What Penn State Is Saying About Preparing for Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl

The Nittany Lions' offensive stars discuss the buzz, and the grind, of readying for the Broncos and their 15th game of the season.

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Nicholas Singleton runs with the ball during the second quarter against the SMU Mustangs in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

For the first time in its 135-year history, Penn State is about to play its 15th game of the season. The Nittany Lions also can win 13 games for the first time. Two significant milestones underscore one fact: This is the longest season in Penn State football history. With that comes promise and side effects.

"It's as hard as ever to do it all, and we're all tired, playing Game 15 here, and we've been here together every day since the end of July," Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said. "But that's what we signed up for. ... We were talking yesterday and we just said, 'Where would you rather be, if someone said in July, we're going to be practicing on Christmas because we're playing for a national championship and we're in the playoffs,' we would have signed up immediately, said, 'Hell, yeah.' And there's a lot of people that aren't doing press conferences today because they're not playing anymore, and we're blessed and fortunate to be doing that."

Kotelnicki and several of his offensive stars gathered before Penn State practice to discuss the grind, the playoff and the Broncos, whom they'll face on New Year's Eve in the Fiesta Bowl. Here's what they said.

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Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki

On the Boise State defense: They're one of the top teams in the country in terms of sacks and disruption up front, so they have some talented players on their defensive line, for sure, but they play great complimentary team defense. They have a nice pressure package that complements what their base defense is.

On Penn State's run game being more effective in the postseason: Both [Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen] are kind of back to being at full strength, and you can see that the last couple weeks, the way they both ran the football. They're so complementary of each other in terms of their skill sets and how we use them. Obviously, they're impact players for us, and my responsibility is to make sure the impact players are getting the ball. So I guess it affords me some more flexibility to be able to try to utilize those guys in ways that are going to put stress on the defense. ... They're both playing football at the highest level they have this year, which is what it should be at this point in the year.

On the offensive line: When you watch our last game, we played a really physical brand of football, which I love. That's what we want to be. We want to be a tough group up front. As a whole offense, we want that, but our offensive line definitely embodies that. ... They've embraced the idea of being the reason for how far we'll go.

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar (15) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the SMU Mustangs in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar

On Boise State's defense: They're a really sound unit. You don't see many mistakes in the run game, like guys in the same gap, and not many blown coverages. So I think they are a very sound and disciplined group, and that starts with the coaching staff. They do a great job and getting those guys aligned in the right spots. And I think the biggest thing that sticks out about the players is how hard they play to the whistle. They're playing through the whistle every single snap there is. We have a lot of respect for these guys and they've had a great season. So it's going to be a fun matchup.

On freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer: He's not externally motivated. He's internally motivated just by what he wants to accomplish in his career. And obviously, I think he has a really bright future ahead of him. From a quarterback standpoint, he can make every throw on the field: really strong arm, really accurate, and he processes really well, especially for being a true freshman in college football. ... He's done a fantastic job since he's been on campus, but I think I've started to see him gain confidence in himself these last couple weeks.

On the offensive line: I think they're just playing super fast. We always talk about winning with speed on the perimeter, but I think the offensive line has really taken that into their own game, winning with speed up front and being physical and doing whatever they can to just get the job done. And I think that's a group that takes a tremendous amount of pride in their process throughout the week and the way they prepare, and then it shows on Saturdays with the way they play.

Tight end Tyler Warren

On the long season: It takes a toll, but you're kind of just in the groove of it and in the routine of the season. You're used to waking up and feeling how you feel, however that is, but doing whatever you can during the day, getting in the tub, stuff like that, the little things to give you an edge. But it's also understanding that everybody's in the same situation as you. So it's not really an excuse to have and it's just something you got to deal with in the sport.

On the offensive line: Now that we're in the back half the season, we've had more reps, so just getting those under our belts and keep building off of what we're seeing each week has been really good for us. I feel like we're on an upward trend, so just being able to keep learning from what we put on film will be important for us.

Running back Nicholas Singleton

On preparing to play a 15th game: It's just taking care of your body, most importantly, making sure you eat right. And obviously the coaches know it's week 15 everybody's beat up a little bit, so the reps went down a little bit. It's more like a jog through but also being more dialed in on what we're trying to do. So it's been really good, and we're just ready.

On Drew Allar: Drew has been really good ever since he stepped on campus. He's always one of the first people coming [to the football building] looking at film. He's a film junkie. Like, he's always looking at film. I'm always asking questions. His process has been fantastic. Everybody looks up to him as a leader, and he just brings energy, too.

Offensive lineman Vega Ioane

On handling the pressure of the postseason: I feel like our line's handled everything perfectly. Like I said, all the praise goes to [offensive line] coach [Phil] Trautwein. He gets us prepared every week when we come into the O-line meeting room, getting our minds ready for practice, getting our bodies right going into practice and going into games. I feel like in the playoffs, it's all about being 1-0 every week. Every week it's a new season. We're not worried about the national championship just yet. This week we're worried about Boise State.

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