Trent Pennix: "Nobody Can Really Cover Us"
NC State tight end Trent Pennix met with the media in the lead-up to the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus VMI.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player below to watch Pennix’s interview.
“[…] prepare for VMI, and we’re cut everything loose against VMI. Today was a great practice. Yesterday was a great practice. Today was even more cleaner. We polished up some things, and tomorrow we’ll get another day to finish up the final touches and then go into Friday.”
“I would say getting off the ball and attacking stronger. Starting faster, that was our key point that Coach [Robert] Anae alluded to the room earlier yesterday morning, so we started off faster and played like grown men. We can’t take any opponent lightly no matter what kind of division they’re in, so we’re going into every game thinking it’s grown-men stuff every time. We’ve got to keep our heads down and keep grinding.”
“Every day, we come back around five or six o’clock. I always get my boys in, watch film, get with the coaches, get ahead of the game plan for the next day. If we’ve got any questions, we get with the coaches. We really try to stay ahead of the game instead of just letting everything come to us on our own. We try to be proactive in our plan so we can have that first step ahead of VMI.”
“Like I said earlier, it’s just starting off fast, having that mentality from the very first snap to just pound it each and every play, taking no plays off, and really focusing with eye discipline and mentality. Coach [Dave] Doeren always alludes to it: take a deep breath. When everything’s causing chaos, just take a couple of deep breaths, refocus, and go to the next play.”
“We really support each other with our speed. Nobody can really cover us. We see it in film all the time; nobody can really cover our receivers. We have a lot of open guys. We just have to stay true to our plan, trust the coaching, and don’t do anything out of the ordinary from the game plan. Everything else will fall into place.”
“Before the rain delay, it was a really close game. I knew from the very first drive, seeing the defense put up a three-and-out, I knew we had a great chance in this game with us moving the ball downfield, getting great field position against their defense. We thought they were a great team, and playing against a team like that, everything comes naturally. You’re not really thinking about their size. We’re just keying in on our fundamentals and our game plan."