Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen met with the media on Tuesday ahead of Penn State's first-round matchup against SMU on Saturday. Here's everything the Nittany Lions' first-year coordinator had to say.

Yeah, just impressive offensive unit. Coach Lashley's done a tremendous job there building that program.

You just look at the thing that jumps out is their athleticism. That receiver, the tight end position is very solid. The running back, you know, he's a converter wide receiver, so those challenges that he creates with that and the way they're able to do that schematically has been impressive.

And I think the quarterback, he really makes him go and the Jennings kid is impressive and he's young, but he's extremely live arm, you know, in terms of a dual threat quarterback. That's what he truly is. He can run it, he can throw it, but his ability to create is really what sticks out to me.

You know, when things maybe don't go as they're supposed to, he's really dangerous and he forced you to have to be extremely disciplined in those areas of being able to prevent those types of plays. But talented football team, you know, one of the top offenses in the country, and so definitely a huge challenge for us and a great opportunity

Yeah, it was an adjustment without question. I think it was a good adjustment, good change. And, you know, Dan and I obviously work very, very closely together.

He's a tremendous coach and a great communicator with our players. And that was important, I think, to keep him, communicate with them with the mic, to have that, you know, resource for us. I think it was good.

Just one less thing for me to even have to deal with, just the button, you know, just communicating that and even the crowd level or the noise, you know, in the box compared to on the field and then all that, how it affects the communication with the players. So I think it was, it took a while to get used to without question. I think just everything in regards to having the mic on the linebacker, having the iPads to evaluate, you know, I think all those things together kind of made, you know, the decision to go up a lot easier, the quality of our staff, guys, you know, I can be able to, hey, say, you know, check this, correct this, correct that, you know, during the, you know, the time we're off the field and the way that's able to be done efficiently with those coaches and their players with the iPads is another reason why it allowed me to feel good about going up top.

And I just think just the quality of our players and their ability to handle those adjustments and the things that come off the field. So definitely took some time to get used to, I think. But at the same time, you know, once we got into that new structure of communication, I feel like that we kind of got rolling from there.

And it's been a very positive thing

Well, there's no question. I think many valuable lessons to be learned and without being too specific, because obviously we can play them again, you know, and then obviously other teams can use those things. But at the same time, I think you're always looking to adapt and to learn and grow from things that other team does to you and puts you in a tougher spot.

And obviously we didn't play to our standard and they did a tremendous job in certain areas that really made that hard. But at the same time, you know, to me, it's about being able to take that information. And it's been directly, you know, a lot of meeting time since then, a lot of chance to go back and watch and go through and analyze what we can do better to help our guys be in the best position to be successful.

So, like I said, I don't want to get too specific because of the obvious reasons, but at the same time, you know, I feel like that anytime a team does some things to you that causes you to have, you know, a struggle defensively and not play the way you want to, which is what I would say that's exactly what happened, especially in the beginning, you know, but I think the bottom line is our guys and we collectively have learned some valuable things from that. And we're going to, you know, utilize those going into this week for sure, without question. In the middle, Seth, Tom.

As somebody who's been a head coach at, you know, the Big Ten level, maybe having a unique perspective on the current landscape of college football, what has the balance been like, you know, this past week with not only preparing with SMU, but also, you know, having to utilize the transfer portal? Yeah, I think everybody would agree that there's a lot of things that need to be reevaluated, you know, and we've had been in a lot of those meetings last couple of years leading up to this. And, and I think, you know, coach addressed some of these things yesterday. And so bottom line is that we as a coaches organization and NCAA has to take a really strong hard look at the calendar and, and the flow and how things are happening.

And it just creates, you know, some negative situations that you really don't want to be placed in, you know, for your team when you have a chance to be, but at the same time, you know, it's, I think coach has done a great, great job of saying, you know what, we got one focus, that's SMU. And so we'll let everybody else that's in those roles administratively to figure out what's better for the future. Cause it definitely needs to be looked at without question.

And I believe it will be, but right now it's about, Hey, what can we do to, to make sure that our guys are a hundred percent locked in to be in their preparation. We're in game week mode right now, and we've got to be able to do a great job of compartmentalizing things and also making sure we're ready to play our best football on Saturday.

Yeah, I'd say that those two guys you want to see step up into the four and the fifth spot.

And you'd like to have at least four without question each week in the playoffs. And you want to be able to have five as a, as a bonus guy, you know? So to me, Xavier and Ty are the two guys that we're constantly evaluating. Even this week in practice, they're competing for that spot to be the fourth guy and then be the fifth guy, obviously would fall into place there.

So, you know, you just want to see guys rise up, you know, and I think that, you know, depth is important at every position, but especially in the, in the, in your front, those guys play, you know, very, very stressful snaps. You know, when you, when you play on the defensive line, it's a physically demanding, mainly demanding, and you gotta be, you're getting, you know, hit every single snap and you're throwing your hands and you gotta be able to be playing at a high, high level. That's why we rotate those guys in the past.

So definitely want to get to four, love to have five and the balls in those guys' court decide who that's going to be. We'll go Mark and then Shane. Thanks for your time, Tom.

You're welcome. How would you evaluate the play of Tony Rojas? You know, a guy who was a high school offensive player, kind of moving over to defense and what do you see as his kind of upside? How much more do you think he can develop? I think he has a tremendous upside. I think, as you mentioned, he's a young player that's still growing and developing.

He's got tremendous speed and athleticism and length for the position. And you've seen the flashes of it when it really, really shows at a high level. And I expect him even these next, you know, these next four weeks to continue to grow and develop and be very important for his future as well.

So, and I think a lot of it is just confidence as part of, as a player, as you learn, you know, what's in the system and you learn to grow. Because as a backer, you got to not just play well, you got to communicate. You got to take on the ownership of making sure everybody around you plays well and is in position to make plays.

So, Tony's a guy to me that his best football is still in front of him and ahead of him. He's got a tremendous attitude. He works extremely hard.

And I want to just continue to see him these next several weeks, just keep growing and developing in this confidence and playing with that edge. And we've seen that, we know he has it in him. And it's been, you know, you're looking for just that high level consistency to be able to play at that high level each and every week.

That's what I expect from him, as we expect from our backers. And to me, he's a guy that's, you know, he got a bright, bright future

Yeah, they've been huge. You know, I think about, you know, Jalen Kimber's just voice.

I mean, he just doesn't get phased. He's experienced. He's been, you know, playing this game for a long, long time.

And that's what stuck out to us when we took him. And it's proven to be true. And he's actually been just a tremendous young man in our program.

Love what he brings every day. So consistent in his approach to practice. His play's been that way as well.

So you can take a guy like that. And sometimes, you know, you take a guy in the portal, you don't always know, you know, how they're going to fit into your system, how they're going to play, you know, once you get him here. And he's been a tremendous force and I expect him to be a major part of everything as we finish off this season.

So, you know, and then AJ to me is a young guy, you know, as you kind of have two different extremes there and was one year at Georgia and coming here and has a tremendous amount of talent. And I think you kind of even go back and say consistency is the thing you want to see and probably played his best game of the whole season, you know, against Oregon, you know, so I just felt like that. He's got toughness, he's got athleticism, he can cover, and he can do a lot of things that we want our guys to do.

So they've been two tremendous additions to our program. And that's what you want to be able to do with Eli, in my mind, the portal is a chance to be able to maybe fill in some gaps based on where you have maybe some early departures in a position to be able to meet those needs and with that type of player. But to hit on both of those guys, the two guys we brought in, you know, in the secondary has been really big for us and expecting to play, you know, their very best football here these last four weeks.

Yeah, I would think that, you know, yeah, there's always strength in numbers. But then I think it's no different in that, you know, example. And anytime you have more guys that that you feel can can make plays, you know, for you as an offense, and then obviously, we as a defense, more guys we have to to defend and take away, you know, so but the bottom line is, is that, that they do have a very talented football team, and they do have many weapons that they can get the ball to.

So it forces you to be able to say, Hey, man, everybody's got to do his job, you know, which is what you obviously say from the beginning, but it's really more valuable. And you say, Hey, this is sometimes you say we got if we take this guy away, we're going to be able to do this and that. And so to me, we have to be sound across the board.

And everybody is going to matter who you're matched up with, you know, and so but they've done a great job recruiting to that position. And just so they have many guys that can contribute. So there are obvious strengths when you have the ability to do that.

And it puts stress on your defense when they can. So we know that we have a big challenge with our secondary, but we're excited about the challenge

He's been tremendous for us, you know, and as you see, we'd be able to move them around and that that will continue. And so they have to be able to prepare for him be in different positions and different responsibilities or techniques, he's gonna be able to use, you know, I believe he's the best defensive player in the country. And, and he's proven that each week.

And so my mind is that as you get into this, this game with SMU is going to be another opportunity for him to be able to do what he does best, which is disrupt, you know, and so wherever we choose to put him in, and obviously, it does affect the guys around him when they have to be able to account for him, as you can talk about, you know, when you have a more receivers, you have to defend what's no different, you know, you know, defensively, when you have more guys that they have to deal with, they just, you know, choose to focus on him, it's gonna free up other guys. And, and he still does a great job of, you know, beating whatever you choose to do to him. So bottom line is, is that Abdul Carter is a tremendous football player.

He has so much flexibility, which I know that's his big, big value for his future is to be able to play at different positions and, and be a tremendous one on one nightmare for for for offensive players. And, and his burst of the ball is as good as I've ever seen, you know, and so just love how hard he practices, love how hard he plays, and excited for him to be able to play his best football here on Saturday

First of all, you know, when a guy can extend the play, and that's kind of the best way to the phrase, I think, to use because, you know, he will extend the play, he can hurt you with his legs when he extends the play.

But I think when he extends the play, he's looking to throw the football. And those are really start running around, we're going to focus on trying to get him on the ground as a running back. Well, now, you still can't just, you know, abort your responsibilities in the past.

And so a lot of explosive plays they've created have been when he's been maneuvering in the pocket, and you buy his time, and they create some separation, whether you're playing man or zone and, and finds an open receiver. So, you know, the ability to have that threat is tremendous. I also think he's very accurate, you know, sometimes you get guys or dual guys, and, and they can be maybe not as accurate a passer.

But he's very accurate, especially on the move. And I think that's what sticks out to me, that makes him really, really special. And, and I do, I think he's a special talent, I really do.

And the guy that I didn't know a lot about before, you know, I was playing him. But obviously, he's got my full attention without question after studying here, these last, you know, couple weeks. So bottom line is, is that I think the thing that sticks out is that he's a dual player quarterback that throws it extremely well, has accuracy, has really, really quick release, has good arm strength, so he can he can throw in tight windows, and also has the ability to beat you with his legs.

And then I built a whole system around that type of player. And that's what this system is really, you know, when I've gone against in the past, and when it's at its best is when that guy can do those things. And so he's a guy that creates a lot of challenges for every defense each and every week.

And that's why they've had so much success this season

Yeah, you know, I'm a backers guy.

And I'm just such a huge believer that man, you go as your backers go. And he's had a tremendous season. I mean, the consistency, he's played like an older, mature player supposed to play, you know, he's a really good tackler.

He's way better in space, I think that most people realize he has really, really, you know, loose hips, he can he can sink and bend and rush the passer and, you know, just do so many different things. He runs our defense. That's a probably a big thing.

I know it wasn't here a year ago. But just from being around the guys here, this is something he needed to grow in was just the ownership of running the defense verbally. And he's taken that on.

He's a captain. He's a guy that just has done everything, you know, he's a consistent practice player. He's just done a great job.

He works extremely hard. He practices hard. He brings it every single day.

And you have to do that you got it because you have to live out that standard each and every day. So his his play and production is matched up with his preparation, which has been impressive. And I think he's elevated the whole room of linebackers.

And so just really proud of him and excited for him to be able to, to have a tremendous game on Saturday. That's what I expect him to do. And but like you said, you won't play great defense, you got great linebackers.

And I believe Kobe King's a great linebacker.

Yeah, he's been, you know, another piece, you know, you guys have mentioned several guys that have been huge for us this year and his development, you know, and, you know, coach T has done a tremendous job with him as a player.

And then, you know, coach Dick works with him in the line position. And, and I think that, you know, when we lost KJ really kind of created some, some challenges for us to be able to kind of figure out what this is gonna look like moving forward, it took a little bit of time to get to that point. But at the same time, you know, he does give you some tremendous coverage ability that position, but he also has, you know, ability to tackle, you know, and he can and he can blitz and he can do all the things that you want that position to be able to do.

And there's, you know, different ways you play that guy based on his skill set. And you always want to maximize, you know, his skills. And, and he's, you know, he's made some really big plays for us.

And that that's the expectation going into this weekend as well. But at the same time, you know, I would say, you know, he's another guy that there was, there was probably a point a couple months ago, and I, and I pointed out, and when I started seeing in practice that the attention to detail during walkthroughs, during jog throughs, during even film sessions that wasn't there necessarily before it was, it was there at times it wasn't consistent. And when I started seeing it consistent, I just wanted to make sure I reinforced that.

And it just, then his play started elevating once the attention to detail during those parts of practice started to elevate. And he started just playing at a higher level and making more plays and putting himself in position. He could tell he started understanding the calls and understanding where he can put his eyes and where he's not supposed to put his eyes at times.

And so, which allows him to make more plays, but I think his raw athleticism is, is really elite. You know, he's really, really fast. He's got really long arms.

He just, and he's a tough kid that has really developed this year. And we need that to continue without question. And I just think he's got a really, really bright future.

And he's a guy that's played this game for a long, long time because now you have, you know, on film position flexibility, you can play outside, you can play inside, you can play probably even as a safety, you know, in certain calls. And so I think when you say a guy can play five positions in the back end, his value is at a high, high level. And that's what I say about Zion.

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