November 8, 2024 • 18 mins
Steve Jones, Play-By-Play Announcer for Penn State football, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to look ahead to tomorrow's game between his Lions and our Huskies.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was hoping that this guy would find a way
over here, Dick, because he offered to come on the show.
We recorded a pregame segment for tomorrow, and I said,
do we gotta get you back on our local show
on Friday. He's like, well, you want me to just
come over to the bar. I'm like, yeah, I mean
that'd be phenomenal, but I mean you want to go home,
it's going to be nine o'clock and get some sleep
before the game.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
The longtime voice of Penn State football and basketball, Steve Jones,
with us here from the bar at Penn State.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Great to be with you, and again, my deepest condolences
to the family, you know, the broadcast family.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Obviously a legend, no question about it. Man crushing for
all of us. But hey, first of all, it's great
to be here, first time for us. You guys are
coming to Husky Stadium in a couple of years from
now oh to three. We've never beat you first time
in the regular season since nineteen twenty one.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
What are we in for tomorrow?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Honestly, the atmosphere of the whole thing, What are we
in for tomorrow? At eight o'clock Eastern well, first of all,
everybody's wearing white except I think there might be a
few people with purple on.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, they will stick out. It is a white out
tomorrow night. And they're only allowed to have one quote
white out a year. Why is that, by the way,
because the Winnipeg Jets, who then became the Arizona Coyotes,
were the first ones to do a white out and
they've got a copyright on it, so they worked it
out with Penn State where they could do one.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah. I don't get that at all. I think you
have a patent on white shirts.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I have no idea, but you know, I think it's
the term white out, got it.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
But so everybody will be wearing white tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
The noise because the sun's going to go down, but
it goes down here at five is going to be
ratcheted up to extra levels and it becomes a very
fun atmosphere.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It is the kind of atmosphere.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
That most people sit back and say, Look, it's a
bucket list kind of thing to be a part of,
no doubt.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
What do road fans get treated like? You know, you
would consider Washington a non conference opponent even though they're
in conference right now.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But they don't know there's no rivalry.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Against Washington because you know, when we go to SEC,
I mean, the hospitality is unbelievable. Is it the same
for Penn State? As long as they're not playing the
Michigan's and Ohio states of the world.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You will find the same treatment here as you find
in the SEC.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
The fans are great here.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Hell, you're gonna have a lot of people walking up
to fancyer, Hey, welcome, Great to have you in the conference,
the whole deal. Uh So that's how it's going to
be when they come here. So I think people are
thrilled that Washington's in the conference. I'm thrilled during the conference.
I think the westward expansion is the future of what
college sports is anyway, And when USC and UCLA came in,
(02:38):
I was hoping Washington and Oregon would join them at
the same time.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It just took fourteen extra months to do it.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But when they did, I thought, for the Big Ten
and for Penn State, it was great.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I realized though it's very difficult for the fans there.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yes, yes, to break apart from the PAC twelve and
the great traditions, because I can tell you Maryland, for example,
whenever I go there for football or basketball, they still
were met not being in the ACC. And I completely
understand that. When Penn State went to the Big Ten,
they were an independent Rutgers. I mean, it's just wandered
(03:13):
all over the wilderness. And for you know, a team
like Nebraska, they had been in the Big Eighth and
there's the Big Twelve, and they had problems with Texas
and they knew they had to get out.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
This is a little bit different.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
So I realized there's going to be some growing paints
for the fans in the Northwest because you're used to
the you know, Arizona, Arizona State coming in aligne with
Stanford and cal and Utah and Colorado.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I get that.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
It was a phenomenal travel sketch in Washington State. By
the way, in Washington State, it was a phenomenal travel schedule.
I mean, nothing was more than three hours away. Nothing,
you know, it was.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
It was beautiful Sunshine States, Arizona, California, the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
And now that's partially gone.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
But Steve Jones, the voice of Penn State football and basketball,
is with us. And one of the reasons why I
wanted to have you, honest to explain this travel, because
I heard James Franklin not complaining, but just acknowledging when
they went to LA that they got to use Harrisburg
because of the runway here. So are are they considering
building a longer air strip so teams can fly in
and out of University Park.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
That I don't know team. I mean, you can fly
in here, that's not the issue because by the time
you go to land the plane, the fuel is almost
all gone and the weight of the plane is no
problem going on. It's flying out when the plane is
fully fueled. And that's why they have to go to
Harrisburg to do something like that. But for other games
that are not on the West coast, penn State flies
(04:33):
in and out of here all the.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Time, Like for example, tomorrow, the game is gonna end
around what eight thirty or so potentially at Pacific time, right,
so we're talking much later. Obviously on the east coast Washington,
Dick is not going to be on their plane until
probably two o'clock in the right after driving ninety minutes
to Harrisburg.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Ninety minutes to Harrisbury, it will be all highway. I'm
sure there'll be no traffic so other than that. But
I mean that's because I think Washington fle you did
in here right, correct, Yes, they did, so, I mean
that's the way it's going to have to be.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
This is at least better than it used to be.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I mean, when I was on the network with Joe Paterno,
we had to go down to Harrisburg all the time
for everything and land in Harrisburg.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Wow. And the problem with landing in Harrisburg is simple.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You get off the plane and get on the bus
and go, oh my god, there's still ninety more miles ago.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You gotta be kidding.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Well, now, at least we fly in and out of
here all the time except for that La trip.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Are they considering it?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Now, that's a federal thing, I mean, and you have
to get federal money to do something like that. So
I mean I have to wait and see. Well today,
if they need somebody to turn over dirt, I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
You got a top ten defense in both scoring and
yards allowed. But does Penn State's defense get kind of
the same skepticism that some people look at Washington's defense
and say, well, you aren't playing really high powered offenses
in this conference so is your defense really that good?
People do people say the same thing about Penn State's.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Defense really, especially when you give up just twenty to
Ohio State. I mean, that's the lowest number that I
mean all season long they've.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Had along the way.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The only problem people have had with the Penn State
defense they feel like they give up too much in
terms of yardage on the opening drive.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Once they get through the opening drive.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
And usually see the pace of how a game is
being played, they normally have settled down and played pretty
well defensive. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Well, Steve Jones again is with us. He's the voice
of Penn State football and basketball. And first of all,
I appreciate you coming over here.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Man.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
We gotta get you a cocktail by the way, you're
out nights over. Could we get the guy at drink
for cradt.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You mentioned working with Joe Paterno, and that's one of
the reasons why I wanted to have you on because
there's a history here. When everything went down with Joe
and Sandusky, it was a major story nationally. I mean,
we spent weeks talking about that on our show back
in Seattle. Can you explain to people back in Seattle
and to us what that period was like for you
guys to go through here.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Well, first of all, the amount of media that descended
upon this place was off the charts. Narratives were being
established as to what was going on.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I was able to talk.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
To Joe twice, once before Thanksgiving and once before Christmas,
and like, the last time I talked to him was
about a little bit like three and a half weeks
before he passed away.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And look, I.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Knew the man for thirty two years, and we talked
frankly about a couple of things.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I can tell you, knowing certain terms.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
He had no idea well, because Sandski wasn't a part
of the staff at.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That point, it wasn't even here, all right, And Joe
never saw him. I never saw.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Him, And so the way everything played out was just surreal.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And I think that's the only way I can describe
it as surreal.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And when you know somebody as well as I knew
him and then were able to talk to him and
get his version of what things were going on, I
could tell you he didn't know. And the narrative is,
oh he knew, well, he didn't know. How is he
perceived now here? You're here. Yes, but wait till his
picture goes up on the scoreboard tomorrow, right, you'll see
(08:15):
fans love him, right, they love them because look.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
See what this town is like right now. Yeah, this
wasn't like this when he took over, right right.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
All this that you hear, all everything, all the homes, everything,
I mean, the town was built up because he made
Penn stated destination place to be. Now let's take it forward, though,
Let's give James Franklin his due.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
He came in and.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
He took over at the worst possible time with the sanctions. Sure,
and Bill O'Brien had told me, he says, Steve fourteen
said fourteen and fifteen are going to be the worst years.
They only had sixty three scholarship players because of the sanctions,
and James ended up being the coach that had to
navigate that.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
And then at sixteen he wins the Big Ten championship.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, and in this playoff here, he would have been
in the playoff five times.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
To do that in the period of time he's done
it really.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Is remarkable, no question, and it deserves his just due
for what he's done here. I think that what's really
cool is I love what Jed has done in a
short period of time. I mean, Kaylan did a phenomenal job.
And I know Kylan did it such a great job
at Indiana because he was the offensive coordinator there and
(09:27):
goes in and does this phenomenal job. Championship game, all
those seniors. Jed comes in has to change everything because
everybody graduated and he's got a good football team. So
you got two really good coaches out there tomorrow, and
I think he's got to be really cool.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
The viral video of James Franklin walk into his locker
room on Saturday with the fire, James Franklin chants in
the background, what does that mean for this week? Because
obviously not all Penn State fans are happy with their coach.
If Washington comes out in the first half and is
up on Penn State like USC was up on Penn
(10:02):
State at halftime, what's the vibe gonna be in the stands?
And can Washington maybe actually use negative energy to their advantage.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
In the stands? Well, let's start with this. And they
didn't fire them.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
You know, they're still there, and you know what, We're
in a totally different era now, and in a totally
different era because gambling is legal everywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
When you're losing your own money, okay, it's more angry,
no question, no question about that.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Look, the expectation for this team is to get to
the playoff. That's the way it was in the spring.
That's the way it was in the summer. That's the
way it was with the seven and zero start. This
is what the fans want and have quote expectations. They
have expectations. It's up to Penn State now to go
out and meet those expectations. And I think everybody around
(11:00):
here knows it's going to be a really tough, hard,
fuck game against a team that has plenty of talent
out there between the quarterback, the tailback.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Jack Ham and I.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Have talked about Coleman for about seven weeks now, you know,
and at Boston and Latto and Carson Brunner, you know,
and you know, and of course fans in this area
know all about Mark right, you know, playing for the Steelers.
So will there be those kind of chants if it's
that kind of start, of course there will.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Well, I mean, fans are the same everywhere.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I mean, if Jets behind thirty one to whatever at
halftime's gonna get at home against somebody at Husky Stadium.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
It's we're not gonna be going. Hey, way to go, buddy,
you'll come back. We're behind you all the way. How's
it gonna happen? Well, you got two of the top
ten defenses in the country. You dont number ten, Penn
State number seven.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I'm looking at this Tyler Warren kid though, And Steve
Jones again the voice of Penn State football basketball with
us on the year. Jales Jackson is the Husky's leading
receiver with fifty five.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
This guy's got.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Fifty one at the tight end spot and it drives
me nuts. You play an opposing team, you know what
they want to do, and they still do it anyway.
And that seems like that's what Penn State's doing with
this kid. And that's what Ohio State did a great
job went last week. They doubled Warren as often as
they could.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
That means the wide receivers or the running backs have
to make that kind of mistake payoff when you do it.
But this is let me encapsulate Warren for you. Warren
is is so intelligent. It makes such a big difference
because you line them up at wide receiver. He has
to know it you line up up in the slot.
He has to know it on the line of scrimmage,
(12:34):
at tight end, at wingback, wow, right, at quarterback, at fullback.
He has to know the place from all those spots
on the field and not just from a spot.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
And you know, for if you had.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Warren on the show right now, you would have a
lot of trouble getting information out because it's great to
be here.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Thank you for telling me I was gonna try to track. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I don't think he'd give you too much. He's going
pretty quiet guy. But look, he's a special player. And
when you're six six, right, And I think a lot
of people who love Seahawks football can appreciate this. He's
too quick for a linebacker, and he's too big for
a safety, right yeah. And I think Law two's like that.
Lat Two's too big for a safety, all right, And
so that's what makes him terrific. He's versatile. Yeah, he
(13:21):
played quarterback in high school. And he wasn't just an
option guy in high school.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Ye know.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
He threw for over eleven hundred yards his senior year.
He's not that bad throwing it.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I was surprised actually, when I was looking at the
numbers to see Penn State at fifth in America and
yards per attempt at almost ten yards per attempt, you
don't really think of them as a vertical passing game.
So is Drew Aller really kind of just stretch the
field quarterback?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Well, he's done a great job with it. And let's
start with this.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Penn State's averaging seven point eight yards on first down
this season, so they've been able to get out of
the gate and do things like that. Aler really looks
like a guy that's about to make his twenty second
career start. He's made twenty two career starts, right, twenty
two career starts, so it's not like start number eight
and he's still trying to get a feel for the job.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
He's not.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
He's at start number twenty two in his career, so
he's seen the speed of everything, just like Will Rodgers
has had one two hundred and eighty starts in his
career between Mississippi State and Washington. There's nothing Will has
not seen before, and there's nothing Drew hasn't seen before either,
and it's just made a big difference. The touchdown pass
the tie the USC game is the fourth option on
(14:33):
the play.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Wow, it's the fourth option and he made the play.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Now that was a tribute to to the offensive line
which gave him a chance to the fourth option.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Well, Steve Jones is with us and Tick we are
in the presidence of greatness here at the Champs Sports Bar.
Greg Lewis is sitting with us here. By the way,
Doug Walker Award winner from nineteen ninety. No, he brought
that up because Greg's talking about these.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Two backs and Allen and Singleton.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
So much talk about Aller and so much talking about
the tight end this running game for State. Tell me
about what we're gonna see in the backfield tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Well, they're two different types of backs.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
First of all, he got to be really see three
different types of backs tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Coleman's a bowling ball.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I have not seen on any video yet where on
first contact he went down.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I mean, he really is football broken tackle.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Jack Cam and I have talked about this guy for
a month and a half.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
We just think he's that good.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Alan is a is an inside jump cut guy, got
it all right.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Singleton's the speed guy.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Uh, And Singleton's a four to three somewhere four to
three six guy, and where Singleton's become exponentially better as
a pass receiver. Early in his career he was what
I call a body catcher. I mean, Greg knows what
I'm talking about. Ball comes in and that body is
the third hand right now, you look at him hands
out like a wide receiver. The confidence with which he
(15:52):
catches a ball now is so different than it was
two years ago. And you put him in the open
field where he can make plays. He's a special player.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
What do you think the best way to attack this
line defenses? I mean, come out with the come out
throwing and then run the ball or come out pounding.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Well.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I think Ohio State did a good job last week
of attacking them. They opened it up with the passing game,
which then gave them a chance to run the ball late,
so Howard was able to get it. Was the biggest
drive in the game to me for Ohio State on
their side was down ten to nothing and they put
together a drive where they hit a couple of big
pass plays to Agbuca and that kind of got them.
(16:31):
That kind of steadied the ship for them along the way,
and then they were able to balance it out after that.
And I think that's the way they attacked USC was
able to get on the board on a reverse early
in the game. I thought Marx. You saw Marx last
week of that and the second half. Marx was tremendous
in the second half of that game. Yeah, against against Washington,
(16:55):
the way he played. So you know, I think balance
is the best way to do it because you have
to somehow keep Penn State off bound. They'll mostly play
five DB's every once in a while play six, but
they're one of those four to five teams right now.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Under time out. Well, I'll tell you what, man.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I used to tape everything when I was a kid
on videotape, and the first sporting event I ever recorded
I was eleven years old was the Fiesta bo with Miami.
Get top of this picked off Testa Verdi to win it.
I don't even know where that tape is. It's probably
in the garbage somewhere. But I've been waiting for forty
years to get to the stadium and I can't wait
to see what it's all about tomorrow. I just want
to ask you real quick, Steve Jones.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Before you go.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I was the third announcer for that, seriously, So you
started doing this when you were six years old?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Is that correct? I try to tell people that how
long have you been doing this for?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So my forty third year doing basketball and my thirty
third on football.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Where do people come from? Because there can't be that
many people living in this town.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Mostly from Spokane.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Just look, this is a county of one hundred and
sixty thousand, so a lot of people from here, but
they come from Pittsburg, Altoona, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia.
They really have a wide radius that they draw from
to get one hundred and eleven thousand people in here.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Well they're gonna be walking away crying tomorrow, stee I hope.
So hey, listen, it's great to meet you, man, and
we'll be doing this a lot because absolutely they're coming
to Seattle, Dick in a couple of years from now,
to Sea Husky Stadium.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
And weird for us, right as guys that grew.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Up in the Pac twelve and the Pac ten that
we're all now kind of partners, but looking forward to
working with you man.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Have fun tomorrow and then we'll talk sooner. Appreciate it, Dick,
Thank you so much too.
I was hoping that this guy would find a way
over here, Dick, because he offered to come on the show.
We recorded a pregame segment for tomorrow, and I said,
do we gotta get you back on our local show
on Friday. He's like, well, you want me to just
come over to the bar. I'm like, yeah, I mean
that'd be phenomenal, but I mean you want to go home,
it's going to be nine o'clock and get some sleep
before the game.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
That's fine.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
The longtime voice of Penn State football and basketball, Steve Jones,
with us here from the bar at Penn State.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Great to be with you, and again, my deepest condolences
to the family, you know, the broadcast family.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Obviously a legend, no question about it. Man crushing for
all of us. But hey, first of all, it's great
to be here, first time for us. You guys are
coming to Husky Stadium in a couple of years from
now oh to three. We've never beat you first time
in the regular season since nineteen twenty one.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
What are we in for tomorrow?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Honestly, the atmosphere of the whole thing, What are we
in for tomorrow? At eight o'clock Eastern well, first of all,
everybody's wearing white except I think there might be a
few people with purple on.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, they will stick out. It is a white out
tomorrow night. And they're only allowed to have one quote
white out a year. Why is that, by the way,
because the Winnipeg Jets, who then became the Arizona Coyotes,
were the first ones to do a white out and
they've got a copyright on it, so they worked it
out with Penn State where they could do one.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah. I don't get that at all. I think you
have a patent on white shirts.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I have no idea, but you know, I think it's
the term white out, got it.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
But so everybody will be wearing white tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
The noise because the sun's going to go down, but
it goes down here at five is going to be
ratcheted up to extra levels and it becomes a very
fun atmosphere.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It is the kind of atmosphere.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
That most people sit back and say, Look, it's a
bucket list kind of thing to be a part of,
no doubt.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
What do road fans get treated like? You know, you
would consider Washington a non conference opponent even though they're
in conference right now.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But they don't know there's no rivalry.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Against Washington because you know, when we go to SEC,
I mean, the hospitality is unbelievable. Is it the same
for Penn State? As long as they're not playing the
Michigan's and Ohio states of the world.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You will find the same treatment here as you find
in the SEC.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
The fans are great here.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Hell, you're gonna have a lot of people walking up
to fancyer, Hey, welcome, Great to have you in the conference,
the whole deal. Uh So that's how it's going to
be when they come here. So I think people are
thrilled that Washington's in the conference. I'm thrilled during the conference.
I think the westward expansion is the future of what
college sports is anyway, And when USC and UCLA came in,
(02:38):
I was hoping Washington and Oregon would join them at
the same time.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
It just took fourteen extra months to do it.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But when they did, I thought, for the Big Ten
and for Penn State, it was great.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I realized though it's very difficult for the fans there.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yes, yes, to break apart from the PAC twelve and
the great traditions, because I can tell you Maryland, for example,
whenever I go there for football or basketball, they still
were met not being in the ACC. And I completely
understand that. When Penn State went to the Big Ten,
they were an independent Rutgers. I mean, it's just wandered
(03:13):
all over the wilderness. And for you know, a team
like Nebraska, they had been in the Big Eighth and
there's the Big Twelve, and they had problems with Texas
and they knew they had to get out.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
This is a little bit different.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
So I realized there's going to be some growing paints
for the fans in the Northwest because you're used to
the you know, Arizona, Arizona State coming in aligne with
Stanford and cal and Utah and Colorado.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I get that.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
It was a phenomenal travel sketch in Washington State. By
the way, in Washington State, it was a phenomenal travel schedule.
I mean, nothing was more than three hours away. Nothing,
you know, it was.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
It was beautiful Sunshine States, Arizona, California, the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
And now that's partially gone.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
But Steve Jones, the voice of Penn State football and basketball,
is with us. And one of the reasons why I
wanted to have you, honest to explain this travel, because
I heard James Franklin not complaining, but just acknowledging when
they went to LA that they got to use Harrisburg
because of the runway here. So are are they considering
building a longer air strip so teams can fly in
and out of University Park.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
That I don't know team. I mean, you can fly
in here, that's not the issue because by the time
you go to land the plane, the fuel is almost
all gone and the weight of the plane is no
problem going on. It's flying out when the plane is
fully fueled. And that's why they have to go to
Harrisburg to do something like that. But for other games
that are not on the West coast, penn State flies
(04:33):
in and out of here all the.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Time, Like for example, tomorrow, the game is gonna end
around what eight thirty or so potentially at Pacific time, right,
so we're talking much later. Obviously on the east coast Washington,
Dick is not going to be on their plane until
probably two o'clock in the right after driving ninety minutes
to Harrisburg.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Ninety minutes to Harrisbury, it will be all highway. I'm
sure there'll be no traffic so other than that. But
I mean that's because I think Washington fle you did
in here right, correct, Yes, they did, so, I mean
that's the way it's going to have to be.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
This is at least better than it used to be.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I mean, when I was on the network with Joe Paterno,
we had to go down to Harrisburg all the time
for everything and land in Harrisburg.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Wow. And the problem with landing in Harrisburg is simple.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You get off the plane and get on the bus
and go, oh my god, there's still ninety more miles ago.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You gotta be kidding.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Well, now, at least we fly in and out of
here all the time except for that La trip.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Are they considering it?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Now, that's a federal thing, I mean, and you have
to get federal money to do something like that. So
I mean I have to wait and see. Well today,
if they need somebody to turn over dirt, I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
You got a top ten defense in both scoring and
yards allowed. But does Penn State's defense get kind of
the same skepticism that some people look at Washington's defense
and say, well, you aren't playing really high powered offenses
in this conference so is your defense really that good?
People do people say the same thing about Penn State's.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Defense really, especially when you give up just twenty to
Ohio State. I mean, that's the lowest number that I
mean all season long they've.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Had along the way.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The only problem people have had with the Penn State
defense they feel like they give up too much in
terms of yardage on the opening drive.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Once they get through the opening drive.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
And usually see the pace of how a game is
being played, they normally have settled down and played pretty
well defensive. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Well, Steve Jones again is with us. He's the voice
of Penn State football and basketball. And first of all,
I appreciate you coming over here.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Man.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
We gotta get you a cocktail by the way, you're
out nights over. Could we get the guy at drink
for cradt.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You mentioned working with Joe Paterno, and that's one of
the reasons why I wanted to have you on because
there's a history here. When everything went down with Joe
and Sandusky, it was a major story nationally. I mean,
we spent weeks talking about that on our show back
in Seattle. Can you explain to people back in Seattle
and to us what that period was like for you
guys to go through here.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Well, first of all, the amount of media that descended
upon this place was off the charts. Narratives were being
established as to what was going on.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I was able to talk.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
To Joe twice, once before Thanksgiving and once before Christmas,
and like, the last time I talked to him was
about a little bit like three and a half weeks
before he passed away.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And look, I.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Knew the man for thirty two years, and we talked
frankly about a couple of things.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I can tell you, knowing certain terms.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
He had no idea well, because Sandski wasn't a part
of the staff at.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That point, it wasn't even here, all right, And Joe
never saw him. I never saw.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Him, And so the way everything played out was just surreal.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And I think that's the only way I can describe
it as surreal.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And when you know somebody as well as I knew
him and then were able to talk to him and
get his version of what things were going on, I
could tell you he didn't know. And the narrative is,
oh he knew, well, he didn't know. How is he
perceived now here? You're here. Yes, but wait till his
picture goes up on the scoreboard tomorrow, right, you'll see
(08:15):
fans love him, right, they love them because look.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
See what this town is like right now. Yeah, this
wasn't like this when he took over, right right.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
All this that you hear, all everything, all the homes, everything,
I mean, the town was built up because he made
Penn stated destination place to be. Now let's take it forward, though,
Let's give James Franklin his due.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
He came in and.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
He took over at the worst possible time with the sanctions. Sure,
and Bill O'Brien had told me, he says, Steve fourteen
said fourteen and fifteen are going to be the worst years.
They only had sixty three scholarship players because of the sanctions,
and James ended up being the coach that had to
navigate that.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
And then at sixteen he wins the Big Ten championship.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, and in this playoff here, he would have been
in the playoff five times.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
To do that in the period of time he's done
it really.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Is remarkable, no question, and it deserves his just due
for what he's done here. I think that what's really
cool is I love what Jed has done in a
short period of time. I mean, Kaylan did a phenomenal job.
And I know Kylan did it such a great job
at Indiana because he was the offensive coordinator there and
(09:27):
goes in and does this phenomenal job. Championship game, all
those seniors. Jed comes in has to change everything because
everybody graduated and he's got a good football team. So
you got two really good coaches out there tomorrow, and
I think he's got to be really cool.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
The viral video of James Franklin walk into his locker
room on Saturday with the fire, James Franklin chants in
the background, what does that mean for this week? Because
obviously not all Penn State fans are happy with their coach.
If Washington comes out in the first half and is
up on Penn State like USC was up on Penn
(10:02):
State at halftime, what's the vibe gonna be in the stands?
And can Washington maybe actually use negative energy to their advantage.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
In the stands? Well, let's start with this. And they
didn't fire them.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
You know, they're still there, and you know what, We're
in a totally different era now, and in a totally
different era because gambling is legal everywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
When you're losing your own money, okay, it's more angry,
no question, no question about that.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Look, the expectation for this team is to get to
the playoff. That's the way it was in the spring.
That's the way it was in the summer. That's the
way it was with the seven and zero start. This
is what the fans want and have quote expectations. They
have expectations. It's up to Penn State now to go
out and meet those expectations. And I think everybody around
(11:00):
here knows it's going to be a really tough, hard,
fuck game against a team that has plenty of talent
out there between the quarterback, the tailback.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Jack Ham and I.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Have talked about Coleman for about seven weeks now, you know,
and at Boston and Latto and Carson Brunner, you know,
and you know, and of course fans in this area
know all about Mark right, you know, playing for the Steelers.
So will there be those kind of chants if it's
that kind of start, of course there will.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Well, I mean, fans are the same everywhere.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
I mean, if Jets behind thirty one to whatever at
halftime's gonna get at home against somebody at Husky Stadium.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
It's we're not gonna be going. Hey, way to go, buddy,
you'll come back. We're behind you all the way. How's
it gonna happen? Well, you got two of the top
ten defenses in the country. You dont number ten, Penn
State number seven.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I'm looking at this Tyler Warren kid though, And Steve
Jones again the voice of Penn State football basketball with
us on the year. Jales Jackson is the Husky's leading
receiver with fifty five.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
This guy's got.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Fifty one at the tight end spot and it drives
me nuts. You play an opposing team, you know what
they want to do, and they still do it anyway.
And that seems like that's what Penn State's doing with
this kid. And that's what Ohio State did a great
job went last week. They doubled Warren as often as
they could.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
That means the wide receivers or the running backs have
to make that kind of mistake payoff when you do it.
But this is let me encapsulate Warren for you. Warren
is is so intelligent. It makes such a big difference
because you line them up at wide receiver. He has
to know it you line up up in the slot.
He has to know it on the line of scrimmage,
(12:34):
at tight end, at wingback, wow, right, at quarterback, at fullback.
He has to know the place from all those spots
on the field and not just from a spot.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
And you know, for if you had.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Warren on the show right now, you would have a
lot of trouble getting information out because it's great to
be here.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Thank you for telling me I was gonna try to track. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I don't think he'd give you too much. He's going
pretty quiet guy. But look, he's a special player. And
when you're six six, right, And I think a lot
of people who love Seahawks football can appreciate this. He's
too quick for a linebacker, and he's too big for
a safety, right yeah. And I think Law two's like that.
Lat Two's too big for a safety, all right, And
so that's what makes him terrific. He's versatile. Yeah, he
(13:21):
played quarterback in high school. And he wasn't just an
option guy in high school.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Ye know.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
He threw for over eleven hundred yards his senior year.
He's not that bad throwing it.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I was surprised actually, when I was looking at the
numbers to see Penn State at fifth in America and
yards per attempt at almost ten yards per attempt, you
don't really think of them as a vertical passing game.
So is Drew Aller really kind of just stretch the
field quarterback?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Well, he's done a great job with it. And let's
start with this.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Penn State's averaging seven point eight yards on first down
this season, so they've been able to get out of
the gate and do things like that. Aler really looks
like a guy that's about to make his twenty second
career start. He's made twenty two career starts, right, twenty
two career starts, so it's not like start number eight
and he's still trying to get a feel for the job.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
He's not.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
He's at start number twenty two in his career, so
he's seen the speed of everything, just like Will Rodgers
has had one two hundred and eighty starts in his
career between Mississippi State and Washington. There's nothing Will has
not seen before, and there's nothing Drew hasn't seen before either,
and it's just made a big difference. The touchdown pass
the tie the USC game is the fourth option on
(14:33):
the play.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Wow, it's the fourth option and he made the play.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Now that was a tribute to to the offensive line
which gave him a chance to the fourth option.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Well, Steve Jones is with us and Tick we are
in the presidence of greatness here at the Champs Sports Bar.
Greg Lewis is sitting with us here. By the way,
Doug Walker Award winner from nineteen ninety. No, he brought
that up because Greg's talking about these.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Two backs and Allen and Singleton.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
So much talk about Aller and so much talking about
the tight end this running game for State. Tell me
about what we're gonna see in the backfield tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Well, they're two different types of backs.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
First of all, he got to be really see three
different types of backs tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Coleman's a bowling ball.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
I have not seen on any video yet where on
first contact he went down.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I mean, he really is football broken tackle.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Jack Cam and I have talked about this guy for
a month and a half.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
We just think he's that good.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Alan is a is an inside jump cut guy, got
it all right.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Singleton's the speed guy.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Uh, And Singleton's a four to three somewhere four to
three six guy, and where Singleton's become exponentially better as
a pass receiver. Early in his career he was what
I call a body catcher. I mean, Greg knows what
I'm talking about. Ball comes in and that body is
the third hand right now, you look at him hands
out like a wide receiver. The confidence with which he
(15:52):
catches a ball now is so different than it was
two years ago. And you put him in the open
field where he can make plays. He's a special player.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
What do you think the best way to attack this
line defenses? I mean, come out with the come out
throwing and then run the ball or come out pounding.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Well.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I think Ohio State did a good job last week
of attacking them. They opened it up with the passing game,
which then gave them a chance to run the ball late,
so Howard was able to get it. Was the biggest
drive in the game to me for Ohio State on
their side was down ten to nothing and they put
together a drive where they hit a couple of big
pass plays to Agbuca and that kind of got them.
(16:31):
That kind of steadied the ship for them along the way,
and then they were able to balance it out after that.
And I think that's the way they attacked USC was
able to get on the board on a reverse early
in the game. I thought Marx. You saw Marx last
week of that and the second half. Marx was tremendous
in the second half of that game. Yeah, against against Washington,
(16:55):
the way he played. So you know, I think balance
is the best way to do it because you have
to somehow keep Penn State off bound. They'll mostly play
five DB's every once in a while play six, but
they're one of those four to five teams right now.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Under time out. Well, I'll tell you what, man.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I used to tape everything when I was a kid
on videotape, and the first sporting event I ever recorded
I was eleven years old was the Fiesta bo with Miami.
Get top of this picked off Testa Verdi to win it.
I don't even know where that tape is. It's probably
in the garbage somewhere. But I've been waiting for forty
years to get to the stadium and I can't wait
to see what it's all about tomorrow. I just want
to ask you real quick, Steve Jones.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Before you go.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I was the third announcer for that, seriously, So you
started doing this when you were six years old?
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Is that correct? I try to tell people that how
long have you been doing this for?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So my forty third year doing basketball and my thirty
third on football.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Where do people come from? Because there can't be that
many people living in this town.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Mostly from Spokane.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Just look, this is a county of one hundred and
sixty thousand, so a lot of people from here, but
they come from Pittsburg, Altoona, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia.
They really have a wide radius that they draw from
to get one hundred and eleven thousand people in here.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Well they're gonna be walking away crying tomorrow, stee I hope.
So hey, listen, it's great to meet you, man, and
we'll be doing this a lot because absolutely they're coming
to Seattle, Dick in a couple of years from now,
to Sea Husky Stadium.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
And weird for us, right as guys that grew.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Up in the Pac twelve and the Pac ten that
we're all now kind of partners, but looking forward to
working with you man.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Have fun tomorrow and then we'll talk sooner. Appreciate it, Dick,
Thank you so much too.
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