COURTESY OF PENN STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Graduate Offensive Lineman Ellis McKennie On Josh Jackson the last two games:
“I can’t comment on the quarterback position, but this is definitely a team loss today. We weren’t firing on any cylinders. We need to work together on better complementary football.”
On the team’s performance in front of a sellout crowd: “It is difficult. Through all of our training, we know what it feels like to get punched in the face. We face adversity and try to come back. I mean today we just weren’t able to rebound. The crowd today was incredible. To the 11,000 students that came out today, we appreciate the support and that was incredible. We love the support they have shown for this team. We apologize for our performance today.”
On if Penn State surprised them:
“No, we just didn’t execute.”
On the injuries to the offensive line:
“We did have a few inexperienced guys, a few guys running around. With the way we practice and the amount of reps we get, when we go in, we expect to execute. There are no excuses for what. We’re going to work on it. We’re going to get better, especially on the offensive line, I can promise that. We’re going to work and get ready for next week.”
Graduate Linebacker Keandre Jones
On playing from behind from the start: “It’s frustrating, but I give all the credit to Penn State, they came out and they were the better team today.”
On better preparation for big games:
“It’s all on us, we have to come out and prepare better and keep moving on. We have a long season ahead of us. I believe eight more games, so still a long season.”
On the difficulty of defensive execution:
“We treat our wins just like we treat our losses. We just have to do better, it’s in our preparation, we have to prepare better and like I said, it’s a long season.”
On difference in Penn State on film vs. on the field:
“Not at all, Penn State made some great plays, like I said it’s a long season. Tough loss, but we’re going right back to the drawing board in practice.”
On the difficulty of the 24-hour rule after a loss as opposed to a win…
“I think it goes back to what I said, we treat our wins just like we treat our losses. We just have to better prepare and come back stronger.”
