Complete Joe Paterno post-game transcript

* Courtesy of Penn State Sports Information

Penn State head coach Joe Paterno didn’t appear to be in much of a mood to talk this evening following his Nittany Lions’ 24-7 loss to Ohio State at Beaver Stadium. Check out the complete post-game transcript to see what he said.

Ohio State’s front four seemed to get a good jump on the offensive line right from the get-go. Did that throw you guys off a little bit?

Paterno: I don’t think we were off a little bit anywhere. I just think for the whole ball game, they gave us a good licking. They played better than we did today.

How about the special teams play?

Paterno: I said prior to the game that I was worried about the kicking game. That kid (Ray Small) was obviously a big difference. We didn’t have much field position in the first three quarters. In fact, we didn’t have any kind of field position until the ballgame was out of hand. You’ve got to give Ohio State credit. They did a good job.

What happened on the long touchdown pass?

Paterno: We were in a coverage where the corner just got a little careless.

This is the second game where your special teams has broken down in a loss. Do you have to take a look at the way you’re doing some things there?

Paterno: We’ve done it this way before. I don’t know. We’ll obviously take a look at it, but I don’t know if it’s a question of looking at it to change things, maybe personnel. I didn’t see how that kid (Ray Small) got around there. A couple of the coaches said the guy who was responsible fell down. I don’t know. We’ll have to look at the tapes.

What are your thoughts on the way [Ohio State quarterback Terrelle] Pryor played?

Paterno: I thought Pryor played well. Pryor is a good football player.I thought he played well.

How did you feel Daryll Clark did?

Paterno: He’s had better games, but then again, there was an awful lot of pressure on him early and throughout the whole ballgame, actually. Once they were able to put that kind of pressure on without really sending a lot of people; that makes it tough to develop some of the routes you’d like to do against the kind of coverage they we’re playing. They did a good job; they did a good job up front. They’re a good defensive football game and they obviously played well today.

Was Clark hurrying his throws?

Paterno: I don’t think he had anybody open a couple times. He was trying to create some things. Again, I’d have to look at some of the tapes. We weren’t very smooth out there. You’ve got to give Ohio State credit. They were more aggressive than we were around the football and played a better game.

[You’ve had] two big conference games at home in primetime. How disappointing is it to lose at home?

Paterno: We lost. It doesn’t matter if we lose at home or away.

You guys had Clark up the middle a few times on quarterback draws. Was that a design from the start?

Paterno: It’s a called draw. All of them may not have been. A couple times, the rush was coming tough and he saw a crack and he may have gone up. We had three or four quarterback draws and I know that one or two were definitely planned draw plays.

Iowa got beat today. Did you guys know that beforehand?

Paterno: I didn’t know it. I didn’t know until you just told me. I don’t think that had anything to do with it. We came in here with the idea that we were playing a good football team, would have to play well and we obviously didn’t. We broke down on a kicking play, had a couple of tough penalties and didn’t get any kind of field position. It was a tough ballgame for us against a good football team who played very well.

You talked about Ohio State just licking you the entire game. Was their defense able to bring some things that you didn’t expect? Why were they able to give you such a licking?

Paterno: I don’t know if I’d say “such a licking.” I think they beat us just enough up front to control things. Again, the field position was a big thing. They got theirs with the punt return while we were starting way back all the time. When I said we got a good licking, that was probably not fair to our team. We just couldn’t make some big plays.

[Evan] Royster went off the field during warm-ups then came back. Is he okay?

Paterno: I haven’t seen the docs yet, but I know he walked off the field and they were concerned. Actually, I didn’t see it, but coaches were saying he ran into a couple of kids who were watching during warm-up. [They were] a couple of our players who wouldn’t necessarily be playing. That’s one of the problems you get when you dress everybody. We had 112 kids dressed today. [Royster] went in and had it checked then came back out and he was okay. I don’t think it affected his play, but I haven’t seen the doctors yet.

Did you think coming into this game that your offensive line was further along than it showed today?

Paterno: I knew we would have troubles. We had felt that the front seven of Ohio State played the run about as well as anybody we had seen, including Iowa. We knew we would have our hands full. Through three quarters, it was the kind of game I expected, but we didn’t make the plays. I expected it to be a tough game, the kicking game would have a part in it, and there would be some turnovers and penalties. Ohio State did well. They didn’t turn it over and until the end, were careful with the penalties.

With so much riding on this game, to lose, did you have to say anything to your team to keep their heads up?

Paterno: Do you want to go in and talk to them? After I stopped crying and I wiped my eyes and threw up a couple of times, that’s exactly what I said.