Moving on from a loss is key to any program, but when you give up 63 points and only score 14, you take some extra time to get headed back in the right direction.
Following Penn State’s 63-14 loss to Ohio State, head coach Bill O’Brien took stock and met with the team, his coaches, and individual players. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to do so, but as the man who sets the tone each week, it was important that he and his team were whistling the same tune.
SUNDAY: 24 Hours
A day removed from the game, O’Brien made the rounds, much like he always does. On Sunday he met with his coaching staff to watch film and assess what went wrong and what they can do differently. O’Brien started, as always, with the offense.
“I think I said before I don’t really get surprised too much, but I saw — let’s start offensively. I saw some things that I thought we could build on. I really did. I really thought the first drive of the game was a decent drive. It was a methodical drive.”
“So what I learned from that, as we go here — I learned a lot about coaching when I watched the film. I learned about the fact that maybe we need to try to create some more chunk plays and things like that, try to get the ball down the field a little bit more instead of having 15-16-play drives. That was one thing. We need to pass protect better. I think three-step drop, we shouldn’t be getting hit on a three-step drop. I think things like that need to improve.”
The defense gave up more yards in a single game than any Penn State defense ever take the field. O’Brien believes the answer is simple.
“Defensively,” O’Brien said. “I looked at it, and I said, “you know what, I think what we have to do is make sure we coach these guys and that we simplify these things so that these guys can go out and play. We have a lot of good players on both sides of the ball, but I think we just need to let them go play.” That’s what I talked to the staff about on Sunday, and to just let them go play.”
MONDAY: 48 Hours
At 2:45 on Monday afternoon O’Brien walked to the door of the team meeting room in the Lasch Football building. The room, built like many mini-auditoriums across campus was full of student-athletes only recently removed from what was — aside from a loss in the 1800’s — the largest blowout in program history.
But in the eyes of O’Brien, the room was full of something else.
“I knew when I opened those doors every one of them would sitting there ready to go,” O’Brien said. “That’s the type of kids we have.
“The foundation of our program is built on good kids, mentally tough kids, hard work ethic, the ability to compete and practice every single day and get better and try to improve, be a good teammate. The philosophy, the foundation of our program is to always look for best ways to coach them, do a better job of coaching them. So we wake up on Sunday, whether it’s a win or a loss, and rely on the foundation of our program.”
O’Brien’s message to his team emphasized the mental game. He says keeping mentally tough is how Penn State managed to upset Michigan.
“I talked to the kids about a couple of things. I talked to them about experiences. You go through life, and you have some good experiences. They’ve experienced the highs of the high with the Michigan four‑overtime win, and they’ve experienced the low, the low moment with getting blown out by Ohio State.
“So that’s kind of what life’s about. If that’s the worst thing that ever happens to you in your life, I think your life will be okay. So I think that’s what it’s about, and these kids know that, and they understand that. And then I talked to them about the foundation of our program.”
The meetings didn’t stop there. O’Brien met with running back Zack Zwinak who has gone from a 1,000-yard rusher to a fumble-prone headache for fans. Zwinak added another fumble to his growing collection on Saturday. It was not the most costly of his career, but it was his second fumble in as many games. Penn State needs Zwinak in the rushing attack, but the team can’t afford to risk turnovers.
O’Brien knows both of these things. So he sat down with Zwinak on Monday for what O’Brien described as a “long talk.”
“I have a lot of confidence in Zach Zwinak. I have confidence in Lynch. I have confidence in Belton. We have three guys there that are pretty good, so it’s a competitive deal,” O’Brien said.
“If there’s one guy making mistakes, obviously, the other two guys are going to play more. Right now Zach’s got a little bit of a fumble issue. I do think it’s a little bit mental. I talked to him for a long time (On Monday.)”
“These kids; they’re unbelievable kids. They’re very hard on themselves, and I don’t think he should be that hard on himself. I think it’s just a matter of, “let’s figure out what you’re doing wrong.” I think there’s some technical things we can help him with coaching-wise, and I think he’ll improve.
“Again, the number one job of the ball carrier is to take care of the ball; ball security. So we’ve got to help him improve, but he’s got to help himself a little bit as well too, and I think he’ll do that this week.”
TUESDAY: 72 Hours
Every Tuesday gives O’Brien the chance to send out his message. Following the Indiana loss it was all about moving forward. Post-Michigan was being on the right track. Tuesday, O’Brien offered up honest critiques and analysis of a blowout loss. His message in a nutshell was, “We got beat, we should have done better, and we’re better than that game showed.”
And he’s right.
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