John Cooper Quotes – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/5/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
October 5, 1998
%^$On the Penn State game:%^$
“We’re very very happy to come away with a 28-9 victory over a very good Penn State football team. I’ve got great respect for Penn State as I said last week. I thought they were a good football team going into the game, and coming out of the game I think they were even better than I originally thought, particularly on defense. We were a little upset after the game about only scoring two touchdowns offensively.” %^$
%^$”I gave Percy King five Buckeye leaves for blocking that punt. I thought that was a real big play in that game. We had worked real hard on special teams.” %^$
%^$On Illinois:%^$
“They are a young football team, as you know. On the offensive side of the ball they only have three seniors that start. They start a freshman quarterback and they start a freshman running back that had an amazing game last week. He’s averaging 5.4 yards per carry.”
%^$
“Defensively, the only start one senior. They’ve got a better defensive football team. They are playing a lot of younger players. ” %^$
%^$”We need to have a good week of practice. I just talked to some Illinois people and they asked me how I was going to get my team ready to play this week. That’s the least of my worries, to be honest with you. I worry more about preparation. If you practice hard during the week, you’re going to play good on Saturday. We’re going to have some really intense, physical practices this week.” %^$
%^$On how Illinois is improving:%^$
“They’re playing a lot of young football players, and they are all playing better. Their running back, for example, makes them a lot better. I think their young quarterback makes them better. They are aggressive on defense. They are a young, scrappy football team.” %^$
%^$On the OSU linebackers:%^$
“I like our linebackers. I say that all the time. I think we have three talented football players. You know about Andy. Jerry Rudzinski started every game for us last year. He’s a lot like Greg Bellisari was for us a couple years ago. He’s a very intelligent football player. He doesn’t make many mistakes. Nail Diggs has a chance to be a big time football player.”%^$
