PSU Q&A: Jahan Dotson talks avoiding distractions, how offense can improve

Penn State's offense is looking for a bounce-back game after two consecutive losses, and receiver Jahan Dotson is aiming to get back in the end zone.

Called a potential first-round NFL Draft pick, Dotson had six and eight catches against the Iowa Hawkeyes and Illinois Fighting Illini, respectively, but those only went for 48 and 69 yards, total, and none led him to pay dirt.

Next up is an Ohio State Buckeyes team that held Indiana to seven points and looked different on defense compared to the version we saw in early September.

Dotson said he spent about three hours watching film with teammates on Monday to both diagnose what's gone wrong with the offense of late while also preparing for the primetime Big Ten East showdown (7:30 p.m., ABC).

"I was just getting a good feel for my opponent, knowing their tendencies, knowing what they're going to do, the coverages that they run, the guys that they have on the field, just getting familiar my opponent so that I'm in the best shape for Saturday," Dotson said.

Dotson covered plenty other ground with reporters on Tuesday, and he's today's Penn State Q&A featured player.

"It's fairly simple," Dotson said. "Ever since I've gotten here, Coach Franklin has really, like, drilled in our heads about going 1-0, and me being in the program for four years now, that's just something that's engraved in my mind. That's all I'm focused on right now, just going 1-0, taking it day by day, step by step. Monday, we had off; we have a lot of vets on this team, so a lot of guys have been in this position before, you saw that a lot of guys were in the facility yesterday watching the film.

"We know what we need to do to bounce back and we just got to keep our heads down and focus on work every day."

"We were getting the looks that we wanted, and the looks that we knew we were going to get," Dotson said. "Illinois did a great job of disguising coverages, different things like that, but we knew all along that we have what we needed. It was just, honestly,pure execution. Little details.

"That's the great thing about football. It's such a team game that one mistake by anyone on the field can turn out to be a bad play, and if 11 guys aren't doing their job all at the same time, like a play can't be successful. That's one of the greatest things about this sport and being a team sport. So, it was really just pure execution."

"We just have to clean up the little details, and like I said, we just have to be a more physical unit," Dotosn said. "Run game is, I feel like it's really all like a mindset, and we need to be a more physical unit upfront, on the perimeter, literally everywhere.

"We have to cover our guys up, do our job, and we're going to have success in the run game, we're gonna see big plays hit when everyone's doing their job. So, we just have to do that moving forward."

"It's just guys buying in and knowing that, whatever our coach has planned for us, knowing that it's going to work," Dotson said.

"We can't have any second doubts about it, second thoughts about it. We just got to go out there and do our job. That's the biggest thing. Just executing, doing your 1/11th as we say in our locker room, and we know that it's going to turn out a good outcome for us."

"It's a great opportunity. One of the best teams in the country like they are every year and it's a great opportunity for our team to go up against some guys that are very talented, just as good as us," Dotson said. "It's obviously an opportunity that you live for, primetime Saturday night, and it all starts [Tuesday].

"Honestly, it all starts today in practice. We got to have a great practice or we're not going to be ready for that moment. So we're going to go out and compete at practice today. We got some of the best guys in the country going against each other on a daily basis, so when we get to Saturday, it's just fun."

"That's pretty simple," Dotson said. We have great players and they have great players. I know they have a lot of guys who like to work hard and so do we.

"That's all there is to it, to be honest with you. It's a bunch of great players that love the game of football, and are ready to battle on Saturday. That's all it is."

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