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PLAYSTATION FIESTA BOWL: PENN STATE VS WASHINGTON

December 27, 2017

Grant Haley

Glendale, Arizona

GRANT HALEY: We have good guys coming back, Amani Oruwariye will be back and also and John Reid should be back as well. And you have Tariq and Lamont, and there's a freshman, who has not redshirted, but Donovan Johnson, I'm excited for his future, those guys right there.

They know what the standard is as a defense. And especially in the corner room, we've had a great couple of years. And I'm excited for them to really show off their skills and for Penn State fans to kind of fall in love with them like they did with us.

Q. (Inaudible)?
GRANT HALEY: I think it will be special. As a team, having the chance to hang out with each other in Arizona, it's special just off the field as well. You get to hang out with guys who never probably have been to Arizona or been out to the West Coast. Especially when we come to the game, obviously we want to win.

The last two years we haven't been successful in that aspect. And just going out there, especially for the seniors and getting that win, is something we'll remember for the rest of our lives and with people coming back sets the tone for the 2018 season. So if there's anything that we can do, it's just a win and that's what matters to us this weekend.

Q. When you look at Washington, what stands out as far as managing (indiscernible) --
GRANT HALEY: I think Browning, he's the quarterback. He's a versatile quarterback. He's got a lot of experience. He's clearly the leader of the team. And going against him will be a good challenge because as good as he is inside the pocket, I mean sometimes he's even better outside the pocket.

And him running, him getting outside of contain and us collapsing the pocket will be a good challenge for us because you never know, we could end up covering for eight, ten seconds. And it's a challenge for us and it's a challenge for "D" line. And we're excited to go against a quarterback that's good in all aspects of the game.

Q. (Inaudible) is there anybody similar?
GRANT HALEY: I think running games-wise they're like a Big Ten offense, a little Stanford in there with the way they run the power. Then a lot of Big Ten teams run the split zone as well. When they get in the spread they kind of remind me of our offense.

They have a good balance and they use a lot of different players. And they have a very fast team and a lot of versatile players. And I think what they do, they do it, they do it right and they know what their game plan is and they execute it very well.

Q. Marcus was telling me back when he was a freshman he was trying to figure out the game plan and all that, how he would come and bug you for help. What do you remember about that?
GRANT HALEY: I remember it was Keiser got hurt on the Thursday practice, Ohio State, and I remember because our rooms freshman year were right next to each other.

I remember he knocked on my room all night that night, Thursday, my dorm room. And the next day I remember he came into the room with me, because I was roommates with Jordan Lucas, and he was in there for like an hour. You could tell how nervous he was and everyone was trying to calm him down.

You know it, you're fine, but it was a funny thing but it was also one of those things where you learn how important this game of football is to him. It was awesome to see that and be able to help him to be successful in that first game he started.

Q. Someone asked him in general about being nervous, and he said that's not him. So what did nervous Marcus look like?
GRANT HALEY: I don't know if I want to say nerves, but it was like one of those things where he always talks about if he didn't do great in the game, all his friends would make fun of him.

But I think he was more nervous not knowing the plays and not knowing what's going on. But he knew as a football player he trusted his ability to be out there with those guys, but I think it was just more of the plays and where you're supposed to be at at certain times.

Q. Have you thought at all -- you've seen guys in the past leave the bowl game, go to a training site. Have you figured that out?
GRANT HALEY: I've figured everything out. I'm just focused on this game right now and just the rest of it will take care of itself going into the next year.

Q. The Rose Bowl (indiscernible) -- talked to Brent, and he said he would be lying if it didn't, the way the game went. Does that loss still stick with you? How important is it to kind of right that wrong since you're here?
GRANT HALEY: Yeah, definitely still sticks with us. You think about it, the bowl games that you play, they kind of are leading into the 2018 season.

And we kind of went in, last year went into 2018 with a losing record, that's how we thought about it. And we were not satisfied with ourselves as a defense. We gave up 40 something points and however so many yards to their offense.

And Coach Pry, especially now that it's become the bowl season, since the last game ended, he's reiterated we lost last year. We didn't send those seniors out the way they deserved to be.

And he's right. And we need to -- we're a veteran team. And when it's time to have fun at the bowl game we're going to have fun.

But I think I've seen a change in people's demeanors when it's time to go to practice, everyone's focused on practice. I think that's what's special about this group of guys. And we know what happened last year. And we're excited to go out there and finish off with a win.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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