Penn State Quotes

Here’s some Penn State pre-game reaction.

Wide Receiver Deon Butler

On the success he has had at Penn State…

“I never questioned my ability once I got here. Penn State was the right place for me. I knew I could succeed.
I never really thought I would have a record-breaking season. I knew I could contribute to a Division I team,
but maybe not to this extent.”

On choosing to attend Penn State…

“I fell in love with it. The crowd and the fans are great. My teammates, I’ve loved them all since I’ve been
here. Coach Paterno is a legend. All of those little factors are what made me come to Penn State.”

On what it means to be the all-time leading receiver in Penn State history…

“It means a lot when I step back and look at the list and see my name up there with the other great players
that have had successful careers in the NFL. When the season ends I will be able to reflect on it a little
more.”

Quarterback Daryll Clark

On USC’s defense…

“The thing that stands out about them is their speed and how big they are and how intense they play. All
around, they are a real solid defense.”
“This is a different team than [other teams Penn State has faced]. They’re a little bigger, a little stronger. It
is a real intense football team. You can’t beat these guys by being tricky. You just have to line-up and
play.”
“The entire defensive unit [stands out]. You have 11 guys get after the ball as soon as it’s thrown or handed
off. They’re really intense. They have speed. The stats don’t lie.”

On watching film to prepare…

“You watched games to see how other quarterbacks play against this team. You evaluate them and see
how you will play against them. Those teams are different teams. That is where it stops.”
On keeping focused…
“Once the game is around the corner, you stop paying attention to the stats that are shown on TV and
whatever is said outside the locker room and the team meetings. You just put everything together and play
your game. You can’t worry about what they’ve done in past years or throughout the season. They’re
playing one more game and you are playing one more game. You’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

On USC safety Taylor Mays…

“He’s a beast. He can really run fast. He can cover a lot of ground. I am going to have to work my eyes a
little bit and see if he is looking off.”

Defensive Tackle Abe Koroma

On the advice the coaches have given the team…

“The coaches told us to step back and focus on the things we needed to do [to be successful]. There’s not a
straight path to it. We just try to come out here and do the right things in the right way.”
On more media attention being given to USC’s defense…
“I’m not surprised they are not talking about us. We know what we have to do. We see what is going on in
the media and on TV, but we don’t pay attention to that. When the ball kicks off [in the Rose Bowl Game],
we’ve got a job to do.”

Linebacker Sean Lee

On coming to the Rose Bowl injured…

“It’s a dream to play in the Rose Bowl. We were at the Lawry’s Beef Bowl and they played a big highlight
film and right then, [I was] jealous because I wanted to be on the field. At the same time these are the kids I
came in with and they’ve worked extremely hard. To see all their hard work pay off has been really
rewarding.”

On wanting to play…

“It’s tough and I’ll be at practice, pacing back and forth, wanting to be on the field. Especially now,
physically, I feel a lot better. That’s really tough.”

On coaching this season…

“If you go through the process of game planning against a team, you watch them during the game and how
they try to attack you. You just get used to the looks they throw at you. I feel like, now, I can go into a film
session and watch a certain team we’ve played three years in a row and know exactly what they’re going to
try to do and what they’ve done in the past.”

Aaron Maybin

On the NFL draft…

“I’m not thinking about the [NFL] draft right now. Everything is focused on USC. I’m not thinking about next
year at this point. Everything I’m focused on has to do with the Rose Bowl [game]. I don’t want the focus to
be on me at this point. The team has worked very hard to get to the point where we are at right now and to
be in the position to play such a great game. I’ll be doing my teammates a disservice if I brought the
attention to myself. I just want to get this game out of the way and then think about it.”
On the assessment of the season…
“Aside from the [Iowa] game, we played very well. We lived up to our expectations. Obviously there is still
room for improvement and there is a lot we could do differently. We’re hoping this game could take us to
the next level.”

Safety Anthony Scirrotto

On looking back at his career at Penn State…

“It has been great. There has been a lot of learning. There have been good times and bad times, but that is
what this whole college experience is all about. To end it [his career] playing in the Rose Bowl Game is
awesome.”

On the talk and distractions that the Rose Bowl Game brings to a team…

“We are going to hear it, we know it is going to be there, but we just channel it out. We know what we are
here for and that is to play a game. We aren’t doing anything but studying film and practicing. We put all of
that other stuff to the side and let everyone else worry about it. We are just here to play.”

On the chemistry of the Penn State defensive backs…

“We just have great chemistry back there. We have been playing together for a while and we are all on the
same page. We all work together as one unit. We all rely on each other to pick each other’s slack up when
need be.”

Wide Receiver Derrick Williams

On the Rose Bowl Game match-up between Penn State and USC being just another college football
game…

“We are playing just another college football team, but they have a good one. They’ve been here four years
straight. They’ve won their [Pac-10] conference to get here [Rose Bowl Game].”

On Penn State’s being the underdog…

“I think people have been underrating us all year. What can we say? What can we do, but go out there and
play. We are one win away from being in the national championship [game]. People have been saying we
are the underdogs, but all we can do is go out and prove that we are a great team.”