Sheltered inside Holuba Hall on a cold Wednesday night in State College, Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith met with the media to share updates on his program.
Smith, who’s developed a reputation as a truth-teller within the program, lived up to expectations with continued honesty about the Nittany Lions’ shortcomings, discussing issues and solutions to a disappointing season.
Here’s what he had to say.
Passing progress
Penn State’s much-maligned passing attack seemingly took a step forward last Saturday against Indiana, with quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer throwing for a career-high 219 yards on nearly 10 yards per completion.
The Nittany Lions recorded five receptions on passes that traveled 10 or more air yards, tied for the team’s most against Big Ten competition with Drew Allar’s mark against UCLA, per PFF.
“It took me three weeks to accomplish getting the ball thrown down the field, so I wish I could have got that done sooner,” Smith said. “Obviously, we haven’t had victory, so that’s my responsibility. So I own that. I do feel like our guys played a much better game and gave much better effort in this third game. So I feel like we’re moving in the right direction.”
Grunkemeyer had just one completion of 10 or more air yards against Iowa and three against Ohio State, showing improvement week over week but raising questions about why the Nittany Lions got this deep into the season before making adjustments.
For Smith, who was thrust into the interim role prior to playing against the Hawkeyes, he said his focus on the offense has improved over time after having come from a role on the defensive side of the ball.
“I didn’t know I was going to be the head coach. I didn’t know where we were weak and I didn’t really know our offense,” Smith said. “I didn’t know what to look for. I was a defensive guy that minded my own business. And now that I’m responsible, I can see things from a different lens, and I see where we need help and where we need transition, and now I’m able to identify and address these things.”
Smith hinted that the Nittany Lions; improved passing attack will continue into Saturday’s matchup against Michigan State, saying the team will remain aggressive and come out “emptying the clip” as it battles for bowl eligibility.
Creating confidence
It wasn’t just the vertical passing game that improved last weekend against the Hoosiers. Nick Singleton produced his longest run of the season and the defense played what some consider its best game of the year given the caliber of opponent.
Smith has talked previously about “bringing swag back,” something that he felt was missing during the team’s slow start to the year. He’s encouraged players to celebrate with each other after game-altering plays and keep energy high on the sidelines.
“It’s unifying the team. We have to be happy for each other,” Smith said. “Whether I score, you score, we score, we have to be happy and thankful in those moments. When you’re the ultimate team player, success is going to walk up to your doorstep.”
Smith said the team “got away from it” during its extended losing streak, and he wants to get back to the level of confidence he saw from the Nittany Lions when they walked out of the tunnel for the White Out against Oregon as an undefeated squad.
“It’s everything,” Smith said. “If I think I can, I will. If I think I can’t, I won’t. That was the beauty of playing at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. The crowd gave us some energy, gave us momentum, and it made our guys believe a little bit more, and they started to connect and make some plays and gave ourselves a chance.”
Pencil sharpening
Smith has introduced several analogies to the team since taking the lead role, including the “IF” shirts worn against Iowa and the redwood tree metaphor against Ohio State. On Wednesday, Smith said he compared the team’s performance against Indiana to a pencil.
Smith personified the Nittany Lions as a pencil and the Nittany Lions’ struggles as the sharpener, saying the team must sacrifice pieces of itself to become sharp.
He said last Saturday the team pulled the pencil out too early and it wasn’t quite ready to write, resulting in a 27-24 loss. In preparation for the Spartans this week, he said “we had to go back in.”
“We’re going to show a finished product of the pencil sharp and ready to write.”
