Football Quotes – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 30, 2000
Head Coach John Cooper
Comments on the Ohio State vs. Purdue game:
“We were very disappointed with the outcome of the football game on Saturday. After looking at the film yesterday, I thought we gave a great effort during the entire course of the game. We did not play a real intelligent game. We had mistakes on both sides of the ball. Obviously the biggest mistake was on the last touchdown when Purdue scored against us when we had a loss in coverage. If our team continues to give the kind of effort that they did in that game and have a great week of practice, we still think we can have a very good season.”
Comments on quarterback Drew Brees:
Drew Brees is great football player. No question about it. And there’s no question that he was the difference in the ball game. He looked like he picked out his second and third receivers, including the touchdown pass that won the game. We felt like we had a good defensive plan against him and we played real well against him. They converted 13 out of 23 third downs, while we were 4 out of 14 on third downs. Right there that made a difference in the ball game. They also had the ball ten minutes more than we did. You can’t expect to win a ball game when that happens to you.”
OSU’s kicking game vs. Purdue’s:
“Our kicking game gave up too many chances. We had great punt returners, especially in the effort by Nate Clements. Purdue got a couple breaks on their punting team. They had a couple bad snaps, but I thought the punter did a great job. That’s something you may not have noticed until you watched the game film. Punter Travis Dorsch did a great job like a shortstop in a baseball game getting the ball off. We had a costly roughing the kicker penalty giving the ball back to Purdue. That holding call also hurt us.”
On this week’s game vs. Michigan State:
“The football game versus Purdue is done. There’s nothing we can do about last week. We have to have a great game this week. Michigan State football team is leading this league in defense. I was just looking at film of their defense, they are a very aggressive defensive football team. They are going to force you to throw the football. They are going to require a lot of man coverage and they are going to crowd the line of scrimmage. They are a physically defensive football team up front. It looks like they have TJ Duckett back this week. It looks like he’s healthy and he’s supposed to start this week. He is a big, strong running back at 6-2 and 250-punds. So I think we will have our work cut out against them.” Rodney Bailey
On how the Buckeyes will bounce back from their loss to Purdue:
“Things don’t always go your way, but you’ve got to keep your head up and stay positive.”
On how Michigan State’s record against OSU in the last few years affects the way they prepare:
“We’re all aware of what has taken place the last few years, but we have to make sure we are focused and ready for the game this year.”
On Michigan State:
“They’re going to mix it up. They have a strong running game and they have two quarterbacks they can use. They run a two-back offense, but they can run anything.”
On Michigan State’s reputation of being a physical team:
“Michigan State is a very physical team and they play hard. I think that goes with their tradition and the type of players they have.”
Joe Cooper
On Purdue
“We thought if we kept our composure, ran some time off the clock and didn’t let them score we would win the game. Obviously, that didn’t happen. I thought our guys went out there and gave it their all. They did what they were asked to do, they played their hearts out. We came up short by one play and we have to look past that. If we don’t, it can come back to haunt us this week.”
On Michigan State
“Michigan State beat us two years in a row. We have to be prepared to come into the `Shoe and defend our turf.
“They have a great running back, a young quarterback and an upperclassman quarterback. They lost a couple key players last year, but for the most part, they are probably still the same Michigan State team. We have to have the attitude that we’re going to defend our turf. It’s going to be a smashmouth game. You can’t allow yourself to concentrate too much on the running back and get beat on the pass. We’ve seen enough passes this year. Hopefully we can put together a complete gameplan and come out victorious.”
On the OSU defense
“Our defense never worries about what the other offense is doing. We have to worry about ourselves, because it’s a team effort. You have to worry about what you’re doing first, take care of your assignment first. Every week we want to show that we’re a dominant defense. That’s not going to change this week. We’re up against a Big Ten team and anything can happen in the Big Ten. It’s not whether we we should outplay this person or that person. We just want to go out there and give it our best shot.”
Chad Cacchio
On struggling through the last two games
“You have to get everybody on the same page. Eleven guys have to be doing their job at all times. I think what’s happening is, on one play somebody will make one mistake and then on the next play it’ll be somebody different. It’s not like one person is causing the problem. Collectively, the team is not putting things together. When we are clicking, we can move the ball and we can score. It’s just a matter of getting that consistency that we need.”
On Steve Bellisari’s taking the blame
“I think that’s definitely unfair. This certainly isn’t Steve’s loss. There are 11 guys out there. Steve’s back there and he has the ball in his hand, but if the receivers don’t run the right route or we make the wrong read or we can’t beat coverage, then we’re leaving him out to dry. Everyone has made mistakes, and unfortunately, when you’re the quarterback, you’re the one that gets looked at.”
On Michigan State
“The one thing about Michigan State is, they do everything. They’ll press you, they’ll play zone, they’ll blitz you, they’ll do zone blitzes, you’ll see everything. They do a good job at it. They have some athletes back there, some really big players who play hard and play intense. It’s going to be a challenge. We’re going to have to play our best game.”
