Postgame Quotes From Ohio State vs. Wisconsin – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 13, 2001
Recap| Final Stats| Notes
Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel
On a game of two halves
“Our problems really started late in the first half. We really didn’t get things done and gave them (Wisconsin) opportunities. To Wisconsin’s credit, they played hard throughout the whole game and made plays when they had to.”
On the problems with special teams
“The big problem for us was with our special teams and the punt snap. All of a sudden they’ve (Wisconsin) got the ball down in our area and you can’t give them field position like that.”
On the passing game
“We have to have an effective passing game to win. We made improvements in some areas, but didn’t consistently protect the passer or complete passes. We felt like for as many people as they had committed to the line, we had to throw effectively today.”
On Ohio State’s biggest challenge
“The most disappointing thing for me was at one point in that drive we were second down and three, and you can’t move it forward, that’s disappointing.
“We just didn’t play through the end. We got up by 17 points and I don’t know exactly if I would say if we were relaxed, but Wisconsin turned it up at that point and we didn’t.
“Obviously losing a game in this stadium makes it feel even worse, but the facts are what they are. We made enough errors to let a good, hard-fighting, tough Wisconsin stay in there and do what they do. You have to give them credit for playing the entire ballgame and coming up with the plays they needed to come up with to get crucial first down conversions or stops or make field goals or whatever it has to be. Obviously we’re disappointed. We have plenty of things to look at and get better at.
“I thought Wisconsin battled hard against a good Ohio State football team. They made some catches on the ground for some first downs and they made some runs here and there. Give Wisconsin credit, I don’t think we played as well as we could have, but I don’t think you can say there is a huge problem with our defense.”
Jonathan Wells
“I don’t think they did anything we didn’t expect them to do. They came out and played hard and we just didn’t execute in the second half.”
Steve Bellisari
“It looked like No. 45 made a lot of plays in the second half. He stepped up his game and pretty much stopped our running game. Anytime you get up 17 points and you can’t answer when they score it is very frustrating. We didn’t move the ball when we needed to. The bottom line is, we didn’t get the ball close enough to score points. We just didn’t convert in the second half when we needed to.
Donnie Nickey
We didn’t execute our defense. We gave up too many big plays. We had some breakdowns at times. We tried to blitz and get some pressure and we we’re effective doing that.”
Shane Olivea
“The first half, they didn’t want anything to do with us. We just kept pushing the ball down their throat. Then they made adjustments that we knew they were going to make the second half. We didn’t come out and play like we should have.”
Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez
“I was proud to win a very hard fought football game after the game we had last week.”
“When you come in to as good an atmosphere as there is in college football, fight and win, you can imagine how proud I am of this team right now.”
“We made enough plays to win and we are happy with it.”
On touchdown just before halftime
“They made a mistake just before the half and we were able to capitalize. It gave us momentum going in to the half. We were able to draw on that.
On the game style
“I like to play this brand of football. I wish I could play that way every week. I like physical football. It is not really fancy. It is tough guys banging around in there. You just have to see who executes.”
OSU Punt before halftime
“I thought it gave us momentum. We try to sell that to the kids. We saw a light at the end of the tunnel because we were down just 10 points and we were getting the ball (to start the third quarter).”
ON early success of OSU run game
“We were not getting off blocks and were missing a lot of tackles early.”
On tailback Anthony Davis
“Anthony made some tough yards after contact.”
On play of Nick Davis
“Nick Davis was really focused and cranked up. He played his best game. Hopefully it will give him momentum going into the end of the season.”
On the rest of the season
“It was a win today and it gives us life back. I am not going any farther than preparing for a good Illinois team next week.”
