John Cooper Media Luncheon Quotes – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/12/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
October 12, 1998
On the Illinois game:
“We are happy to get out of Illinois with a 41-0 win and the way our team played.
“Anytime they play with an eight man front, you have to be able to open up the field. We are pleased with the way Dee Miller and David Boston popped the thing open.”
On Minnesota:
“Minnesota comes into town 3-2. One of those losses was a big one against Purdue but they played Penn State really well.
“They have a few kids from Ohio. I think the best football player they have is No. 22 Tyrone Carter. He’s a little guy who reminds me a lot of Antoine Winfield. He’s very active and if I’m not mistaken, led their team in tackles last year.”
What to expect from Minnesota’s defense:
“After watching some of their films, they play the pressure style of defense we see almost every afternoon. They put a lot of people around the line of scrimmage and play a lot of man coverage. I wouldn’t be surprised if we line up and throw the football a couple of times. If we have to throw it, we have to throw it.
“Minnesota plays an aggressive defense. They put a lot of people on the line of scrimmage and they want to force you to throw the ball. But Purdue had quite a bit of success against them.
“When you play that style of defense your secondary better be able to hold up. Obviously you can’t run the ball with eight or nine guys on the line of scrimmage.
What to expect from Minnesota’s offense:
“They are going to run a little bit of option so we are going to have to work on that this week in practice. “They just switched quarterbacks. They started one quarterback the first three or four games. In the Purdue game, they switched quarterbacks in the second half and went with him most of the way last week. They’ve change their quarterbacks from a running style of quarterback to a big, classic style drop back quarterback.”
What Ohio State will have to do:
“If they force us to throw than we will throw. If they give us a balance defense we will try to do both and if they play with a nickel back all the time than we will try to run.” Talking about the OSU special teams:
“I’m not that concerned with our kickoff returns. That’s one stat you do not want to lead the nation in, returning a lot of kickoffs. I do hope we make one big play before the season is over.
“I am concerned with our punt returns. We work hard on that every week. So far, we have not gotten the production we would like to have.
“We did block a punt two games back against Penn State and against Illinois, Reggie (Germany) came wide open up the middle and should have blocked the kick. Instead of blocking the kick he was called for roughing the passer. So we will work on that this week.
“Ken-yon (Rambo) will be the guy to return our punts. But this may be a surprise, you might even see Gary Berry out there. I was kidding him Sunday afternoon loud enough for David (Boston) and Ken-yon to hear. We put a lot of time into it and want to see some good production.”
