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ROSE BOWL GAME: USC VS PENN STATE

December 29, 2016

Joe Moorhead

Pasadena, California

Q. How did you guys respond on offense to Saeed's suspension going forward?
JOE MOORHEAD: Yeah, it's unfortunate, but throughout the season, we've lost guys to injury, and particularly at the tackle position. Our thought process is to have a next-man-up mentality, and when someone that goes down, the person that replaces them is expected to do as good or better of a job.

We're very deep at receiver corps. It's a position of strength for us. So the guys that fill in will come in and do an excellent job.

Q. How has Irv and Juwan maybe stepped up at all?
JOE MOORHEAD: Irv and DeAndre, DeAndre can play both the inside and outside receiver position. DeAndre plays more the X than the Z. But between DeAndre, Irv, you know, those guys will be able to fill in and do a good job.

Q. What's life been like for you since the Big Ten Championship game as far as interest from other parties?
JOE MOORHEAD: You know, there's -- I think first and foremost it's a testament and a compliment to our program and our players that you perform well during the season and other people have interest talking to you. You know, there was, you know, people who were interested in speaking to me about their head coaching positions, and I was willing to listen. Ultimately made the decision that personally and professionally that my family and I wanted to be at Penn State. So a little bit hectic at times, but it comes with the territory.

Q. What are some of the primary reasons you want to stay here?
JOE MOORHEAD: Oh, you know, being the offensive coordinator at Penn State's a pretty good job (laughing). You know, when I was at Fordham, I had a an FBS job offered to me and turned that down to stay at Fordham. And the things I said to the people at Fordham is it would take a pretty special opportunity for me to leave there, and obviously, Penn State was that opportunity.

But I was told from a coach a long time ago that when there's an opportunity offered to you, to utilize a couple different criteria, personal and professional. I'm two hours from my folks. My wife's a couple hours from her family. My kids love it here in State College, and we're a program on the rise, and James is great to work for. We have great kids. It just made the most personal and professional sense to stay here, because great things are on the horizon.

Q. What's it like for you, Joe, to hear your name coming up so much now? What's it been like for you personally? Are you following anything? Do you see the social media thing that your name comes up for some of these things?
JOE MOORHEAD: In some ways it's hard to ignore. I don't want to say the good and the bad, but the truths, the half truths and kind of the speculation of things like that. But ultimately, it's part of the profession, and like I said initially, when your program does well and the offense does well, those are things that are, you know -- they happen and you just deal with them on an individual basis.

Q. When you made the tweet a few weeks ago, was that the end of it? Was that the end of any interest you may have had? Because there were reports subsequent to that, after that that you were maybe interested in another job?
JOE MOORHEAD: Another job?

Q. Well, the UConn job.
JOE MOORHEAD: I don't think it's fair to athletic directors who conducted searches or current sitting head coaches to talk about the intricacies or specific details of people that wanted to speak to me. But at a certain point, it started becoming a distraction personally and I feel to our team. So I knew where I wanted to be. I wanted to be back at Penn State, so I felt it was best to let it be known that I'm going to be in Happy Valley for 2017.

Q. When you made the tweet, that was that moment?
JOE MOORHEAD: Essentially, yes, sir.

Q. Just to kind of firm it up, do you want to be a head coach again? And if so, what's the kind of opportunity, without maybe being too specific about a certain school, what kind of opportunity would you want?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think it's like anything in life. You're doing a great job where you work and people want to come speak to you, you won a couple Keyston Awards, you're doing great with the columns, your leads are on point, all these things are great, and "Sports Illustrated" comes and wants to speak to you. If an opportunity presents itself, at worst I think it's best to listen. Once again, you utilize the criteria, personal and professional. I'm very entrenched here, and to me, my professional success is not determined on becoming a head coach again. If it happens and it's the right situation, fantastic. If not, that's not going to lessen or diminish anything from my end.

Like I said, it's great to be at Penn State. It's great to be the offensive coordinator here. If a situation arises and it's right, I'll listen to what people have to say and consider it on an individual basis.

Q. How much is your family's contentment in the State College area, how much is that a factor?
JOE MOORHEAD: Huge role, very huge role.

Q. How surprised at all are you kind of how the offense has done this year, and it's kind of led, obviously, to a lot of disinterest?
JOE MOORHEAD: I wouldn't say surprised by any means. Certainly there's a saying that no one rises to low expectations, so we kind of talked about some of the things that we want to accomplish during the season, and did a little research. Saw Penn State teams that averaged 30 or more points a game and the records that they had and the bowl games they went to. In some ways I think we may have exceeded where I thought we could be throughout the season, so I'm just very proud of really the entire program first and foremost, and the way we play great complementary football, offense, defense, and special teams. But particularly how our offense has improved throughout the season from game one until now.

Q. How about the way Trace has developed, especially in the last month, the last four or five games?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think it's a testament to Trace's preparation and how hard he works at the mental aspect of the game. Of he has a lot of physical tools. He's not the tallest guy. He doesn't have the strongest arm and all those things, but when you combine all the aspects, mental, physical, how well he competes, but just seeing in the first year of a new system, how much he's grown and developed and made plays in critical situations, I think I know it's a testament to Trace and the hard work he's put in, his teammates around him and the fact that he has more time to improve I think is awesome for us.

Q. When it comes to play calling, is it more a science for you than a seat of the pants thing? Can you describe the process for you?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think we do a great job as an offensive staff during the week compiling our game plan. We sit in a room and go through all the situations first and second down by formation and put our run and pass game plan together. Then third down, red zone, all those things. We kind of have a base game plan that we enter the game with, and you start calling the plays and really it's a matter of seeing how teams are playing, you're seeing how they're adjusting, and what are the chess moves within the game.

So I would say it's part game plan recognition, it's part recognition of what the team's doing and the ability to adjust. Having done it for a little bit of time, part of it is feel as well.

Q. If you could indulge on that a little bit, I'd like to pick your brain. You have a 40-second play clock.
JOE MOORHEAD: Yep.

Q. In those first handful of seconds, what are you looking for? How quickly do you need to see to read the defense? What are you looking for initially to start the process?
JOE MOORHEAD: It really goes down to -- not getting into too specific of detail, but we have different tempos that we use and different plays are associated with different tempos. There are some that we can call and run in regards to what the defensive look is. There are some we call and if we get the look we want, we run that play. And if there's a different look there is another play called.

Q. To recognize it, how long does that take, two seconds, three seconds?
JOE MOORHEAD: I'd say roughly that.

Q. Then the next step, how many seconds does it take for you to use the calculator in your brain to get into the play that you want and then to get it on the field?
JOE MOORHEAD: Hopefully less than 40. I don't think we had that either. I think we've had to burn a timeout or two. But generally if it's not a play where we're running at our fastest tempo and it's one of the check with me plays, you'd ideally like to get it called before 15 seconds on the clock as Trace does have some latitude not to change the play, but you know what you want him to go through, his presnap checklist of the things he needs to do to make the right read, and then he's responsible for some things in our protection. So you do want to give him enough time to go through the things he needs to see prior to the snap and have a good information.

Q. Do you have a grouping of six, eight, ten, 12, 25 plays that you have to get it down to pretty quickly? Or do you have a three-four play grouping?
JOE MOORHEAD: No, by formation we generally have four or five runs and probably six to eight passes. If it's a play that's called that you can run into a bad look, there's generally only one or two plays that go along with that as a counter punch, so to speak. That is what goes along with when you're anticipating what they're going to run than you react to what they show.

Q. Have you spoken to Randy since yesterday, and what do you think about him going back?
JOE MOORHEAD: Randy and I texted yesterday, and we're supposed to get together and talk on the phone some here tonight or tomorrow. But I'm incredibly happy for Coach Edsall. The two years I spent there, I loved UConn. We had a lot of great memories. The last game that he coached there was in the Fiesta Bowl. I think he knows the things it takes for that program to be successful. I'm happy for Coach to get back and have an opportunity at UConn. I'm very excited for Coach and think he'll do a great job there.

Q. What were your initial thoughts when Ryan had to be plugged in there, left tackle with other guys, and how has his progression been, steady or up and down?
JOE MOORHEAD: First and foremost, the job Coach Limegrover has done has been fantastic, with all the moving parts and guys in and out with injury, losing their top three tackles. Putting Chaz in at right tackle who really hadn't played and Connor as a true freshman. Brian Gaia has done a fantastic job being the anchor and the eyes and ears of the operation. Gonzo hasn't really been up with the first or second team throughout the season, and Ryan really hadn't taken a snap at tackle throughout the season. So the fact that we've been able to go through all those moving parts, number one, shows you how intelligent Ryan is and how well he can adapt to both positions because they are kind of unique. I think it also speaks to how well Coach Limegrover has done getting the guys prepared.

Q. Do you feel his athleticism and intelligence would allow him to succeed there?
JOE MOORHEAD: Ryan?

Q. Yeah.
JOE MOORHEAD: Oh, absolutely. And Coach Limegrover does a great job throughout camp and in the season kind of having a contingency plan during practice of maybe a guy plays guard, but you get him a couple snaps at tackle, he's done the same thing with Connor McGovern, kind of playing for different scenarios. But Ryan has great feet. He has a great mentality. He's very physical. He's light on his feet for his size. And I think that progression to tackle was a pretty easy transition for him.

Q. You love to throw the deep ball?
JOE MOORHEAD: Oh, yeah.

Q. Have you always been like that? Was it a process getting to that? And why do you enjoy going deep so much?
JOE MOORHEAD: I don't think it's changed at all. Really you look back at the things we did at Fordham. When we talked about the installation of this offense initially, we said it was predicated on running the ball successfully, but when you're able to do that, it forces defense to commit numbers to the box either by secondary support or by pressure. When you do that, you create one-on-one match-ups on the outside. I think we've shown the ability where if a team's going to give us a favorable box to run the ball, we've been able to exploit it with Saquon, and teams who are adamant about shutting him down and playing a heavy run defense, we've been able to throw the ball deep.

So I think it's really great that we're not, you know -- we're multi-dimensional in the sense that we're able to run it and throw it with success, and our play-action game really compliments our most effective run. So I think that's been the integral part to our success this year.

Q. When did you know Trace would be so good and so accurate at the deep ball?
JOE MOORHEAD: We've been practicing a long time, so throughout spring ball and throughout camp.

Q. The knock on Trace is he doesn't have the strongest arm, but he's been very accurate on balls 30 yards down the field.
JOE MOORHEAD: I mean, it's stronger than you think. To me it's a lot about ball placement, and understanding coverage, pre-snap and post-snap, and that's something I think is great about what we do and unique about our spread. There's kind of a knock about the spread offense that's a dink and dunk, and it's single reads, and the quarterback isn't reading things post snap. And I think that's something that's great about Trace is that we have reads of where he needs to go with the ball based on safety rotation, one high, two high, things like that. Not only is he throwing the deep ball well, he's throwing it to the right person when he's open, so I think that has a lot to do with it, too, that he's been accurate, but he's also made the right reads to get it to the right person within the pass concept.

Q. Everybody talks about wanting a big quarterback, a tall quarterback. When you bring in a guy who is not and you develop them, and how has Trace handled his size? Do you guys do anything as a result of his size?
JOE MOORHEAD: We really don't do anything different. He's 6 foot and maybe a little bit of change, but I think that's one of the benefits of being in the shotgun. He throws with a high arm angle. It's really about being able to have a vision in the pocket, and sliding, and being able to find the throwing lanes more than anything. You find some guys 6'4, 6'5, 6'6, and they throw with a low elbow, and essentially it's tantamount to being a 6 foot or 6'1" guy. So he understands. We talk about the width and the depth of the pocket and what he needs to do. We do a lot of work on maneuvering in the pocket, feeling the rush, seeing the coverage.

So I think he understands what he needs to do within the pocket. I think one of the great things is when things break down and he escapes, he's able to keep his eyes down field and still go through his progressions as opposed to tucking the ball and running immediately.

Q. What differentiates USC most from defenses you've seen already this season?
JOE MOORHEAD: Oh, well, first off, you look from a talent perspective. They're big, strong, and athletic up front. Their linebackers run very well, and they're physical. On the back end they play with a 4, 2, 5 structure. Their DBs cover like corners and support the run like safeties. So I think first and foremost, they're one of the most athletically gifted teams that we've seen so far this season. And then they play a base four down front on first and second down. But they do some unique things from a coverage perspective because they're able to disguise and play with that number of five defensive backs. So I think that from a coverage perspective, our quarterbacks have to do a very good job of presnap and post snap recognition because they do a very good job disguising and kind of mixing in their two-high zones, and their one-high zones, and there are some kind of man concepts within the zone. So it's a very unique, intricate system. Coach Pendergast does a great job with those guys and those numbers speak for themselves.

Q. So first and second down, getting Saquon going, they can't get so far into their bag of tricks come third?
JOE MOORHEAD: Third down they get into a little more odd stuff and mix up the coverages, odd front, mix up the coverages a little more. But they're very good at what they do. They're very well-coached, they're very confident, they communicate well. And like I said, it's really -- I don't think we're a reactionary offense, initially. We're going to have our plan, and know what we want to do to attack the defense and make the adjustments as the game progresses.

Q. Well, we in the media are fans and we talk about you, we talk about that you're a tremendous play caller. How much pride do you take in all the preparation, not just games, but all off-season? How much pride do you take in your play-calling ability?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think that's one of the things that's, you know, that I find the greatest part of it is the chess match. You know, it really doesn't just occur on game day. It happens in spring ball when you're kind of getting things in your system, kind of in order, going through a whole process of spring ball, of off-season in the summer and fall camp, and then the weekly preparation, that competition and the ability to hopefully dial up the right play at the right time, and ultimately I talked to our kids about the success of our offense is predicated on how many points we score, you know, people talk about yards and all that stuff, but, you know, I think we've done a good job putting points on the board and having the ability to call the right plays at the right time, it's something that I take a lot of pride in.

Q. (Indiscernible) predicted Saquon's touchdown at Purdue. Is there any ones that we've missed since then, or is this just something that you throw out every once in a while to spur some confidence?
JOE MOORHEAD: I like to think that everyone's going to score. But, I mean, generally it will be when we're -- I don't want to say sideline huddle, but we're on the sideline prior to the play going out there, we'll try to get the guys fired up and say, hey, if we block this up -- I think you have to ask Trace. But I think we might have said it on Saquon's first touchdown in the second half against Wisconsin. I can't recall that, the post route -- or to Saeed. I think we may have said that. But I think we say it a lot.

Q. What do you tell your players when they're hearing all this stuff you might go here, you might go there. Do you feel the need to have to say anything to them?
JOE MOORHEAD: No, it's a little bit different being a position coach and coordinator now than I was as a head coach. And those things came up at Fordham year after year. What I told those guys was I'm going to tell you the truth. And as it pertained to the Penn State situation, I told them, if I leave for another job, you may not like it, but you'll understand it. If these kids ask me anything, I'm going to tell them the truth.

Q. What would go into leaving for another job for you? Are there any parameters there?
JOE MOORHEAD: Like I said, it's personal, it's professional, and taking the opportunities that arise on an individual basis. Right now, like I said, I'm incredibly happy in Happy Valley. My family's entrenched, and we have a great thing going here, and hopefully we can continue to build on our success.

Q. Does the versatility this offense has, does that help you against a team like USC? You talk about all the little gimmicks, but all the stuff that they can do on defense? Does your versatility help you in that? How much does it help you?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think you can't be single-dimensional against these guys because they're big and physical up front and they play the run very stout. With a six-man front, there is not a bunch of safety involvement in the run game or on the perimeter. And then at the same time they're able to cover on the back end. So if you go into a game thinking you're going to run it 50 times or throw 50 times, that's not a recipe for success against these guys because they're too well coached and too talented.

Q. Balance is the key to this game, it's been the key to your game all year, I guess, against a team like this?
JOE MOORHEAD: Yeah, you have to be balanced. You can't expect to go in and do one thing against them, because they're too good.

Q. If there is any area, and I don't want to say you can afford to lose players in, but saying he wasn't playing with the depth you have at wide receiver, it's probably better than what happened on the defensive line, I guess, to use an analogy there?
JOE MOORHEAD: You don't want to lose anybody at any position, and we've seen that throughout the year. At line, I think, and Coach Franklin has done a good job of fostering that concept, when someone goes down, we've done a good enough job preparing throughout the week that they're going to go. Coach talks about preparing like a starter, and you're one or two plays away, and I think we've done a great job with that.

Q. Signed K.J. Hamler, an early enrollee, what does he bring to the table for you guys and why are you excited to have him?
JOE MOORHEAD: Incredibly dynamic playmaker. Very quick, very fast in a straight line, has great hands, great route running skills, and obviously provides dimension in special teams too. So he's a guy we're going to play in the slot, and hopefully he's a guy that can take advantage of match-ups in that position.

Q. How do you deal with recruiting a guy like that, when he's a senior, but there is no senior tape on him. But what he did before his senior season speaks for itself?
JOE MOORHEAD: He had done enough before that point. So you're certain that his body of work up to that point was at a level that he can help you succeed.

Q. Can you describe how much it helps recruiting being in the Rose Bowl? Is it a big difference?
JOE MOORHEAD: From what?

Q. To help in recruiting? Did you notice that kids have sort of reacted to that title, the Rose Bowl and everything?
JOE MOORHEAD: Really, since we've been out here there really hasn't been.

Q. I mean from the beginning of the season until now?
JOE MOORHEAD: Oh, absolutely. When you get a chance to play in one of the elite bowl games in the country, I think kids see that. It's going to be played, you know, post New Year's Day, and one of the top bowl games in the country, so I think kids are excited to see that.

Q. You and I talked preseason, you mentioned that this offense had so much potential. We're now seeing what that potential is. How proud are you that you were able to implement what you wanted to and it's been so successful?
JOE MOORHEAD: Very proud. It's been a testament, number one, to Coach Franklin and the things that he's done throughout the three-year process to build the program to where it is, to our coaches that implement the offense to the guys and teach it to them, and all the subtleties and nuances, and then the kids go out and do it. It's rewarding to see the tree bearing the fruit of our labor, so to speak.

Q. The last few months we've been talking about guys got to start faster. Great second half. Got to start faster. Anything you can do at this point in the season to really do that?
JOE MOORHEAD: To start faster? We're averaging 15 points a game, which isn't horrendous. But obviously you want to get going quicker. You want to kind of create some momentum in the first half so you're not always battling from behind. Of being a second half team, I don't think there is necessarily a negative connotation to that, but certainly if you could get started quicker, that helps in a lot of ways.

Q. This is a team that's been rolling, nine straight wins. Putting up a ton of points, and you have a little bit of a layoff, a few weeks off. How do you do that, rest versus rust factor here? Is it a good thing, bad thing to have all this time off?
JOE MOORHEAD: I think Coach Franklin has done a great job with the schedule, getting our practices in before Christmas break, and coming back here, getting ourselves acclimated. Having a little bit of an expanded Sunday practice yesterday, and today was our traditional Tuesday, so we're back on schedule. So I think the break off allowed the guys to heal up and get the bumps and bruises kind of addressed.

But prior to leaving for break, we had a majority of our game plan in. So right now we're going through it a second time. Like you said, it's about just getting the precision aspect of it, as opposed to the scheme of it.

Q. You think USC's defense, you think of Adoree' Jackson. What makes him so good? What's going to be your focus? What are you telling your unit as you go into this game?
JOE MOORHEAD: He's incredibly talented. Tremendous straightaway speed. Very confident in his abilities, not afraid to play press. You know, he does a great job with his cover two and his clouds and his jams. You see a bunch of runs throughout the season where you think a guy's free, and he's running to the end zone. Next thing you know, there is a blur across the other side of the screen and he runs him down. There is a reason he's a Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Jim Thorpe Award and all those things. He's certainly earned that distinction because he's an incredibly, incredibly talented player.

Q. You've won a lot of shootouts throughout the season. This could be another one. How confident are you in this offense that you could keep up with anybody?
JOE MOORHEAD: We feel that's part of the mindset, the culture, and mentality we were looking for with our offense. Every time we take the field, we believe we're going to score a touchdown. Obviously, that doesn't happen all the time. Ultimately, our success is dictated on our ability to score points. Hopefully it's always one more than the defense allows. So we're going to go out and try our best to put the team in position to be successful to score points, and I think we'll do a great job playing like we have, playing great complementary football -- offense, defense, and special teams.

Q. James has acknowledged guys are going to get interest, and that's a good thing. When you came here, was there any type of agreement -- verbal, handshake -- with James of it will be more than a year? Maybe is a couple years? Was there any type of discussion about those types of things?
JOE MOORHEAD: No, sir.

Q. Not at all?
JOE MOORHEAD: No.

Q. So it was whatever comes, whatever happens, happens?
JOE MOORHEAD: I don't think any of us were looking that far into the future, to be honest.

Q. Well, it's one thing when coordinators come and go every year, that's kind of why I'm asking?
JOE MOORHEAD: No, we had not discussed that prior to or throughout the interview process. My plan, just like always, was to come in and keep my head down, go to work, and hopefully do a good job with the offense. That puts the team in position to be successful. And hopefully we've done that this year.

Q. Your players are so excited to be here. But for you and the coaching staff, how much fun is this experience for you, and for you, what's it going to be like to go out on that field?
JOE MOORHEAD: It's great. Experienced the Fiesta Bowl at UConn in 2010, and that was an awesome experience. Being an East Coast guy or Western PA guy, this is my first time to Los Angeles. We went to Disney World, we went to Lawry's and saw the Beverly Hills sign pulling in there. Took the kids to see Rouge One last night.

There is a reason they call this The Granddaddy of Them All. The bowl staff and the kind of functions throughout the week have all been first class. We were at the team meal last night at Lawry's, and they had a video of the history and tradition of the Rose Bowl, and it gives you chills seeing the great players and the great teams that have played in this game. So it will be something to be part of that tradition.

Q. Does it make you feel like a kid again, remind you why you got into this?
JOE MOORHEAD: I always feel like a kid of (laughing). That's impossible to do. When you go out on the field, and you're in the Rose Bowl, and I guess on game day, it probably hits you a little bit more maybe.

Q. You probably get a chance to see USC's film all year long. Where is this defense at the end of the year compared to where it was at the beginning of the year? Are you able to do that?
JOE MOORHEAD: You watched all the games in their season sequentially. There are certain games you use in the break down. But you could see as their winning streak progressed, how much confidence they've grown and the individual players maturing, and how well they're playing in coach's scheme. I think there's a tremendous progression both with confidence and execution.

Q. You watch them break it down. They had like 15 starts combined when they started the year. Didn't really know what they were doing. And I think they trusted. And that's what you're seeing?
JOE MOORHEAD: Yeah.

Q. Does it remind you of anybody you've played?
JOE MOORHEAD: Schematically, or personnel-wise?

Q. Either way.
JOE MOORHEAD: I think their scheme is pretty unique. I think the things they do are pretty good, particularly from a coverage standpoint. You look at the guys on the back end, not from a scheme perspective, but the guys up front, the way their backers run, they have guys on the back end. I think it compares probably favorably to Ohio State from a talent perspective.

Q. Can you talk about your personal relationship with Trace when you came? It's been a year. How you develop and communicate with each other and how you get along?
JOE MOORHEAD: It's pretty free. Pretty open communication. The great thing about Trace is he's a little bit -- his approach to the game is a little bit old school. He's not thin skinned. So Trace takes criticism and corrections very well, because he knows it's going to help him improve his game.

So throughout the week during film study and during practice, corrections with practice film and on game day, he's a guy who wants to play his best and knows the coaching we're giving him is going to help him get to that. So I think we've got a very good relationship. I think he's done a great job throughout the season, recognizing the fact that the things we're telling him to do are going to help him play better and help our offense perform.

Q. He's a little bit of a poker face guy too, isn't he? Or do you feel you're getting through to him all the time?
JOE MOORHEAD: Oh, no, absolutely. I think that ability of him to stay and not be too high and not be too low and have that level-headed approach has helped him make the big plays in big situations. But that's not to be mistaken. He's a fiery competitor now. You can see that. But what you want from your quarterback is you don't want him on an emotional roller coaster because you can't be too high with the great plays or too low with the bad plays. You almost have to have the approach that the next play is the most important one.

Q. Is he as close as you and Michael were? You guys were really close.
JOE MOORHEAD: We're getting there. Michael and I had a very long history. But from a personality standpoint, Michael was a little more outspoken than Trace in a good way. But from a preparation, I mean, starting from where they grew up, where they played, you know, height, arm strength, all those things are very, very similar. Trace is just a little more of a reserved personality than Michael.

Q. Other than stopping your explosive plays, from your point of view, how do you coach explosive plays?
JOE MOORHEAD: For us to get them?

Q. Yeah.
JOE MOORHEAD: I think they happen naturally within the construct of our offense. In the run game, we do what we do with the different schemes that we utilize, and in the pass game we're going to have three step, we're going to have five step, and our play-action shots down the field. A lot of those occur naturally within the fabric of the game. It's not something we're going to impress and say we're going to throw the ball down the field this quarter because we need to. It's something we need more adjustments to the coverages and things like that.

Q. A lot of teams don't want that guy to take that shot. And it looks like Trace, he'll go ahead and take that shot.
JOE MOORHEAD: Yeah, we've I don't want to say made a living but we've been successful throwing the ball down the field. That's not only Trace, that's our linemen being able to protect and our receivers and tight ends running the correct routes and them being able to come down with the ball. We'd like to say there's no such thing as a 50-50 ball. It's a 100 ball. When the ball's in the air, it's ours. Our receivers have done a great job going up and making plays, and tight ends and backs as well.

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