What Wisconsin’s head coach, DC said about Penn State ahead of Saturday’s season opener
Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst is preparing his team for an unknown this weekend in Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich — who has yet to coach a game with the Nittany Lions — and is preparing his team to expect the unexpected going into Saturday’s noon matchup.
“You have to have rules and follow it, and you have to go off what you think they can do, knowing that it’s going to cover more than just what you’ve seen on film,” Chryst said Monday at his weekly press conference. “I think that’s always the challenge, whether it’s defensively, offensively, in your special teams. ... I think you almost have to prepare them, there’s gonna be some things that you don’t know, yet it falls into this rule and you’re good and go play.”
Chryst’s defensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard, echoed his head coach’s sentiment. He said the Badgers have searched far and wide to determine the type of game Yurcich will call Saturday, but he knows even that will only get the unit so far.
“You’ve got to look a lot of different places and really overexpose your players to what could happen,” he said. “You’re playing the guessing game a little bit. I feel confident in the plan we have going into the week and putting it into the players’ hands.”
Leonhard saw progress from Penn State starting quarterback Sean Clifford, who is entering his third season as a starter. He specifically mentioned the steps forward he took during the team’s winning streak and how he worked when he didn’t face pressure later in the 2020 season.
“I thought when it was clean and when he knew where to go with the football, he was being very decisive and accurate with the ball,” Leonhard said. “I think his eyes, I was seeing how he was using his eyes to work through progressions and different things, or hold safeties and stuff like that. You could just tell he grew a lot from one year to the next.”
Here’s everything Chryst and Leonhard said about Penn State during their weekly press conferences.
HC Paul Chryst
(On facing new Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich)
“In first games there’s always, whether they have returning coaches or players, you try to find a starting point but you really don’t know what to expect. Quite honestly, you can be in the 12th game of the season, nowadays you’re going to see something each game that you aren’t prepared for, that they hadn’t shown on film. So I think that there’s always a balance, and it’ll be that way, certainly for us defensively. You have to have rules and follow it, and you have to go off what you think they can do, knowing that it’s going to cover more than just what you’ve seen on film. I think that’s always the challenge, whether it’s defensively, offensively, in your special teams. When you go back to games in general, and particularly first games, I think the No. 1 goal is that you as a team, or you as an individual unit, or as an individual person, that you are kind of buttoned up and take care of what you can control. I think you almost have to prepare them, there’s gonna be some things that you don’t know, yet it falls into this rule and you’re good and go play.”
(On opening with a conference opponent)
“I’m excited that we’re going this week and I’m excited that we’re playing Penn State. Obviously you open up with a really good football team, that’s a challenge but it’s also a heck of an opportunity. What a way to open up this season. For us it’s a little bit different than maybe for Penn State in the sense that it’s a home game. You talk about going through last season with no fans in the stands, and now you say that our home opener is against Penn State, you got fans in the stands, that’s a heck of a way to start the season. Certainly got a lot of work to do this week to make sure that we’re ready to take advantage because it will be a challenge. They’re a good football team.”
(On Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry)
“I think they do a really good job of adjusting and playing the game throughout the game. Certainly, you think about those games (against Penn State) and you watch, you gotta be careful about studying those tapes too much because they’re different and the most recent one was ‘18, but you do see where they do a good job offensively, defensively. I think they’ve got really good players. I think they do a nice job of finding that right balance of, the scheme can be challenging, but you also see the athleticism show up on defense. That tells you that they’re also letting them play. When I look at that I think that’s a sign of good coaching. They’re not going to give you anything. If something’s happening, they’ve got some good change-ups, how they pressure, when they pressure, they mix that up the right way that you’ve got to be always on your toes with it. Guys play fast and I think they’ve got good players. There will be some things that we haven’t seen. I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff, not just James (Franklin) but their coaching staff. They’ve got really good football players and that combination, that’s why they’re a good football team.”
DC Jim Leonhard
(On facing new Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich)
“Always a challenge when you go into new season, you know things are going to change, obviously you add the new coordinator on top of that. You’ve got to look a lot of different places and really overexpose your players to what could happen. You’re playing the guessing game a little bit. I feel confident in the plan we have going into the week and putting it into the players’ hands. We have a talented group, an experienced group. Week 1 is all about letting them play fast and play physical, be aggressive and trying to get them a plan that can handle the issues that you think might come about, but really allow them to play fast.”
(On facing Penn State WRs Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington)
“It gets really easy to motivate your guys. They’ve been through it before. They understand what talented football players (do), the issues they can cause and what it’s all about. I think our guys have been really focused throughout the offseason and going into camp, knowing that Week 1 was going to be a huge test. You look, whether it’s Penn State, Texas, wherever this coaching tree has been, they challenge secondaries in a big way. Our guys are excited for that opportunity and I’m looking forward to watching them play on Saturday.”
(On preparing for Sean Clifford)
“Obviously he has a ton of experience, started a lot of games for them, has been very productive in the pass game and the run game. He’s a guy that I think enjoys getting hit a little bit. I think he likes having the ball in his hands and it kind of gets him into the flow of his game a little bit more. Preparing for him to handle the ball in the run game and they’re not afraid to put the ball in his hands. In the pass game, he’s made good decisions. Saw a lot of growth from 2019 to 2020, especially once that second half of the season came and you saw just a little bit more consistency with some of the decisions he was making. I think he took big strides a year ago. Big test from a quarterback standpoint because you’re not gonna fool him very often. I think he has a good grasp of what they’ve tried to do in the pass game and how they use him in the run game to create extra numbers.”
(On how Clifford’s game has progressed)
“I think some of the decisiveness, it’s one thing I always just try to see and it’s more of a feeling as you’re watching a guy going from game to game. I thought when it was clean and when he knew where to go with the football, he was being very decisive and accurate with the ball. I think his eyes, I was seeing how he was using his eyes to work through progressions and different things, or hold safeties and stuff like that. You could just tell he grew a lot from one year to the next. Hopefully he regressed, I doubt it, that usually doesn’t happen for quarterbacks. He can have a great year after Week 1.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 4:13 PM.
