Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Defensive Press Conference Quotes – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 28, 2003
Ohio State University Defensive Coordinator Mike Dantonio
“I’ve got great respect for K-State’s program and what they’ve done over the years. I was at KU (Kansas) from 1991 through ’94 seasons, and I know how hard they play. They’re very well-coached. I know they have a great attention to detail, and their players will play hard. They’re dedicated to excellence. They work extremely hard and have great fan support. I sort of know what to expect. It will be a wild atmosphere. It’s always fun to play a team like that. I think Coach Snyder does a great job of using the personnel that he has. Guys like Roberson can turn a bad play into a good play.”
On the challenge of KSU’s running game, particularly Darren Sproles: “It’s a huge task and is critical that you be able to tackle in the space against him. When you’ve had a month off and all of a sudden see quality backs, there’s a change of speed, and you need to be able to be accustomed to that as the game goes along. Obviously, he does.”
On whether it’s harder to restart an offense or defense after a layoff: “I think it’s probably tougher to restart a defense from the standpoint that so much of defensive football comes from how well you’re able to tackle. When you’ve had a 3-4 week layoff, you need to be able to get back in tune with being able to tackle a skilled player like Sproles. He’s a spin runner and does a great job jump cutting. He’s a tremendous player for them.”
On whether Sproles or Roberson presents the greater challenge: “I look at them, and they have 500 caries between the two of them and 3,000 yards rushing. So I would say they are both a very big concern of ours because they’re both a very big part of their offense. I’m sure as the game progresses they’ll both have their moments because they’re very good football players.”
Besides tackling, the other keys: “I think we’ve got to come up with turnovers. We’ve got to try and win the turnover and eliminate the big play.” Strong Safety Will Allen
On OSU expectations to excel: “I think it’s more of a team effort overall. We all have the same goals in mind, and that’s the key. Everyone is on the same page, and there are no selfish guys out there. Coach Tressel incorporates that in everything we do. He wants us all to be a team and look after each other. It just carries over onto the field if you do it off the field. We do a lot of things off the field that you don’t normally do, like track and field tournaments and picnics that build togetherness.
“We have a confidence about ourselves, who we are and what we want to do. We believe we are one of the best defenses in the nation, and we’re going to set out to prove that again against Kansas State. We always have something to prove and we just have to go out against Kansas State and prove it again.”
On what’s at stake Friday night: “It’s a pride game, and it’s also a redemption game because we did just come off a loss to Michigan. We had so many expectations going into that game, and we let ourselves down. We can’t do that against Kansas Sate.”
On Coach Dantonio: “He brings it all together He just works it out, makes the right calls. He puts his players in position to make the big plays. You’re going to miss that because it’s so hard to find coaches like that.”
On keys to winning: “Just stopping the run, that’s the key. If you stop the run, you make a team one-dimensional. That’s going to be extremely difficult because it’s almost like they have two good tailbacks back there. We have to read our keys, be disciplined and not give up any big pass plays.”
Defensive Tackle Tim Anderson
On effects of Michigan loss: “It’s hard to let go. For me to go in there and play the way I did, it’s very hard for me to deal with. I think about it a lot, wondering why I did this and did that. Yeah, I still think about it. It was definitely one of the worst games I ever played.”
On this game: “We do feel like we’re a great team. I know a lot of people doubt us, especially after the Michigan game. We want to go out and prove that. We may have dropped the ball but we can still pick it up. We want to go out and play a great game and go home with a victory. “
On the challenge of stopping Roberson and Sproles: “It would be about the same as the challenge of climbing Mt. Everest. It’s so difficult; they’ve basically got two tailbacks back there who are both extremely talented. Sproles has incredible vision, incredible quickness and speed. He does a great job of making guys miss. Roberson is much the same. To shut both of them down is going to be a tremendous task. It’s definitely going to be a challenge for us, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Cornerback Dustin Fox
On the Michigan game: “We didn’t play well and do the things we usually do well. Coach Dantonio felt we may have lost some enthusiasm. We did a lot of soul-searching and worked to get back to what we do best.”
On Coach Mark Dantonio: “I have always been impressed with Coach Dantonio. He is a great teacher, coach and motivator; a real leader. I call him ‘a football genius’ in terms of the schemes he comes up with and his ability to pick up tendencies and make adjustments. He definitely gets us prepared, and it’s important that we win this game and send him out on the right note.”
Pressure playing at Ohio State: “There’s pressure just in playing at Ohio State, plus the added pressure this year of being the defending national champion. But I think we’ve handled it well. We pride ourselves in playing great defense. We’re disappointed in not playing for the national championship again, but this Fiesta Bowl game is important to players like myself who will be coming back next year.”
On coming to Ohio State: “I have four uncles who played at Ohio State, but there was no pressure. My brother played at Penn State so my choice came down to Ohio State and Penn State. I decided Ohio State was the right place for me.”
Defensive End Will Smith
On his defensive play: “I like moving around and being able to attack from different spots. I prefer it when the plays come right at me. I’m asked to do a lot of different things. Defensively, we’re not a lot different from last year, with the possibility of being more experienced in the defensive line and at linebacker. I know that I gained more experience coming back for my senior year.”
Evaluation of Kansas State: “We must stop the run and force them to pass. Darren Sproul is very fast and can turn a five-yard gain into a 10 to 20-yard gain. Ell Roberson makes plays, they have good receivers, and their line is solid. I’d say that Sproul is more dangerous than Roberson. Plus they do some things we’re not used to seeing. We want to win this last game for the seniors.”
Defensive Tackle Darrion Scott
On the loss of Maurice Clarett: “It really wasn’t a distraction. Sure, we would liked to have him on the team. Some people were upset, but everybody had to understand that we had to go out and play without him.”
On getting for the NFL draft: “I’m looking forward to it. What I’ll be doing now is strengthening my body. I didn’t have the kind of season I hoped for. The injuries to my ankle and shoulder slowed me down and caused me to miss parts of four games. I hope to play in a post-season game, and I’ll be ready to move on.”
