Steve Jones Joins to Talk Penn State's Season Outlook

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00:00All right, the legendary voice of the Penn State Nittany Lions, Steve Jones is with us

00:07from lovely University Park.

00:10Of course, Happy Valley, grow up a Pitt, Penn State fan watching this rivalry.

00:18I got to tell you, Jonesy, I don't know if the last time I talked to you, I mentioned

00:22that it burns me up that they don't play it.

00:24It really bothers me.

00:26I think it's the worst thing that could happen to college football is when you take rivalries

00:32away from fans like that was, you know, at least they didn't screw up the backyard brawl,

00:38which is always an incredible game, including this year, I was in Vegas when they played

00:42that game, West Virginia and Pitt.

00:45And I remember growing up going to University Park to Beaver Stadium to see Pitt play Penn

00:50State.

00:51And that's what life was all about as a kid growing up in Pittsburgh.

00:54And I think they screwed that up nice and juicy.

00:58And that's how you're seeing in college sports for a long time, Missouri and Kansas weren't

01:02playing basketball against each other.

01:04That felt wrong.

01:05Right.

01:06A long time.

01:07Texas A&M in Texas weren't playing.

01:08Now they're both in the SEC, so they can.

01:11So that for a long time didn't happen.

01:13And rivalries are what make the sport special.

01:17There are a lot of elements that make the sport special.

01:19That's one of them.

01:20How was it like going to the Coliseum in Lipstick City to play USC, you know, for the first

01:28time in this new world of the Big Ten where you're, you know, traveling West and in essence,

01:39how crazy was that football game that really a lot of people believe Penn State had no

01:44business winning that game, that USC, you know, butchered it.

01:49And really, Jonesy, they've never recovered since the Penn State game.

01:53Their season's gone down the toilet.

01:55You know, Scotty, they go up in the game 17 to 3.

01:58So they've got everything going their way.

02:00Penn State led 3-0.

02:01They had a touchdown, caught off the board, and then they ran one play, got 75 yards on

02:06a touchdown.

02:07So USC's controlling it.

02:09After they were up 17 to 3, I don't think a lot of people realize Penn State outscored

02:13them 30 to 13 the rest of the game.

02:16So once Penn State started to get some control of the game, especially in the third quarter,

02:22they really did control it.

02:24And then when they needed to drive at the end, and you always want to know what can

02:28you do in the clutch.

02:29You and I have talked about this a thousand times.

02:32You get sports in the clutch.

02:34What can you do?

02:35There's five minutes to go, and they drove it, hit two fourth-down plays where Aller

02:39made a couple of nice throws to Fleming, then he hit Singleton for the touchdown to force

02:43overtime.

02:44And in overtime, what's the one thing you want to do in overtime when you're on defense?

02:48You want to go out and get a negative play right away, and they did it on the first play.

02:53And that set USC back.

02:55They missed the field goal.

02:56Penn State then centered the ball for their field goal as opposed to being on the hash

02:59mark, and they won it.

03:01And it just did them a world of good because they found out that when they needed to make

03:07plays, they could.

03:08Yeah, that was huge.

03:11And now they're at number three in the country, and their confidence has to be sky high that

03:17they pulled that off.

03:19What were they like after the game in the room and on the flight back to Pennsylvania?

03:26Because they had already beaten UCLA at Beaver Stadium, and then they go out there and win

03:32that game, and now they have this brutal game in Camp Randall when Fickles actually got

03:38the Badgers kind of turned around and playing real football all of a sudden.

03:43What was their mood like, and what are they thinking in the Nittany Lions room and moving

03:48forward here?

03:49Ecstatic in the room because everything had just happened and just the feeling of a great

03:55accomplishment.

03:57Once they got on the plane, you and I both know, Scottie, you've been there.

04:00They're tired.

04:01It's a long flight back.

04:03Got back about three in the morning, so a lot of people were sleeping, especially in

04:07the second half of the flight, although they could watch the Ohio State-Oregon game, which

04:11many people did because they had TVs in there.

04:13They could watch it.

04:15I think it was great they had a bye week.

04:17Having a bye week allowed them to settle down because it goes right to the point that you

04:21were talking about.

04:23And now you're right.

04:24They take on a Wisconsin team that's won three in a row, three games that you expect them

04:29to win, but the way they won it was impressive.

04:32So they're feeling great about themselves, especially now that their backup quarterback,

04:36Bray Locke, has settled in because Van Dyke got hurt against Alabama.

04:40Yeah.

04:41Van Dyke, the ACL tear, done.

04:43Couldn't believe it.

04:44It happens.

04:45I think that happened to Mertz down in Florida, too.

04:47Same thing.

04:48It did.

04:49So you have this game in Madtown, which is, you know, it's no different than University

04:53Park.

04:54That's a tough place to play, a tough atmosphere, a rowdy house, and then, and I don't want

05:01to get too far ahead of myself, but I'm going to do it anyway, then you have the Buckeyes

05:06in Happy Valley.

05:08And I mean, does Franklin have them licking their chops at these types of games back to

05:14back like that?

05:15Like we got Wisconsin on the road and Ohio State at home.

05:19And that's why we came to Penn State.

05:22If you want to be any good, you have to feel that way.

05:25I mean, if you know, so you go out and you attack this week and you take care of this

05:29week and then you worry about next week.

05:32So they're going to go out there and they've got this game with Wisconsin coming up.

05:36It's going to be, as you said, Madtown at night, but what makes Madtown really tough

05:42at night?

05:43Is it?

05:44Wisconsin's good.

05:45That's what makes, that's what makes it, that that's what makes it tough.

05:48Wisconsin in this three game winning streak, Scotty, they haven't been behind a single

05:51second.

05:52They've been playing from in front the entire time.

05:55So Penn State just had a come from behind when Wisconsin hasn't been behind since they

05:59were in the Coliseum when they played a USC.

06:03So let's see if Penn State can get up on them and then how Wisconsin reacts because

06:08they haven't ever had to react like that for a month.

06:11You know, they literally have been destroying everyone they've been playing.

06:15They destroyed Purdue.

06:17They destroyed Rutgers in Piscataway.

06:20I remember I was here in town that weekend and I was like watching that game and I'm

06:25like, oh my God, what they're doing to Shiano's team is unbelievable.

06:29I said, I think Fickles turned them around.

06:31Sure enough, they go to Chicago, destroy Northwestern, and now they're staring down

06:37the barrel of Franklin's Nittany Lions.

06:41Has the coach ever had a better Penn State team than this one?

06:47To this point?

06:48No.

06:49You know, he's had some pretty good ones.

06:5016 was really good.

06:51That one, the big 10 title 17, I thought was excellent, but this one's really well balanced

06:56and it's well balanced and innovative because of how they're able to utilize the tight end

07:01Tyler Warren.

07:02Warren, you know, can throw the ball.

07:04The Warren can run with the football.

07:06Obviously, Warren can catch the ball and as you saw against USC, he can snap it as well.

07:11So because of his versatility, Scotty, he can do everything and that's what's so great

07:16about having a piece like that, that goes with other parts that are standard parts and

07:22then you have a guy like this who can change the dynamics.

07:25So Aller, when he was a kid, you know, in high school, I thought he was the best high

07:30school quarterback in the country.

07:33And then when he went to Penn State, I don't know.

07:36That's not the kid that I watched play high school football.

07:39I didn't think he was that good at Penn State.

07:42How much better has he gotten from the point when he came there and he struggled, obviously,

07:48to where he is today?

07:50Well, think about our respective professions, like where are you and I now compared to where

07:56we were when we began?

07:57We were both great from the beginning, you and I.

08:00You know what?

08:01That's a really good point.

08:02So let's use some other examples out there besides the two of us and say somebody else

08:08in the profession that maybe early on would try to find themselves and then when they

08:12got to the second year, suddenly they became really good.

08:16Now out of the gate, you and I were secretariat.

08:18I got it.

08:22But that's where he is.

08:23He's a second year starter now.

08:24So everything that was new to him last year, the paces of defenses, how they played, he

08:30now is playing at a slower pace now mentally because he saw it all last year.

08:36And I think that makes a big difference for him.

08:39But you are right.

08:40You and I did get out of the game fast.

08:42We really did.

08:43We were top shelf status from the jump.

08:45This is what I got to say to you.

08:46Here's my plan for the Ohio State game at Happy Valley.

08:51So after the game in in Madtown, when they come home, I recommend that no food should

08:57be given to the team all week.

08:59They should feed them coal and just, you know, give them coal for dinner.

09:03And then by Saturday, they'll be so hungry, they'll take the Ohio State Buckeyes and ring

09:09them out.

09:10Jonesy, good luck against the Badgers.

09:13I'll pass it along.

09:14Scotty.

09:15Thanks, buddy.

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