O'Brien shares some of what he told Penn State after loss

MINNEAPOLIS - After Penn State dropped to 0-3 in Big Ten road games, coach Bill O'Brien delivered a fiery locker-room speech, but not all that he said was for public consumption.

"I told them, No. 1, we're going to coach them better, we're going to make sure we put [them] in better positions to make plays," O'Brien said Saturday after a 24-10 loss to Minnesota. "No. 2, we're going to make sure we do everything we can as a coaching staff to help these seniors go out as winners, because this senior class means a lot to me.

"And No. 3 . . . I'm not going to tell you what I said, No. 3, but I said three things to them. I feel like there's a lot of football left, and these kids will play hard. I don't ever doubt the effort that these kids will play with."

The players were unable to describe their reaction to the speech to reporters because they were not made available for interviews by O'Brien.

Red-zone blues. The Nittany Lions, who failed to score only once when they drove into the red zone in their first six games this season, have experienced difficulty there lately.

The Lions went 2 of 4 in the red zone against Minnesota, making them 6 for 11 in their last three contests. On Saturday, Penn State lost the ball on downs at the Golden Gophers 16, and quarterback Christian Hackenberg fumbled a snap and the ball was recovered by the opponent.

"Red zone's a tough area for a young guy," O'Brien said, noting that Hackenberg is a freshman. "There are tighter windows, things happen faster down there. We had some plays down there and just didn't connect. We'll definitely work on it and try to be better next week."

Penn State scored 22 times in 23 trips in the red zone in its first six games.

Mauti's support. Former Penn State star linebacker Michael Mauti, now playing with the Minnesota Vikings, was on the sideline cheering on the Nittany Lions.

"I saw him [Friday] night," O'Brien said. "It's great to see Mike. He was a great player here, and he's doing a great job for the Vikings. I'm sure it meant a lot to our guys to have him there."