What did FIU coach Willie Simmons say about Penn State before the Lions host the Panthers?

First-year FIU head coach Willie Simmons held his first news conference of Penn State week on Monday in Miami. He stressed that his team must focus on controlling what it can control in its lead-up to game day, as beating itself will only make the already impossible task of upsetting the number two team in the country as a 40-plus point underdog even more challenging.

“Obviously, have a tough task this week,” Simmon said. “Penn State, arguably the number one team in the country, first road trip going to the Happy Valley, one of the most intimidating places to play in the country. So got our hands full, but looking forward to the opportunity, and with a great week of preparation, want to give ourselves the best chance to go up there and make history.”

FIU is 1-0 after blasting Bethune-Cookman last week at home. Penn State, of course, took out Nevada to win its first game of the year. The Panthers and Lions are meeting for the first time since 2007. PSU won that game 59-0. The two head coaches, Simmons and James Franklin, have familiarity with each other and each expressed respect for the other during their first news conferences of game week.

“Known him for a long time, he’s done a phenomenal job, not only there, but during his time at Vanderbilt, and so I really respect him as one of the best coaches in the profession,” Simmons said. “So looking forward to rubbing elbows with him, going up against him. And you know, as a younger coach, relatively, you look forward to opportunities like this to go up against what’s perceived to be some of the best coaches in the profession.”

What else did Willie Simmons say about Penn State on Tuesday?

Not all of the 17-minute news focused on Penn State. But, a majority of it did. A transcript of the rest of Simmons’ takes on Penn State is below:

What are his overall thoughts on the Lions?

“They’re big, they’re fast, they’re strong, they’re sound, fundamentally; you don’t see a lot of chinks in the armor. Obviously, you look for weaknesses, places to attack and exploit. You don’t really see many. Obviously, it’s the first game, but a [defensive] new coordinator. So we looked at a lot of things that Ohio State did in the past, but obviously Ohio State won a national championship last year. So same thing, you look for weaknesses. You really don’t see many from the best team in the country.

“They’re a team that, they’re going to force you to execute on every single play. They’re going to force you to be disciplined, force you to communicate. And then when you consider the fact they have one of the largest stadiums in the country, it makes communication an issue. And so our guys have to be dialed into the signals, clued into what we have to key when the ball is snapped, and play sound fundamental football, to give ourselves a chance. Because if you don’t, they can hurt you in many ways. But again, there’s a reason why they’re the preseason number two

On the Penn State offense:

“They’re going to force you to be disciplined with the rise, very similar to us, a lot of movement, pre-snap, trading, tight ends, motioning, and balance formations, a lot of window dressing, a lot of eye candy, right? … Drew Allar is a potential number one overall pick in the draft, right? So he’s going to make some plays. But let’s force him to be the number one pick in the draft. Let’s force him to make play after play after play after play. And if we turn the film on on Sunday, and we were where we’re supposed to be, doing what we’re supposed to do, how we’re supposed to do it, and he [beats] us, guess what? Hey guys, it’s the number one pick in the draft.

“There’s not a whole lot you can do, right? But we can’t allow ourselves to give them opportunities by busting coverages, by doing things that we’re not supposed to do. So again, they’re prolific offense potentially, but you got to do your job.”

On the Lions’ defense:

“They have a dominant defensive line,” Simmons said. “The defensive end is an All-American candidate, a Butkus Award candidate, and one of the best defensive ends in America. So you got to make sure he’s blocked every play. You know, Zane Durant, kid from right there in Lake Nona, Florida. Big time football player. You can’t cut him lose at line of scrimmage. You got to stay on the double team. And if their linebackers make every tackle, great, their linebackers make every tackle, but we can’t be quick to come off a double team trying to get to a ‘backer and allow one of the best interior defensive lineman in the country to make plays in the backfield.

“And so again, if we stick to our game plan, if we do the little things right, we go in and give ourselves the best chance to be successful. But that’s football, right? That’s why you practice it. That’s why habits are important. And if we go in and play with great habits, I think we’ll surprise a lot of people, if we go in fundamentally unsound and make some of the mistakes that we made last week. Then with all the pundits and people that pick spreads and all that, we’ll make them right at the end of the day.”

Does Simmons feel disrespected by being a 41.5-point underdog at Penn State?

“I wouldn’t say it’s disrespectful,” he said. “Again, they’re the number one team in America, right? And so they got to bet on something. The spread doesn’t have anything to do with me. That’s Vegas, and what the people got to do to get money or lose money, right? And so that’s for them to worry about. I’m not trying to cover spread. I’m not trying to do any of that kind of stuff. Like, at the end of the day, I’m getting this football team prepared to play. I don’t even really know what spread at this point. I know it’s a lot.

“But again, when you’re going up against the number one team in the country, we’re a Group of Five. We’re unranked. They’re number one. Like, what’s the spread supposed to be? Like, five? No, no, it’s going to be a huge spread. It always is. And so, you know, hopefully our guys use; if they look at that kind of stuff, we don’t talk about it as a team. But if they use that as the little extra motivation, great. I don’t need it. My motivation is to prepare us to play our very best football.”