Postgame Quotes From Ohio State vs. San Diego State – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 20, 2001
Recap| Final Stats| Notes
Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel Postgame Quotes
On the defense in the second half
“That is the way we have to play all of the time. Our defense is designed to get after people and put pressure on them and force turnovers. And we didn’t do that in the first half. Therefore, it was even game because we missed field goals and extra points. Our defense did know what they can do and we talked after the game and we if play every quarter like we did the last two, we have a chance to be a good team.”
On coming up with turnovers in the second half
“It was great to see we got into the end zone and took advantage of those opportunities. We still have a lot of work to do, but it was good to see us come along a little bit in the passing game. We still had one turnover, which one of these days when we put together a perfect zero turnover day and we can run and pass, then we will know we are starting to come of age.”
On passing to the tight ends
“I think San Diego State came in and decided they weren’t going to play coverage. Some people had played a lot of man coverage and sat on our tight ends as the year went on. They decided to play a lot of zone blitz and with that our tight ends were able to find those zones that no one was covering and fortunately Steve (Bellisari) was able to get them the ball.”
On the game
“It was certainly a tale of two halves. It was exciting to see the way our defense played the second half, forcing turnovers, putting a lot of pressure, getting the Aztecs behind the count. That is the way that they made their mark as a great defense. I don’t know how many turnovers we ended up in that half. Four or so, it was a bunch. That’s the way we need to play defense. It was good to see that we got some of those in for touchdowns and made the extra points. There was a lot of progress in that second half. I think we all know that if we’re going to become as good as we think we’re capable, we’re going to have to play all of the time like we did that second half.”
On not capitalizing on scoring opportunities
“It was frustrating when we got into the red zone a couple times and didn’t end up scoring touchdowns and then missed field goals, that is very frustrating. They came in and loaded up the box, if you will. They did a little bit different then some teams. Some teams load it up and play man, they load it up and played a zone blitz. We were able to find the zones that were left empty. We have a lot of work to do. For us to become as good as we would like to be, every time we get down there we either have to get seven or three, preferably more sevens then we have been getting. I thought we did a good job spraying it around.”
On going for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter
“It seemed like there was a little breeze. I know our flags were blowing in all directions. From a wind standpoint, I just thought it wasn’t the best percent chance there. Again, I liked the way our defense was playing and wanted to see if maybe we could go up by 15, rather than 11. There is something a little emotional about missing a field goal, especially when you have missed a couple. I didn’t want to out him out there in a difficult situation.”
On the kicking situation
“Right now we are not as good as we have to be if we want to win. We have to make every kick inside the 42 and make your share of those outside the 42 in my opinion. And were not making every kick inside the 42, that is when you’re good, when you do that.”
On playing Scott McMullen in the fourth quarter
“I thought the way our defense was playing that there wasn’t a threat there. I wasn’t putting Scott (McMullen) in any precarious situation. I wanted to get him in there and handle the club and handle the ball and still be in there and we would throw it a little bit versus handing off a couple times. So, I just it was the right time.”
Joe Cooper
“It was a lot of guys making a lot of plays. There were 11 guys out there giving a great effort.”
“We have to use this game as a stepping stone to next week. The first half, we did not play as well as we wanted to, but we turned it around in the second half. I think we can feel good knowing that going into Penn State next week. Everyone knows we have a lot to work on. We have to stay together. Whatever happens after next week, we have to make sure to stay poised and worry about the team and not what is going on outside the lines.”
“We kept them in the game. They came out fired up but we pulled together to make the proper adjustments. I think with the way we were playing, the momentum shifted back to our side and then we took the game over.”
Lydell Ross
On his 51-yard touchdown run
“It was great blocking up front. It was a great read. The hole opened, I saw it and ran. I saw the pursuit out of the corner of my eye once I broke through the line and into the secondary. It feels great. Your momentum goes up after a run like that. It was great for the team.”
“We had to step it up a notch and play better than we did in the first half.”
On Joe Cooper’s Interception
“I think the momentum changed with Joe’s interception. I think it was a total momentum change. Everyone got up after that and the offense played hard.”
Chris Vance
“We came out pretty good. We wanted to throw the ball. We had the opportunity to do that with the defense they were playing. Sometimes he (Steve Bellisari) was a little off but for the most part, he was on target.”
“We were running two receivers the whole game. We had Darnell (Sanders) spread out a little bit and brought Ricky Bryant in. We stuck with it (passing game) and everyone came together.
San Diego State Head Coach Ted Tollner Quotes
“I don’t know if I have ever been as proud of a loss because of the way our guys handled the turnovers in the third quarter.”
“Considering we lost the game, I feel good about our men and the way they hung in there and competed.”
On Quarterback Lon Sheriff
“He was in there for all five turnovers. He is sick right now but that is part of being a quarterback.”
“The quarterback position is a hard position. (Sheriff) is sick right now. It is a tough long process. It is a hard way to learn.”
On the game overall
“We have to play smarter football if you are going to beat a good football team. We just put our defense under too much pressure. I though it was a valiant effort with the number of times we put our defense out on the field.”
On the halftime speech
“I told our guys we would see a different Ohio State football team in the second half. We had (OSU’s) attention with the lead.”
On the five turnovers in the third quarter
“We stretched ourselves too thin in the third quarter.”
On OSU QB Steve Bellisari
“We knew we had to contain him. They surprised us a little today. I thought they would throw a little today to get healthy but I did not think they would throw as much as they did today.”
“If we could stop (Bellisari) from running and contain his scrambling, I thought we could stay in the football game. It worked until they got field position. It worked perfectly early.”
On the SDSU Defense
“Defensively we rose up after last week giving up 275 yards rushing. They came back and played the game the way it is supposed to be played.”
On the Lydell Ross TD run
We wore our defense down leaving them out there. They blocked and (Ross) broke three pretty decent tackles. It was a combination of both-us breaking down and him making a nice run.
On SDSU Offense
“In the first half we were getting in sync. In the second half we could not get anything going because we kept turning it over.”
On Ohio State and Ohio Stadium
“It is a great environment. Our guys got a chance to come here and experience something special. They will remember the game as a disappointing loss but they did not get beat up. I think they will remember it as a positive experience with an ache in their gut that one got away. It is a special place. Our guys got to be part of it for a day.”
