Everything Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith said following loss to Indiana

Penn State suffered its sixth consecutive loss Saturday afternoon, botching a fourth-quarter comeback against No. 2 Indiana with less than a minute to play. The 27-24 scoreline represented the latest setback in what’s been a season full of them for the Nittany Lions.

After the game, interim head coach Terry Smith discussed both the good and the bad. Fans can read his comments below.

Opening Statement

Terry Smith: A tough loss… very, very difficult one to handle. There are guys in the locker room taking it very tough. Super proud of the effort that our guys put out there. These guys play hard. I feel awful for them. They do everything we ask of them, and we just keep coming up short.

I want to thank our crowd. The home-field advantage was to our advantage. They were awesome; they gave us an edge. They gave us timeouts and penalties. It was amazing from the crowd.

We have to hit the reset button again tomorrow and continue to figure out how to win a game. I thought we did a better job in the second half throwing the ball down the field. I thought it opened up our run game. We got a long run, and it gave us some opportunities to get back in the game. Our kids fought valiantly in the second half. We fought back from a 13-point deficit and just kept clawing, kept fighting, and it’s a testimony to these kids in the locker room.

Q: You seemed pretty angry after the touchdown was upheld. Was it that play that was bothering you, or was there something else that was there, an accumulation of things?

Smith: You know, we’re all wanting the plays to go our way. We’re talking blades of grass right back to the Oregon game. We’re just trying to create, you know, maybe we get the call for the blade of grass, and right now we’re in that storm where we can’t get the blade of grass. So, just trying to make sure my guys know I’m fighting every way of the storm for the guys, and they just hope, trying to turn the tide.

Q: I hate to bring up their last touchdown drive, but you hit that quarterback relentlessly. He kept getting up. They didn’t have any time-outs. You started that drive with the sack. They made freakish catches to prolong the drive. Is it frustrating, or is there anything you feel like you could have done differently on that drive because of the pressure you put on that offense’s quarterback, big time?

Smith: When you get in games like this, you have to have players that make plays to win games, and he won the game for them. He was amazing. He’s tough. We hit him relentlessly the entire game. He kept getting up. He delivered throws. You could say they were lucky, but he kept doing it time after time.

You know that last drive, the pressure is there. We get the sack. I don’t know if we would do anything different. The coverage is right there. Those guys made plays. And unfortunately, that’s the nature of this game. We can live with results when guys make plays, we can’t live with results when we’re making mistakes.

Q: Terry, you mentioned Ethan [Grunkemeyer]. How did you think your quarterback played at the end of a rigorous three-game stretch against three outstanding defenses?

Smith: Yeah, I thought he grew up in the second half. Obviously, coming out of halftime, we threw the interception, but he bounced right back. He started making some good throws. He gave us a chance to win, he led us back and took control of the huddle. I thought he was big time, and I’m just looking forward to him continuing to get better and continuing to develop. So, I thought he gave us a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask.

Q: The play where they snapped the ball before you guys finished substituting; did you get an explanation on whether or not that should have been a delay of game penalty? Did you think it was officiated correctly, or what conversation did you have about that play?

Smith: Yeah, we talked about it. Officials made a call. I don’t want to get into all of that. That’s what they’re paid to do. They made the call.

Q: Terry, other than Ethan, maybe making a step forward today, what happened that you were allowed to be able to throw the ball vertically down the field? First time we’ve seen it in a long time.

Smith: We made calls to throw the ball down the field.

Q: It’s been a number of these games; you referenced Oregon in what’s felt like almost every single game. Almost, right there. How much harder is that to stomach for the locker room? And what is the message when it’s coming down to again, one or two plays?

Smith: It’s extremely hard, you know, like I said, these guys work hard. We go to practice tomorrow, and they have a day off on Monday, but they’re in there watching film. We practice hard on Tuesday and Wednesday. They’re getting after it. We’re straining these guys. They don’t reap any reward for it. And it’s very difficult, I just feel bad for those guys. They deserve more. They deserve victory. We’ll reset tomorrow and we’ll come back out and try to get better.

Q: There are a few guys that are down there the last few games, Nick Singleton, Deni Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant. From our view in the press box, they may have played their best game of Big Ten ball so far, responding to this moment. Tell me about where this locker room is right now. And what can you guys give us in the sense of what kind of effort and desire you saw from this team today?

Smith: That’s the testimony, right? I think it was you that made the comment that there was no morale in the practice, or the lowest morale you’ve seen. Is that what you saw today? Not today. Absolutely, these guys are busting their butt. And the guys you just mentioned, they’re our best players. They’re our old guys. They’re leading the way. That’s why I feel so bad for them, because they are doing everything we ask.

They’re working hard, they’re leading the locker room. They’re making sure these young guys are following, they’re leading by example. We just have to figure it out. I’m not making excuses, but we played at Iowa at night. Then the number one team and number two team. It was a tough road, and we’re going to come back next week. We’re going to fight harder. No one will ever question if Terry Smith team doesn’t play hard.

Q: Terry, do you feel that this was about as well as you guys could play?

Smith: No, I think we played competitively. Obviously, we made mistakes. I think we had more penalties this week than we’ve had the last several weeks. I think we can make better decisions on third-down situations, but defensively, I think it’s close to a good game. There’s always room for improvement. I’m super proud of these guys. They played their hearts out. I wouldn’t do it any other way. We fought back. These guys could have packed it in. They could easily quit when we were down, when we had the fumble before the half, and then they come out, we had the interception, they could have laid down and quit. And they dared not do that. So, we’re going to come back tomorrow, and we’ll get back at it. We’re going to be ready to play in Michigan State.

Q: I just want to go back to the crowd support. When you led the team out in the field, big ovation; when your name was announced on the video board, big ovation. How would you describe the level of support you got today from the crowd? How important was it, and for you personally, lifelong Penn Stater and first home game as a head coach, how much did that mean to you personally?

Smith: It means a lot. I’m very humble in this position. I thought the crowd was amazing. I thought they gave great energy. They were loud, I thought they were supportive. I thought they cheered our guys on, and I thought they gave us that extra juice to go for it, to motivate us. I couldn’t ask more from them. They were amazing. For me, personally, it’s just very humbling to know that I’m running out on the field. I think back to Joe Paterno, and him running on the field. I’m in the same position as he was. I have to do better for my guys. We have to taste victory, because they deserve it.