.png&width=42&height=42&type=webp)
University of Minnesota Athletics
Coach Mason Previews Penn State in His Weekly Press Conference
10/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Opening statement:
“In regards to the Michigan game, I was obviously disappointed because we didn’t come away with a victory, but in a lot of ways I was encouraged. I knew what we were up against, a top-ranked team not only in this league but also nationally. I don’t know if they have any weaknesses. They are very experienced and very talented. They play almost exclusively fifth-year seniors and very few young guys. Taking that into account and that we were playing a top opponent, I really thought our team improved, which I was very pleased about.”
On Minnesota’s defensive performance against Michigan:
“I thought our defense started off slow in that game against the run. We stiffened up and raised our level of performance to theirs and really played pretty well with the exception of giving up home runs.
“Some people have home run hitters and some don’t, but they have a bunch of them. You can’t give up those home runs and we did. Hopefully that will be fixable.”
On the team’s offensive performance:
“I thought our offense really played well and moved the ball very well against a cut-above defense. We had a couple of dropped balls in there that I’m not real happy about, but we protected the ball well. Our quarterback made really good decisions. I thought Cupito played a fine game, and if the balls weren’t dropped he might have played an exceptional game.”
On the special teams:
“I thought our kicking game was really good. Last week I talked about defending Steve Breaston. I’m really glad to say he’s a senior and that was the last time we’ll face him and you’ll probably see him on Sundays. We did as good of a job defending that young man as anybody I’ve seen over the last couple years. We played very hard and very physical. It was a classic Big Ten game.
On the tradition of Penn State’s program:
“In saying that, we’re on to Penn State. I don’t make any bones about my feelings towards Joe Paterno and the respect I have for him and Penn State’s program. Every year I read their press release and come across something I just find unbelievable. I know that Penn State is a really successful program. We just played the most successful program in college football in Michigan. No one has won more games than Michigan. I knew they were the first team outside of the Ivy League to win 600 games. Penn State is the seventh winningest program in the country. They’ve won 774 games, which is pretty impressive. What’s really impressive, though, is that Joe Paterno has been there for 461 of them. Penn State has been playing football for a long time and I just find that mind-boggling.
“For us, it’s another challenge. It’s another fine team. They’re very talented. I don’t see where they have a weakness. Unfortunately or surprisingly for me, they’re very good on defense. I thought that wouldn’t be the case considering the guys they lost from last year’s team that have gone on to pro football. They have as good of a linebacking crew as we’ve seen and they’re talented on the back end.
“They’re talented on offense. They have a new quarterback who has a strong arm. They’re being selective in what they’ve asked him to do. Their recent recruiting at the wide receiver position has been what Paterno has given much of the credit to turning the program around. They’re all stars in their own right and are home run hitters and big-play guys.
“They’re very good in the punting game. They’ve had some problems with their field goals, but overall they’re very solid in the kicking game.
“It’s a typical Penn State Big Ten football team. They’re very good. From here on out we’re going to play very physical teams week-in and week-out. The problem that presents is that you play a game like we did last week and we’re banged up right now. I didn’t say we’re injured, but we’re banged up. You try to go back to work and you don’t have the guys who are going to be playing in the game because they aren’t physically capable of practicing. You keep your fingers crossed that they’ll be ready to go on Saturday because we don’t have the all the depth in the world. It’s a dilemma that I’m faced with – get them prepared but get them healthy.
“With that, we’re looking forward to Saturday’s game with Penn State. In the teleconference I was asked quite a bit about how I handled the uncertainty of not knowing whether we would play the game because of the conflicts with the Dome. Rather than take a wait-and-see approach after our game on Saturday, we came in extra early on Sunday morning, got the Michigan game out of the way and went to work on Penn State.”
On Anthony Morelli presenting different challenges than Michael Robinson at the quarterback position:
“It’s a whole different type of quarterback back there. I’m not saying he doesn’t have the ability to run, because he does, but not like Michael Robinson. Robinson was a very talented running back playing quarterback. He was a good quarterback, but when he put the ball under his arm he was as good as any running back we faced. You still have to account for the quarterback running the ball, but it’s not as big of a threat.”
On Paterno’s longevity:
“Being that he’s 80 years old, he must have some good genes and he’s stayed there that long because he’s won. Joe Paterno is a man of greatness, and not only because of the number of games he’s won. He’s had a profound impact on a lot of people’s lives for a long period of time. Obviously I’ve never played for him or coached for him, but since I’ve been in the league I’ve become pretty close to the guy and he’s had an impact on my life. It started when I was at Kansas and went a couple of coaches’ trips with him. I had an opportunity to just sit down and talk to him and I made a practice back then of taking a list of things along that bothered me in my program. I’d talk to him about it, and sometimes the answer he gave me made so much sense that after he told me I was almost embarrassed that I ever even asked the question. But he was able to sort through those things and take time to help a young guy out.
“And there used to be a thing called the CFA back in the late ‘80’s, and it was really driven by television money. They were breaking away from the NCAA, which used to control the TV contracts back then. We talked about everything that was good for college football, but those meetings were long and boring. The thing that really impressed me was that two of the so-called greats, Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne, were always there in the front row. A lot of the other so-called great guys were never there. As a young guy, I thought that was really something. The guy talked about what was good for college football and good for the profession and not just good for Penn State. He’s something special.”
On what has allowed Penn State’s defense to maintain a high level of competitiveness:
“If you look at the longevity of their coaching staff, even if you leave Coach Paterno out of it, their coaches have been there a long time. They’re not going to change very much. They have a system they believe in.
“My secondary coach was really down on Sunday, which I appreciate. He wasn’t blaming the kids. I said, ‘Craig, I don’t want to take you off the hook, but one of the problems is that you’re the third secondary coach these kids have had in three years.’ Even though as a coach you might be saying the same thing, you’re probably saying it in a different way. We’ve been pretty good offensively the last few years, but look at my offensive staff – they’ve been with me the whole time. Those offensive linemen who come in and get coached by Mitch and Gordy, they hear the same thing from their freshman year to their senior year every day. Penn State’s program really enjoys that stability.”
On Penn State’s linebackers:
“Posluszny is an awfully good linebacker. The only thing that’s different is that he’s wearing a brace on one knee. I’m a big fan of his not just as a football player. I had the opportunity to be around him at a couple of the awards banquets last year and also the Big Ten meetings this past summer. What a class kid. He’s a poster-child for NCAA football. And Connor, their other linebacker, is very underrated. He’s as good as any linebacker in this league.”
On running back Tony Hunt:
“He’s a good running back. Sometimes those accolades are accurate and sometimes they’re not, but he’s a good, tough runner. Typically there’s not many teams in this league that do not have good, tough runners. He’s very similar to the guy we played last week in Mike Hart from Michigan.”
On consistently playing at a high level:
“Hopefully any team can set the tempo that they are capable of. A lot of teams play down rather than play up. I see that sometimes from our team and I see that from every team. Typically, when I get ready to play a team, I look at how they’ve played against the best competition. You figure they are going to give the best teams their best shot, so I judge them by that.”
On Minnesota’s special teams’ play:
“You know the problems we had on kickoff coverage last year, and it all started because of average kicks. Now we’re getting great kicks. Even when he’s not getting it in the end zone he’s getting it awfully high and getting good coverage.
“We’re getting a lot of mileage out of D.J. He’s our starting safety and he’s returning punts. And he’s dangerous. Watching film, there’s a number of times where it seems like he’s one guy away. He’s fearless and he’s making good decisions back there. It’s one thing to return kickoffs, but those guys returning punts are a special breed.”
On the play of Mike Sherels:
“The only thing I always want kids to do is improve. That’s what you hope. I know it’s not static, but overall, if a guy stays healthy and he plays hard and has the right attitude like Mike Sherels does, he’s going to continue to get better.”
On the play of Logan Payne this season:
“When we recruited Logan Payne as a guy out of Florida, we weren’t sure where we were going to play him. We saw a good athlete with good size, good speed and good quickness. The only problem with that description was that he had trouble transferring it to the football field. That’s part of maturing. When he started to come into his own, look out. He’s really a good performer right now.”
“In regards to the Michigan game, I was obviously disappointed because we didn’t come away with a victory, but in a lot of ways I was encouraged. I knew what we were up against, a top-ranked team not only in this league but also nationally. I don’t know if they have any weaknesses. They are very experienced and very talented. They play almost exclusively fifth-year seniors and very few young guys. Taking that into account and that we were playing a top opponent, I really thought our team improved, which I was very pleased about.”
On Minnesota’s defensive performance against Michigan:
“I thought our defense started off slow in that game against the run. We stiffened up and raised our level of performance to theirs and really played pretty well with the exception of giving up home runs.
“Some people have home run hitters and some don’t, but they have a bunch of them. You can’t give up those home runs and we did. Hopefully that will be fixable.”
On the team’s offensive performance:
“I thought our offense really played well and moved the ball very well against a cut-above defense. We had a couple of dropped balls in there that I’m not real happy about, but we protected the ball well. Our quarterback made really good decisions. I thought Cupito played a fine game, and if the balls weren’t dropped he might have played an exceptional game.”
On the special teams:
“I thought our kicking game was really good. Last week I talked about defending Steve Breaston. I’m really glad to say he’s a senior and that was the last time we’ll face him and you’ll probably see him on Sundays. We did as good of a job defending that young man as anybody I’ve seen over the last couple years. We played very hard and very physical. It was a classic Big Ten game.
On the tradition of Penn State’s program:
“In saying that, we’re on to Penn State. I don’t make any bones about my feelings towards Joe Paterno and the respect I have for him and Penn State’s program. Every year I read their press release and come across something I just find unbelievable. I know that Penn State is a really successful program. We just played the most successful program in college football in Michigan. No one has won more games than Michigan. I knew they were the first team outside of the Ivy League to win 600 games. Penn State is the seventh winningest program in the country. They’ve won 774 games, which is pretty impressive. What’s really impressive, though, is that Joe Paterno has been there for 461 of them. Penn State has been playing football for a long time and I just find that mind-boggling.
“For us, it’s another challenge. It’s another fine team. They’re very talented. I don’t see where they have a weakness. Unfortunately or surprisingly for me, they’re very good on defense. I thought that wouldn’t be the case considering the guys they lost from last year’s team that have gone on to pro football. They have as good of a linebacking crew as we’ve seen and they’re talented on the back end.
“They’re talented on offense. They have a new quarterback who has a strong arm. They’re being selective in what they’ve asked him to do. Their recent recruiting at the wide receiver position has been what Paterno has given much of the credit to turning the program around. They’re all stars in their own right and are home run hitters and big-play guys.
“They’re very good in the punting game. They’ve had some problems with their field goals, but overall they’re very solid in the kicking game.
“It’s a typical Penn State Big Ten football team. They’re very good. From here on out we’re going to play very physical teams week-in and week-out. The problem that presents is that you play a game like we did last week and we’re banged up right now. I didn’t say we’re injured, but we’re banged up. You try to go back to work and you don’t have the guys who are going to be playing in the game because they aren’t physically capable of practicing. You keep your fingers crossed that they’ll be ready to go on Saturday because we don’t have the all the depth in the world. It’s a dilemma that I’m faced with – get them prepared but get them healthy.
“With that, we’re looking forward to Saturday’s game with Penn State. In the teleconference I was asked quite a bit about how I handled the uncertainty of not knowing whether we would play the game because of the conflicts with the Dome. Rather than take a wait-and-see approach after our game on Saturday, we came in extra early on Sunday morning, got the Michigan game out of the way and went to work on Penn State.”
On Anthony Morelli presenting different challenges than Michael Robinson at the quarterback position:
“It’s a whole different type of quarterback back there. I’m not saying he doesn’t have the ability to run, because he does, but not like Michael Robinson. Robinson was a very talented running back playing quarterback. He was a good quarterback, but when he put the ball under his arm he was as good as any running back we faced. You still have to account for the quarterback running the ball, but it’s not as big of a threat.”
On Paterno’s longevity:
“Being that he’s 80 years old, he must have some good genes and he’s stayed there that long because he’s won. Joe Paterno is a man of greatness, and not only because of the number of games he’s won. He’s had a profound impact on a lot of people’s lives for a long period of time. Obviously I’ve never played for him or coached for him, but since I’ve been in the league I’ve become pretty close to the guy and he’s had an impact on my life. It started when I was at Kansas and went a couple of coaches’ trips with him. I had an opportunity to just sit down and talk to him and I made a practice back then of taking a list of things along that bothered me in my program. I’d talk to him about it, and sometimes the answer he gave me made so much sense that after he told me I was almost embarrassed that I ever even asked the question. But he was able to sort through those things and take time to help a young guy out.
“And there used to be a thing called the CFA back in the late ‘80’s, and it was really driven by television money. They were breaking away from the NCAA, which used to control the TV contracts back then. We talked about everything that was good for college football, but those meetings were long and boring. The thing that really impressed me was that two of the so-called greats, Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne, were always there in the front row. A lot of the other so-called great guys were never there. As a young guy, I thought that was really something. The guy talked about what was good for college football and good for the profession and not just good for Penn State. He’s something special.”
On what has allowed Penn State’s defense to maintain a high level of competitiveness:
“If you look at the longevity of their coaching staff, even if you leave Coach Paterno out of it, their coaches have been there a long time. They’re not going to change very much. They have a system they believe in.
“My secondary coach was really down on Sunday, which I appreciate. He wasn’t blaming the kids. I said, ‘Craig, I don’t want to take you off the hook, but one of the problems is that you’re the third secondary coach these kids have had in three years.’ Even though as a coach you might be saying the same thing, you’re probably saying it in a different way. We’ve been pretty good offensively the last few years, but look at my offensive staff – they’ve been with me the whole time. Those offensive linemen who come in and get coached by Mitch and Gordy, they hear the same thing from their freshman year to their senior year every day. Penn State’s program really enjoys that stability.”
On Penn State’s linebackers:
“Posluszny is an awfully good linebacker. The only thing that’s different is that he’s wearing a brace on one knee. I’m a big fan of his not just as a football player. I had the opportunity to be around him at a couple of the awards banquets last year and also the Big Ten meetings this past summer. What a class kid. He’s a poster-child for NCAA football. And Connor, their other linebacker, is very underrated. He’s as good as any linebacker in this league.”
On running back Tony Hunt:
“He’s a good running back. Sometimes those accolades are accurate and sometimes they’re not, but he’s a good, tough runner. Typically there’s not many teams in this league that do not have good, tough runners. He’s very similar to the guy we played last week in Mike Hart from Michigan.”
On consistently playing at a high level:
“Hopefully any team can set the tempo that they are capable of. A lot of teams play down rather than play up. I see that sometimes from our team and I see that from every team. Typically, when I get ready to play a team, I look at how they’ve played against the best competition. You figure they are going to give the best teams their best shot, so I judge them by that.”
On Minnesota’s special teams’ play:
“You know the problems we had on kickoff coverage last year, and it all started because of average kicks. Now we’re getting great kicks. Even when he’s not getting it in the end zone he’s getting it awfully high and getting good coverage.
“We’re getting a lot of mileage out of D.J. He’s our starting safety and he’s returning punts. And he’s dangerous. Watching film, there’s a number of times where it seems like he’s one guy away. He’s fearless and he’s making good decisions back there. It’s one thing to return kickoffs, but those guys returning punts are a special breed.”
On the play of Mike Sherels:
“The only thing I always want kids to do is improve. That’s what you hope. I know it’s not static, but overall, if a guy stays healthy and he plays hard and has the right attitude like Mike Sherels does, he’s going to continue to get better.”
On the play of Logan Payne this season:
“When we recruited Logan Payne as a guy out of Florida, we weren’t sure where we were going to play him. We saw a good athlete with good size, good speed and good quickness. The only problem with that description was that he had trouble transferring it to the football field. That’s part of maturing. When he started to come into his own, look out. He’s really a good performer right now.”
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
LB
/ FootballGopher Football at the Pav
Wednesday, March 11
Film Room: Anthony Smith
Tuesday, March 10
Winter Agility Testing
Wednesday, March 04
Gopher Football at the Barn
Wednesday, February 18