Head Coach John Cooper Luncheon Quotes – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/1/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 1, 1999
Head Coach John Cooper
%^$On Michigan State’s offense
%^$”They have a big offensive line and also a great quarterback. What scares you the most is that they have a great core of wide receivers. They will be the best receivers that we will go against this year. They have great range and will hurt with catching the ball.”%^$
%^$On Ohio State momentum
%^$”We are getting better. Our trademark of this team is that we have a great work ethic. Our chemistry is great, but also the most important thing is that we are healthy. We had some injuries in the first part of the season, but now they are back. We are playing as well as we have all year.”%^$
%^$On running back Jonathan Wells
%^$Jonathan Wells is getting healthy. Before heading into the Miami (Fla.) game, we felt that Jonathan and Michael Wiley were at the same level talent wise. Then he got injured, but he has come on strong these past two games.”%^$
%^$Last season against Michigan State
%^$”We will look at the tapes and look at the things we did well against them. We also look to limit the plays that didn’t work for us against them. We know what happened last season. But we do not have the same team and they do not have the same team this season. It is a different ball game. Revenge is not the right word. I would like to for us to play well and that is what I will preach to them.”%^$
%^$On the season
%^$”We are still in the running for a bowl game. We have identical records in the conference with Michigan State and Michigan. If we win out the rest of the season, we can play in a New Year’s Day game. This is a big game for us.”%^$
%^$On MSU head coach Nick Saban
%^$”He has to be disappointed in the way they have played against Wisconsin and Purdue. They were ranked No. 1 in the nation in rushing defense, but then Ron Dayne ran for 240 yards on them. He can’t be happy, so you know he will have them ready to play.”%^$
%^$On Michigan State’s quarterback
%^$”Bill Burke gets the job done. He throws the ball effectively. He doesn’t mind taking chances because he knows he has great receivers who are going to catch the ball and run.”%^$
%^$On Ohio State’s quarterbacks
%^$”Steve Bellisari has played better than he has in the last two games. He didn’t make many mistakes and he didn’t take many sacks. Austin Moherman also did a great job moving the ball, but he did have a fumble. He has worked very hard in practice. I am happy with the way they are playing.”%^$
%^$On defending against Michigan State
%^$”You have to give them different looks, especially with their receivers. I am not sure what we will do, but I will gurantee that we will play a combination of defensive coverages.”%^$
%^$Sr. Fullback Matt Keller
%^$On Michigan State’s defense
%^$”They present a physical defense. They do a lot of things on their defense. They like to play some man-to-man and bring the house.”%^$
%^$On last season’s loss to MSU
%^$”It’s on our minds a little bit, but that was last year and we’ve got a lot of work to do in the next three weeks and it starts come Saturday.”%^$
%^$”It’s not about last year. We’ve got a three-week season right now, and this three-week season is going to determine where we’re going to be at the end of the year and hopefully that can be on a New Year’s Day bowl.”%^$
%^$On his ankle
%^$”It’s doing good. I was surprised at how good it felt out there. There’s still a little tweak in there but it felt great. I’m going to be the old Matt Keller this weekend.”%^$
%^$So. Quarterback Steve Bellisari
%^$On playing Michigan State
%^$”Playing at Ohio State you get ready for big games like this. Regardless of them beating us last year or not, we still want to win out to go to a bowl game.”%^$
%^$”It’s definitely a big game. Especially in our situation we need to win ballgames from here on out. So each week I’ve got to be ready and I’ve got to be fired up.”%^$
%^$On Michigan State’s bye week
%^$”They’ve had two weeks to prepare so they are definitely going to be ready. With us playing the way we’ve been playing and the way they’ve been playing I think it’s going to be a great ballgame.”%^$
%^$On Michigan State’s defense
%^$”They do a lot of different things. They do like to blitz a lot so that’s something we have to take care of and throughout the week try to plan for.”%^$
%^$Jr. linebacker Joe Cooper
%^$On OSU’s defense
%^$”I feel we have come a long way as far as where we were in the beginning of the season. Sometimes at the beginning of the season you struggle a little bit, but in these last few weeks we’ve gotten better. We have been hustling to the ball and tackling better.”%^$
%^$Jr. Defensive end Rodney Bailey
%^$On playing Michigan State %^$”This is 1999 and in 1999 the Ohio State Buckeyes need to win out and the next step is Michigan State. To prepare to do that we need to have a strong week of practice, have everybody’s head in the right place and play as a family and a team.”%^$
%^$On the season
%^$”We can’t worry about what we did earlier in the season. We have to do what works now. We’re going to keep working hard.”%^$
