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PLAYSTATION FIESTA BOWL: PENN STATE VS WASHINGTON

December 27, 2017

Taylor Rapp

Glendale, Arizona

TAYLOR RAPP: Unique running styles. They're not very similar. Like I said, they both have very unique running styles.

I think Bryce, he's a lot more crafty and he's shifty, kind of like our guy, Myles. In between tackles, he can slip through things that you never thought that you could slip through. Outside tackles, making people miss in open space.

Q. Relish an opportunity like that?
TAYLOR RAPP: Yeah, anytime we can go up against an opponent like Saquon, we're looking forward to the challenge. I'm looking forward to the challenge anytime you can go up against a top guy like that. It only makes us better, too. So we're always looking forward to that challenge.

Q. (Inaudible). As a safety, you're one of the keys, the quarterback is looking at, what does that mean for you and how have you adapted to that?
TAYLOR RAPP: Definitely have to get our eyes right, all the DBs, our eyes can't be in the wrong place or else a big play is going to happen.

I think that's a big coaching point that Coach Lake preached: Our eyes are on our keys. And if any little second that our eyes are not on our keys, a big play is going to happen.

Q. There's obviously -- although Barkley -- and rightly so -- a few of your guys have said, it's kind of an unfair spot because the offense runs through Trace McSorley, making all of these decisions in the offense, what do you see with him?
TAYLOR RAPP: I'm right there with my teammates. I think everyone knows about Saquon, and he's a big part of the offense.

But I think the offense runs through Trace. They actually have quarterback-designed runs for him, not just zone reads. So I think he's a huge part of the offense. He's the engine to the offense. And anytime like we can play a dual-threat quarterback like that, it can be pretty frustrating because, like I was telling all the other guys, our DBs can cover down all the receivers, lock them down, do our jobs, but Trace can scramble outside of the pocket for a little bit and scramble for a first down. So that can be frustrating.

And I was just about to say that their big tight end, No. 88, I think he's their leading -- he's leading the team in receptions. So he's a big target. He likes to go up and get the ball. Box defenders out. So I think that's going to be a big challenge for our defenders, mainly our safeties, our safeties are going to cover down the tight ends.

Q. The size advantage you're talking about with (indiscernible), he has a positioning and what do you have to do to break through that?
TAYLOR RAPP: I think we just trust our technique, what Coach Lake taught us. We can't -- we kind of have to let the -- Coach Lake says let the big guys hang. So we can't let them box us out.

So we've got to try to stay under him a little bit because he's not going to beat us deep. He doesn't have the best speed. I'm not saying he's slow. He has pretty good speed, actually.

Q. Better defensive back?
TAYLOR RAPP: Exactly. We're going to use what we have to our advantage and not let him box us out.

Q. Is their offense similar at all to any of the other ones in the Pac-12?
TAYLOR RAPP: I got that question earlier. And I think they're pretty unique in their own way. Using their quarterback as much as they do, you know, they have quarterback-designed runs for him.

And I think that's pretty unique because I think Trace, he runs the offense. So if he goes down with the quarterback run, I don't know what was going to happen. So I think that's pretty unique that they use their quarterback so much in, like, designed runs and run him so much.

Q. There's nobody that you played against this year that does that as much?
TAYLOR RAPP: I mean, a little bit. We played against a couple dual threat quarterbacks but definitely not as much as they use Trace.

Q. Utah, is that similar?
TAYLOR RAPP: Yeah, Tyler Huntley, they use him to run the ball quite a bit. But I don't even think if it's close to how much Trace is involved in the offense.

Q. I heard you tell him what makes him successful --
TAYLOR RAPP: He can hurt us both ways running on the ground, in the air, passing. So our DBs, we can't really control him scrambling, that's kind of on our front seven or something.

But all we can control is like the passing, locking down receivers. I was telling him, it can be super frustrating, because we can cover down all the receivers and the defensive line is not going to contain him every down, every play. There's going to be one or two times where he can slip outside the pocket and scramble for first down. So that can be really frustrating.

Q. When was the first time you saw him, as far as preparation for this, or have you seen him on TV or highlights?
TAYLOR RAPP: Yeah, I've watched a few Big Ten games and watched Penn State a little bit. I watched their game against Michigan.

And I watched the full game because I think the game was early in the day and we had a late game that Saturday. So we were posted up in the hotel watching that big game. And, yeah, I mean, just from going to watching them on TV and then to matching up, matching up to them, it's super exciting.

Q. (Inaudible)?
TAYLOR RAPP: Yeah, I didn't know he was that short. But, I mean, kind of reminds me of a little Johnny Manziel, a little bit. He's so crafty. He's a tough, gritty guy. He's a competitor. He loves to win. That's going to be a big challenge for us.

Q. What are your thoughts on Barkley; (indiscernible) a running back to, have a couple of good ones for the team. Does he do anything unique that you haven't seen?
TAYLOR RAPP: You know, I think he's just so well rounded. He does everything so well. He's so versatile. He can catch the ball out of the backfield a lot. He can run the ball well inside the tackles. And once he gets outside in space, it's so hard to tackle the guy, he makes people miss so much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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