Penn State Nittany Lions - Media Day Quotes
December 29, 2008
Los Angeles Downtown Marriott


Head Coach Joe Paterno
Opening Statement...
"It's good to be here. It has been a great week. I think we're ready to play. We'll find out in a couple days. It's a great challenge to play a team as well coached as Southern California is and as talented they are. It's fun to watch them because they play with such enthusiasm. They are so aware of where they are. We're looking forward to it. Up to a point, we'll find out."

On the break between the Rose Bowl Game and the end of the Big Ten Conference season...
"I don't particularly like the arrangement where the Big Ten doesn't play any games. We were through before Thanksgiving. Everybody is playing. It's as if the Big Ten goes into hibernation and these other teams are competing and competing against good teams. I think we're at a little bit of a disadvantage but I don't think that will really have an effect where it will have an impact on the outcome of the game. I think Southern California, the more you watch them, the more you are impressed with them. I think Southern California is one of the four-five best teams in the country, without a doubt. They may be the best team in the country. Certainly the best coached or better coached than anybody. I think the six weeks off bothers me a little bit. I think Southern California, playing a home game, hasn't had quite the logistics problems we have had, as far as getting back and forth to practice. We spend almost two hours a day sitting in a bus going back and forth to practice, which has bothered me more than anything. I'd like to give these kids a chance to have fun. We're ready to play. If we get licked, it's because Southern Cal is a better team."

On the variability of one play in a football game...
"Football games are a funny thing. There will be 140 to 150 plays per game, any one of which, if someone gets a little careless with the football or has a foolish penalty in the clutch, if it's a close ball game, will have a bearing on it. I watched a little bit of the Missouri vs. Northwestern game last night and Northwestern was pretty much in control of things. They kicked the ball off before the half and [Jeremy Maclin] run the ball back 80 yards. After half time it was a different ball game. So I think that any one play have something to do with the eventual outcome [of the game]. What that play is going to be? You'd have to be Nostradamus to know."

On critics of the Big Ten's bowl performances...
"Some years you have teams who maybe play a little better in bowl games. We've won three straight bowl games as a Big Ten member. We were in a BCS bowl game [Orange Bowl] three years ago and we won that one. Whether you have to carry the whole conference on your back, I haven't thought of it that way. I think its Penn State playing against Southern California. It's a real challenge for us regardless of whether we are a Big Ten school or not a Big Ten school. I hope we can play well and our kids can walk away from the game saying we gave it our best shot."

On the ability of USC to go on a scoring run...
"You watch so much football on television these days, one [team] blends into another.
Quarterback gets hot and all of a sudden they're on a streak. I think the observation of Southern California is absolutely right. If they get you on the ropes and they get a couple things going. Hang on. What Pete [Carroll] does so well, you never know if they are going to be in a single back [formation] or double back, [because] they do it with the same personnel. Once they get you a little of place they know exactly what to do with it. You don't know if a tight end is a tight end or if he is really a slot back. If they get you on a run, they smell blood. Another team like it, off the top of my head, we probably played a couple. I'd be making it up if I told you now I really knew."

On signing a three-year contract extension...
"I think the university was very gracious. They wanted to put something in writing. We prolong the thing until it became a recruiting [hindrance]. Kids wanted to know. We needed a contract. Penn State is a little different. This thing called loyalty permeates almost everything I've done at the University. Loyalty to coaches, loyalty to faculty, loyalty to my assistant coaches. It never really was a factor for me. Finally I had a little bit of time. I thought maybe we should put something down so we can tell the media I've signed a contract. They put something in writing and they did it. It was nothing we really needed. It has helped in the sense that some kids know when I tell them that I'll be around three, four or five more years that it is probably a reality."

On USC's defense...
"[USC's defense] is right up there at the top. We've played a great defensive game in 1978 when we played Alabama in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship. John Majors, the old coach at Pitt and then at Tennessee, said it was the best defensive football game he has even seen. It was pretty close. Southern California hustles. They get good position. They take advantage of any mistake you make. They are very impressive. They have big kids who can run. [Brian] Cushing, a kid we tried hard to get. The outside linebacker, the middle linebacker, two safeties, you are looking at kids big enough to play linebacker. That can do some things that they can do in the secondary, rush the passer well. They're smart. They come off blocks well. They're one of the better defensive teams I've ever seen. They've been consistent. Every time you give up 11 touchdowns in a year against some of the teams they have played. You have played darn good defense. They do everything well. If you make a mistake they hurt you . Tie that in with the kicking game. That kid kicks off the ball and you start from your 20. It's a formidable combination of their great kicking game and their defense. Smart tough kids who come after you after every down. They don't let up. They come after you after every blow."