Interviews: OC Bill Cubit | DC Tim Banks | QB Wes Lunt | STAR Earnest Thomas III

Head coach Tim Beckman met with the media at his weekly press conference on Monday. Selected quotes are below.

Opening statement:
"Well, first and foremost it's senior week, so that's very important for our football team. It's very important for these seniors. They've been going through this for three football seasons with this staff and we're very excited to see them be able to have this celebration as they walk out there and see mom, dad and family, the things that are important in any individual's life, stepping out on the football field prior to that football game. It means a lot to these seniors. We've talked about it already to them about what we want to try to do to make it as special as we can. Of course, a victory would be something that you definitely want your seniors to be leaving Memorial Stadium with.

"We're excited about having an opportunity to play a good Penn State football team that just came off of a win against Temple. Last week, again (we played) three quarters of football but the game is a four-quarter game. We just never got in sync offensively. Defensively, I think we made some big plays, especially in the red zone, but not enough of them. We gave up some big plays passing-wise, a couple running-wise. When you're playing an Iowa team that has got seven wins, and you guys have seen our schedule and you realize we've only played one losing team, we have got to play as good as we possibly can play every snap of the football game just as everybody else does. But we did not do that and right now Iowa is a better football team than we are. For us to be successful, we have to come out each and every play and play four quarters of football. We played three and just never got it done the way we needed to get it done."

On the senior class:
"They've been huge, there's no question. We have 16 great seniors and they've all been very influential in the growth of our football team, of the football families and of all the guys that have been involved in this program. They've done a great job off of the field. They've done a great job being role models to a young football team. So I can't be more proud. As I told each and every one of them, I'll do anything for them. They've definitely tried to do everything for us as a family here to make us better."

On looking forward:
"We still have the goal of wanting to play extra and I think that's everybody's goal in college football. You want to be able to achieve one more. That's still available for us. We have to now take care of business in the next two weeks to be able to have that opportunity. One of those games will be at home and one will be on the road, but we've got to be able to do that. This football team understands that. We'll go back to work again tonight, watch some film, get started on Penn State, have a good walk through like we usually do on Monday nights and get focused on Penn State."

How would you describe the team's morale at this time?
"No different than it was at this time last week. We don't have problems with morale. They understand what's at stake. They realize how hard they've worked since December, right after the Northwestern football game last year. We didn't take any days off; we got right in the weight room the next Monday. They understand that we've already won four football games. At this time last year, we hadn't won four football games, so we're a better football team. We've played an incredible schedule, as you can see. Wins are pretty close to doubling losses of team's we've played against. So this team realizes it's gotten better and we still have that goal that if we want to go to a bowl game, we have to win the next two games."

What did you think about the offensive line's performance on Saturday?
"Well, without having Teddy - and again, you talk about him as a player, there's no question, but what a lot of people don't realize is the leadership Teddy Karras brings to this football team. And he really did as a sophomore. He's that guy, he's the `grit and nail' guy, I mean, he's that guy that's going to get in your face if you need to be gotten in your face. Not having that, we still had two of our offensive linemen graded out the way they needed to grade out, and that was Christian DiLauro and Alex Hill. The other three, we've got to step up. Other positions have got to step up, but I think really for what they came in to do, it wasn't about blocking as much as it was about dropping passes or making errant throws or just not being in sync than it was with the offensive line."

On the team's improvement:
"Four wins, you can't brag on anything like that. But at this time last year, we only had three. So we have one more win. I think we beat a very good Minnesota team. I don't think we've had a win like that - maybe Cincinnati (last year) - but we haven't had a win like that in the last three years. I think all the things our student-athletes are doing off the field. I think right now we're with an APR of 1,000 and you don't read about us in newspapers about getting in trouble and stuff of that nature. Knock on wood, they're still 18-year-olds and I know that they're still young men that are growing up. But I think right now, yeah, four wins is nothing to brag about but I do think we're better than we were, just by numbers. Reality alone. Last year, I couldn't say we had four wins at this time. I'm telling you we've got four wins right now and I've got four wins to prove it."