Penn State bowl media day wrap up with Nate Bauer: BWI Daily

With the team beginning practice today, Penn State football held their bowl media day on Friday in preparation for the Outback Bowl on January 1st against Arkansas. Senior Editor for Blue White Illustrated Nate Bauer and host of the BWI Daily Edition, Thomas Frank Carr, were on hand to take in the sights and sounds. They bring you their observations on today’s show.

Penn State Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz

First, they start with the day’s biggest news, introducing new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. Bauer and T-Frank discuss their initial impressions of Diaz, his comments and responses to tough questions about his previous job, and his fit at Penn State. Next, the two discuss how Diaz echoed similar but unrelated sentiments to what Head Coach James Franklin said earlier in the day.

Mike Yurcich and the offense

Next, the pair gave their thoughts on what Offensive Coordinator Mike Yurcich had to say about his side of the ball in 2021. First, Yurcich took ownership of the situation and answered questions about the running game, his system, and more. Next, T-Frank and Bauer talked about the moments that stood out to them, including an illuminating answers at the end of the press conference.

Bauer and T-Frank dove into the quarterback conversation and what sixth-year senior Sean Clifford can provide for the young players that just joined his room in five-star quarterback Drew Allar and three-star Beau Pribula. How can Clifford help bridge the gap beyond his play? Or, can the embattled signal-caller raise his game with one final year at Penn State? Bauer and T-Frank discuss that and more.

Penn State Players

Finally, they share the interesting conversations they had with individual players throughout the day with the audience. Those players include running back Noah Cain, right tackle Caedan Wallace, and safeties Keaton Ellis and Ji’Ayir Brown.

Cain discussed his health in 2021 and the issues in the running game that held the Penn State offense back. So were there issues that went deeper than just missed blocks or wrong reads? Bauer reads between the lines with Cain’s answer to try and find the truth. Meanwhile, Wallace discussed his development at right tackle and some of the offensive line’s struggles in 2021. He also gave an unexpected answer to a question that raised T-Frank’s attention.

They wrap up with a discussion about the fixes in the future for the offense.