Everything Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith said on Wednesday of Ohio State week

Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith held his final news conference of Ohio State week on Wednesday night. The first question he took focused on how his team is preparing for the No. 1 Buckeyes as both programs exit a bye week.

“They’re working really hard,” Smith said. “Practice has been great. When we talk to sports science people, and we talk about how the effort and the output of practice has been, [Tuesday] was the second best Tuesday we had all season. I would imagine we follow that up [on Wednesday]. Today was a pretty good day as well. So, the guys are ready. They know what’s in front of them. No one’s giving them a chance. We’re just going to stay together and we’re going to play hard.”

How does Smith know it was the team’s second-best Tuesady of the season?

“Yeah, so, I’m not in [the sports science] field, but it’s more of the output of fast-twitch muscles, right? So like, speed numbers are up,” Smith said. “Effort numbers are up. Numbers where we’re running faster, longer distances are up, as opposed to your normal week. So, part of that is the fact that we’re playing Ohio State, right? And then the other part is, we’re coming off a bye week. We’re a little more rested. The guys are eager to get after it, and they’re taking advantage of these reps.”

You can watch everything Smith said on BWI’s YouTube page here. And, you can read it below.

On the game plan for Ohio State

“I feel really good,” Smith said. “You know, today really is your last hard, padded practice day. We’ll fine tune some things tomorrow. Feel good about what the offense is doing. Obviously, we want to try to control the game. We have to outrush Ohio State to have a chance. We don’t do that, it’s going to be a long Saturday. And then we have to make some plays in the pass game.

“We have to make some critical third downs when necessary and when needed, especially in the fourth quarter. Defensively, we have to make critical stops. And I think we have a good game plan for third down defense. And, you know, hopefully we fixed our errors with the quarterback scramble, which has showed up in the last few games. So we’ve been working hard on that, and I like where we are so far.”

Has Terry Smith made any staff changes to his Penn State staff after having two weeks to evaluate them?

“No, I haven’t changed any, other than Coach [Jordan] Lucas replacing me [as the cornerbacks coach]. I don’t see a need right now. The play callers are the play callers and the position coaches are the position coaches.

“Again, we’re very, very close. Four games, 13 points. We’re just trying to find that one thing that gets us over the hump and get the ball to bounce our way. So, I don’t see a need of change in that sense.”

On Jim Knowles going back to Ohio State with Penn State this week

“Yeah, he told us everything they’re going to do,” Smith joked. “No, I’m just kidding.”

You know, it’s just been business as usual,” Smith continued. “He gave us some insight as to how they think. But, we’re just going about our business, just preparing. And, just in certain situations, what is Coach Ryan Day thinking, just insight like that.

“But for the most part, we’re just preparing of what we see on the film. Because this is a new team. This is a new year for them. They have three new coordinators, and they have different ideas and different thoughts and different ways they’re doing things from last year. So, it’s a talented group, and we know the challenge at hand.”

Has anything changed with Knowles this week?

“No,” Smith said. “Coach, Knowles is extremely smart. He’s like a mad scientist in the lab. His approach has been the same, whether it was last week at Iowa or this week against Ohio State. So, our job is tough. We got to stop the two best receivers in college football and the hottest quarterback in college football. He’s thrown 80 percent completion. It’s a tough task. So, we’ve got our work cut out, and he’s preparing us for it, and hopefully our game plan works and we can execute it.”

On how close Penn State is to winning a game like this

“Yeah, you know, we wore [pregame shirts] at Iowa with the word ‘If’ and it’s those infinite possibilities that we have to make come true,” Smith said. “We have to believe that we’re going to make the play. All four of those losses, there were plays to be made in the fourth quarter. We have a saying this week. We’re going to chop wood. We’ve got to be able to chop a redwood tree until it’s done. And it’s a hard task, and it’s one chop at a time, and we have to believe in those chops that it’ll eventually break through for us, and that’s what our belief is for Saturday.”

Does what Jim Knowles told the Lions about Ohio State when he was hired matter now

“Not really,” Smith said. “The personnel is the personnel. We’ve watched six or seven games of those guys. So this year is a new identity and new tendencies. So we’ve studied those. And, just like Matt Patricia, just trying to figure him out and how he calls defenses. And, on the other side, how the offense is calling things, and it’s a mix, because Coach Ryan Day is calling some plays, and they kind of go back and forth as to who the play caller is, and they both have a different style, so just trying to figure out who’s going to be the actual play caller. But the data is the data, and that’s what we’re studying.”

Who makes Penn State player personnel decisions on game day?

“That’s the coordinator’s call,” Smith said.

Does Penn State see Enai White more as a DE or DT at this point?

“Enai’s kind of the body that can play inside or outside,” Smith said. “He naturally came here as an outside guy. We’re just trying to move him around and create some depth. Jaylen Harvey was out, and just having a bigger body, just to be able to find ways to stop the run, that’s the most critical thing for Saturday. Even though their pass game is elite, you have to stop the running football to set the tone and control the game, and just trying to find ways to get him involved.”

How does Smith assess Ohio State’s talented wide receivers?

“Don’t let them get behind you,” Smith said. “Those guys are elite. Jeremiah Smith has to come back another year. He would be a top two or three pick last year in the draft, this year in the draft, and next year in the draft. He’s that good, he’s that talented. He’s fast, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s smart, he’s competitive, he has all the attributes you want as an elite player. And Carnell [Tate] can run the route tree. He makes big plays. He’s their big play guy. When they’re looking for explosives, they’ll dial him up for him.

“To stop those guys, first, we have to run the ball so they can’t get on the field. All right, that’s the first way. The second way is we just have to make sure we keep those guys in front of us. We got to put up an umbrella over top of the defense and make them earn their way down the field. Make them four yards here, eight yards here, two yards there, all the way down the field without making a mistake. And if they do that, it is what it is. You keep it moving. We just can’t give up one play touchdowns. If we can do that, we have a chance.”

Can Penn State create explosive play opportunities for its receivers?

“Yeah, you can do it off of play action,” Smith said. “You got to get your run game going so play action can work. Crossing routes, deep crossing routes, some of your track posts where you play action stopping like you’re going to stop block and then you run a post route in there. There are some creative ways. Obviously you can get into your bag of tricks. But that’s a tough way to live.

“You really want to be able to have three receivers in the game and run just great pass concepts. And, we have those in our game plan this week, and we just got to protect Ethan [Grunkemeyer] and then allow him to pitch and catch with our receivers.”

Does Terry Smith have the ability to make staff changes if he wants to?

“Yeah, I’m the head coach, and they told me I can make all final decisions,” Smith said. “There’s no need to make any changes right now. So that’s how I see it.”