PSU Nittany Lions

NittanyNation's Josh Moyer joined Big Ten bloggers Adam Rittenberg and Brian Bennett on Thursday morning to talk about Penn State and how it's managed to recruit successfully in the face of NCAA sanctions.

Click here to listen

NittanyNation recently spoke with several Penn State players and commits about their thoughts on the Big Ten expansion to 14 teams. Here's what they had to say:

Bill O'Brien, head coach
“I think it’s fantastic. I think that it’s funny it’s not the Big Ten anymore, right? Tt’s the Big 14. But I think it’s pretty cool. I think you have the East Coast market now and for many, many years Penn State was the East Coast team -- and now we’re starting to get that whole Atlantic corridor there, and those are two good schools with really good football traditions.”

Stephon Morris, senior CB
"One of my old teammates at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Isaiah Ross, he's a defensive end at Maryland now. He's amped about it. Of course, I won't be able to play and he won't be able to either. But he said the younger guys on the Maryland team are pretty excited about it, pretty excited to play Ohio State, Penn State, great programs and great traditions especially like that we have. People just at home in general are very excited as well. The Maryland program; if you go to the state of Maryland, you don't really know it's there. So, they pretty much needed a change, I would say, just the fact the crowds that we have and the crowds they have is a big drop-off."

Allen Robinson, sophomore WR
"I would say a lot of people are excited because they're adding some schools from their home states. I think there are people on the team that's excited."

Christian Hackenberg, QB
Class of 2013
"I think it's neat. A lot of teams have been moving around, so I guess it's cool. It's not anything that I'm paying a lot of attention to, but I guess it's cool to play guys who I've seen in camps around here, who I have good relationships with."

Andrew Nelson, OL
Class of 2013
"To be honest, I don't really have a problem with it. But Maryland, are they going to be a powerhouse in the Big Ten? Probably not. But I definitely think it's some competition with some new guys to play, and I think it'll be fun -- and maybe some new rivalries will come about. I don't really have a problem with it, but I'm not overly excited."

Jordan Smith, CB
Class of 2013
"Well, it really played no factor to me. The only thing I thought about was, 'Well, here's another opponent I have to try to help my team get a win against.' Also, I at least get to play another game close to home because my family lives close, so they'd be able to see me play Maryland. I always view everything as a positive, so I think it's a positive thing for the Big Ten."

Adam Breneman, TE
Class of 2013
"I love the [move] of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten. I think some pretty big rivalries will come out of it. I'm excited to play them."

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Stephon Morris recently called up New York Jets safety D'Anton Lynn and described Penn State's new preseason camp.

Sounds a lot like what we're doing, Lynn told him.

"It's a full grind," said Morris, a senior cornerback. "We're waking up at 6:45 in the morning and not leaving the building until 10 o'clock at night. Whether it's practice, lifting with coach [Craig Fitzgerald] or meetings. I wasn't used to that."

Other players echoed Morris' sentiment. Bill O'Brien and his staff are holding more meetings, talking more often to players and running through more situational walkthroughs.

Easy was not a term used to describe the new look.

"We get a lot more mental reps," defensive end Pete Massaro said. "Coach O'Brien wants us to be students of the game and not just go out there and bang heads."