Post Game Quotes From Ohio State vs. Michigan State – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 4, 2000
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%^$%^$Recap|%^$Box Score|%^$Notes%^$%^$
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%^$Ohio State Head Coach John Cooper
%^$On Today’s Overall Performance
%^$”We got the running game going a little bit in the second half. But the credit goes to our defense again today. They really played their hearts out. I wasn’t very proud of the way we played in the first two quarters, but we made some adjustments and I thought we gained the momentum as the game went on. The crowd really helped us, particularly when we had them in tough situations.%^$
%^$”We’re 7-2 because we’re not turning the ball over and we’re getting turnovers. We are No. 1 in the conference in causing turnovers and we are playing good defense and have a sound kicking game.”%^$
%^$On the Buckeyes’ conservative play in the second half:
%^$”We got very, very conservative in the second half, and again, blame me for that. Don’t blame Coach Stobart or Steve Bellisari. Blame the head coach.%^$
%^$”One of our ten commandments is to win the surest way is to keep the ball away from the other team. The way we did that was to try to run the ball and use up time. My thinking was in the third and fourth quarter is that we were up two touchdowns and we needed to just hang on to the ball. We’re going to win the game if we hang on to the ball. Again, we want to win the ball game the surest way.”%^$
%^$On Michigan State:
%^$”They’re a good solid, defensive football team. I’m not sure that he’s totally healthy. If he wasn’t healthy, then we caught them at the right time. It was a good win for the Buckeyes.”%^$
%^$On Ohio State’s comeback:
%^$”They had us on the ropes when it was 13-3. When they turned over the ball, they put us back in the game. We got the football and tied up the game before the half. The coaches made some good adjustments going into the second half of the ball game.”%^$
%^$On the kicking game:
%^$”Defensive kicking will win you a lot of games. We start practice with the kicking game at the beginning of every practice. That is a big part of the ball game.”%^$
%^$On what Ohio State needs to do better:
%^$”We have got to protect the quarterback. He can’t continue to get punished. It’s hard to throw with people in your face. Michigan State has to protect their quarterback also. That’s how you win football games.”%^$
%^$More on areas Ohio State needs to work on:
%^$I’m happy to be 7-2. I’m concerned that we must to play better to win against Illinois and Michigan. I’m going to get the guys in early tomorrow to correct the mental mistakes.”%^$
%^$Michigan State Head Coach Bobby Williams
%^$On OSU’s play in the second half:
%^$”It is not what we did, it’s what we didn’t do.”%^$
%^$On MSU turnovers:
%^$”We turned it over three times, leading to 17 points for them. Take these away and it’s a different ballgame. There are so many things that are frustrating about this game. We will bounce back.”%^$
%^$On who will be the starting QB next week:
%^$”We will look at the film tomorrow and make an evaluation next week. When that will be, I don’t know.”%^$
%^$On the performance of Quarterback Jeff Smoker:
%^$”He did some good things early, but then made two costly turnovers. He will learn from that and move on.”%^$
