it's a classic Big 10 matchup. It's Penn State versus Michigan. Michigan is running the ball a lot, like they have before classically, like years past, and it's just going to be a classic matchup. We're really excited to play this game. We know there's going to be a great turnout with the fans, and we're just really excited to play in a night game, big atmosphere, Big 10 football, two big‑time teams. Q. Bill talked about this season and last season, the 12‑ to 16‑hour mourning period, and he said he's kind of kidding when he says that. I think that leads to a misconception that you guys are sitting hanging your heads off a loss. What is that period like if it's not a mourning period, so to speak, just time away from practice? GLENN CARSON: Yeah, I just think that everyone is really anxious after a loss to just get back on the field and just focus in on what we need to do to get a win. That's really what we want. We're just really anxious and excited to get back out on the field Saturday and to prove to everybody what we can do. Q. Did anybody specific on the team, whether it be you or one of your teammates step up after the Indiana loss gather the guys together and say we can move on from this? GLENN CARSON: Yeah, you see a lot of senior leadership from some of the guys like John Urschel and Malcolm Willis, guys that‑‑ I think nothing really needed to be said. I think everyone kind of understood where we needed to go from here on, and like I said, we're just looking forward to getting back on the field and showing everyone what we can do. I think everyone is really anxious to get back out on the field and redeem themselves. Q. I've got a question about Mike Hull. When he was hurt he could still go to the meetings and was still doing all that stuff, correct? GLENN CARSON: Yes. Q. I was wondering, did he‑‑ was he kind of like able to chime in, give you guys good ideas while he was hurt? How could he still help when he couldn't play? GLENN CARSON: You know, he played a role as much as he could. He kind of was sidelined, and during practice he couldn't participate, but he still helped the guys in his position. Mike Hull has played every linebacker position, Mike, Will and Sam, so he could kind of help the younger guys to progress and get better in practice because he knows the system in and out from every position, so he helped out the younger guys. He helped out the guys that are about to start. He's like having another coach out there. Q. On a different note, there will be a lot of recruits at this game, a lot of commits. When you were a recruit, do you remember what games you were at and kind of what that atmosphere meant to you when you were trying to make your decision? GLENN CARSON: Yeah, I remember I came to the Illinois game my senior year, and I kind of knew that I was going to commit, but I came up kind of with the idea that I was going to commit. But just the atmosphere and being at a Penn State football game was phenomenal. It was really cool to see. You can feel the tradition roots and stuff while you're at the game, and it's just a huge crowd and great fan support. For those recruits I think that they're going to really enjoy the game and kind of see what we're all about. Q. Obviously at Beaver Stadium, a three‑fourths full Beaver Stadium is still more fans than most places in this country, but can you tell the difference between 108,000 between a three‑fourths full stadium and can you talk about the anticipation leading up to this game? GLENN CARSON: Yeah, you can feel the difference to an extent. Everybody is a little bit different, but for my playing, I kind of like to zone out. But when I want to feed off the crowd's energy I kind of will go back into that and kind of feed off it. When we got a full stadium, when we've got 108 packed in the stadium, it's an awesome feeling. You can't really explain or really describe what it's like to play in front of that many people or a packed house. There's nothing better when there's a big 3rd down and the crowd is going nuts and you're out on that field trying to make a big play. It's an awesome feeling. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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