Ohio State vs. Michigan Post Game Press Conference – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 20, 2004
REPORTER:: Troy, congratulations, where did this performance come from? What do you attribute this to? A lot of people were like, they must have been saving this a while. How does this happen? You surpassed your offensive output in the first half alone.
SMITH:: First I just want to thank God because without him, none of this is possible. I really credit the offensive line, the guys up front, the guys in the trenches, we won the trench fight today. Everybody, as a whole, defensively, you know, they stepped up. We all stepped up as a unit with one goal in mind, sending our seniors out with a positive, as opposed to a negative. Just beating Michigan, that was key. Michigan’s a great team. They did some good things today, but I think us coming together as a team. Chapel last night was great. Before the game, I had tears in my eyes. I didn’t really realize what this rivalry was about and is about until you get a W, until you’re in it, until you’re in the fight. My hat’s off to Michigan, but today is Ohio State’s day.
REPORTER:: How big was Teddy’s 82-yard punt return that put you up two scores?
SMITH:: Huge. Last couple games he’s sort of been like the spark plug in our car. He’s kept us going. Hats off to him, you know. Tell you the truth, I’m pretty much at a loss of words right now because it’s unbelievable. Coming off the field after the game I almost got my neck broke by a lot of the fans. You know, this means a lot to everybody. Sending our seniors out was probably the most important thing that we wanted to do and we were able to do that.
REPORTER:: Teddy, can you just describe the punt return and what you saw there and just what your feeling is as you’re running down the side line with only the punter to beat?
GINN:: Well, you know, it means just having faith in your team and the people that’s in front of you. We’ve just been telling everybody to hold up on the blocks and making a good block. Me catching the punt was the most important thing right there. I saw the guy, so I had to try to make something real quick and I was just trying to find a hole to get vertical as my coach told me to. As I said before, once you see the touchdown, there’s no point in making a move, you just use your speed and get to the end zone.
REPORTER:: Troy, you said you had tears in your eyes before the game, can you tell us why, and talk about your first touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez.
SMITH:: Thomas Mathews, he was — he felt it at the be
GINN:ing of the game. Probably more so than me until I heard his words that was coming out of his mouth. Once I heard Thomas saying, I need to get a pair of gold pants, we need to get a pair of gold pants for ourselves, that really dawned on me, we need to do something today to win this game, ball’s out for 60 minutes. This was a tough game, Michigan was a tough team, they had great defense coming down the stretch. We just did some key things. We didn’t turn the ball over, that’s always a plus. We just came out with a victory.
REPORTER:: Coach, what do you attribute this win to? Doesn’t it speak to the stakes or the tradition of the game that you played your best game here today?
TRESSEL:: We always hope we’ll play our best game against Michigan, number one, and the fact that it’s the last game and we’ve had a chance to grow and learn and figure out who we are and get guys with abilities like these two on either side of me opportunities and I thought the fact that offensively, defensively, and special units, we were in concert and everybody had a big part of it. And as Troy just said, our 17 seniors have been through a lot. Some of them were here when there was a coaching transition and there were some great times and there were some not so great times. They really have always been there for us. Even though maybe they weren’t playing that much. I think these guys really wanted to go win for them. Yeah, they’ve got a game to go to. Last question for Teddy.
REPORTER:: Did you guys, at any point today, considering what you went through this week, have a chance late in the game to absorb the situation, to understand you’re on a national stage and kind of take in the accomplishment of today with the crowd and the band and everybody going crazy for what this win means right now?
GINN:: Me being a freshmen, I’m overwhelmed. Me coming in as a freshmen and seeing everybody pick me up and just treat me like God, it was just great. On the national level, I just try to make it better for my seniors, because my seniors want to go out with gold pants and they want to beat Michigan. I just played for them. I’ve still got four, four more years to play, or three, however it takes, and I just want to make my seniors happy.
TRESSEL:: One last one for Troy. They’ve got to go to a very important game.
REPORTER:: Same question.
SMITH:: I guess my outtake on everything would just be just trying to stay humble, you know, in everything that I do, understanding that it’s not just me when I do what I do. It’s something bigger than me, it’s something higher than me. This game today was about Ohio State, our seniors, et cetera, and we weren’t just playing, Teddy wasn’t just playing for Teddy and I know I wasn’t just playing for myself. I just — I felt it down in the bottom of my heart, you know, to try and do and to fight and to scratch and to pull, to get every yard I could today and stay positive at the same time and lead my team.
TRESSEL:: He told me you just had two. My bad.
REPORTER:: Troy, can you talk about what it’s been like for you personally to come from where you did as a back-up quarterback to having this kind of a game, starting and having this kind of a game in the Michigan game?
SMITH:: The road hasn’t been that bad, you know. I guess I would say that everything that — I’m not just going to say me in general, but everything that a human being gets is not always handed to him. You have to work hard. I worked extremely hard. I stayed positive, you know, and stayed on an even keel at all times. When you’re a leader, you have to be able to do that, you can’t sway to either side positive or negative, you have to stay even keel.
REPORTER:: One for each, Troy, do you have any idea that this will be considered one of the legendary performances, Ted, are you aware this is a biggy now? Because you were saying it wasn’t a biggy in your punt return.
SMITH:: I guess to answer the question, playing the game, once you think like, what I’m doing is legendary, you take your mind off the task at hand, you have to keep going, you have to keep going forward, you have to keep pace and have to do the things necessary to move the ball down the field. If it was one of the legendary performances, I’m very grateful and thankful for the opportunity to do that, but I guess I really didn’t think about it.
GINN:: As far as the punt return and that goes, I just have to give all the credit to the coaching staff and the players that’s out there with me because without them — it’s not me. I just try to stay as humble as possible, so I just give thanks to God, my coaching staff, and my players that was out there with me.
REPORTER:: Troy, at the Michigan State game, you talked about trying to drive the offense 99 yards, you weren’t able to do it then, but you did it today. What did that do for you guys to come back and put another 97-yard drive together?
SMITH:: That helped a lot, knowing that even when we are hit back on the opposing team’s minus yard line or whatever you want to call it, to know I can look at the other guys in the huddle and they have the same focus that I have to get down inside the red zone, possibly get a score, field goal, whatever it may be points-wise. That was huge for us today. The first long drive, just knowing that we could do this, and also, when we have our team meetings, going over the criteria offensively that we need to meet and match. That’s the part of it. We had one with those two drives, probably an eight-play or more drive, that was huge for us.
REPORTER:: Troy, could you just talk about that first touchdown pass? It kind of seemed like it set the tone for the day and you were about to be sacked it looked.
SMITH:: The first touchdown pass was a double post route with Ted sort of like being in the flat or intermediate, whatever you want to call it, on the corner, that was where I was going to go first, seeing Gonzalez had a couple steps on his man, Santonio was pretty much deep and out of the picture by the time I turned my head around, Gonzalez had his man flat footed. The safety couldn’t turn around in time. The line gave me just enough protection. Branden Joe, as my teammate told me, held him off just long enough for me to get the ball in the air. Gonzalez made a great play. That’s one of the guys on the team that a lot of people forget about. Arguably he’s one of the fastest guys on the team. You can ask Ted if you don’t believe me, and he just got a chance to showcase some of his many talents that he has.
REPORTER:: You saw the defender there?
SMITH:: The safety?
REPORTER:: No, the guy that was —
SMITH:: No, I didn’t feel him. I didn’t feel him. I didn’t feel him at all. I guess it was B. Joe watching my back.
REPORTER:: Back at Glenville, did you ever imagine you’d have a day like this, have you ever had a day where the athletes in the school are larger than the outcome?
SMITH:: Yeah, we dreamt it a couple times. Just going to the same school, Ohio State, and doing big things. Teddy’s came a lot earlier than mine, but trying to be a trailblazer for the guys up and coming is something that I can take on my shoulders and try to do. I’m just thankful for every opportunity that I get.
GINN:: Well, you know, I’ve been a Tarblooder for life. Just to have a great game here and see how important it is to the kids back home, to see us walk in the stadium, they know that we’ve got their back just like they watched us on TV and they know that all the eyes is on us, so I just try to give back as much as possible. And I know me going back and watching the football game will probably give them another step, that extra effort, just to know that Ted
GINN: or Troy
SMITH: is in the stadium, or Pierre Woods, it’s just great.
SMITH:: Hats off to Pierre Woods today too.
TRESSEL:: Have we ever had a player or players from — you know, I can’t remember not making plays like that and throw in Anthony Gonzalez, who’s from the same hometown, they’re all a stone’s throw away, it will make the Cleveland alumni banquet pretty nice Tuesday night, which wasn’t that nice last year. But Ted
GINN:, Sr. I’ve known for many, many years when young Ted was just knee high and he’s a guy that you admire because of what he’s done for that community and he’s given all those kids the guidance that if you go do things the right way, good things will happen for you, but it’s going to be rough, and that’s why Troy and Teddy and Pierre and Curtis and the guys that were in that game today, that’s why they’re where they are and doing what they’re doing because Ted
GINN:, Sr. was very demanding and he’s made an impact where he is and to me it’s a great thing for Glenville High School. Tonight they’re getting to play — am I allowed to talk about — I better leave it go.
REPORTER:: Jim, it’s always a difficult season on the field. There’s been issues all — what does this win today mean for you personally and for the program that’s taken a lot of heat?
TRESSEL:: Well, I mean, shoot, we work night and day, not just this week, but all year long to become better and better and better and hope that at the end of the year you can play your best game. That’s what it’s all about and what does it mean to us? We’ve got 112 players, I think, and 15 or 20 coaches, strength guys and academic guys and all those kinds of things and secretaries and whatnot, and they’ve all worked hard and you feel great for them because you feel like at least on this day, everything’s just right and then you move to the next day.
REPORTER:: Jim, can you talk about the two drives, the 99-yarder and the 97-yarder?
TRESSEL:: Those were huge. They were both tough situations. I thought maybe the first punt maybe we could have fielded, but guys don’t want to make an error and I understand that, so we end up on the one, and pounded it out of there. Branden Joe is a guy we felt going into the year was going to be that kind of back and unfortunately had injuries and that’s part of life. Last year it wasn’t until the Fiesta Bowl that we had him doing that type of thing and fortunately we had him pounding it out of there for us and we made some big plays coming out and kept our defense off the field and they probably needed it at that moment and that was huge. And then the second one, I don’t know how long each possession was as far as minutes, but they both were significant and that’s how you win a game is control the tempo of the game, and we happened to do that with those two drives and obviously the big special teams play.
REPORTER:: As you were game planning, where did you find them vulnerable and did it play out like you thought?
TRESSEL:: Well, I can’t speak much to what our defensive game plan was because I don’t get in that room.
REPORTER:: Offensively.
TRESSEL:: Offensively? We felt we could stretch them and hit some seams. We didn’t think in some of their man coverage schemes they’d hold up, if we had time. We liked some of our match-ups, and we really felt that our quarterback run stuff was going to be difficult for them. And if we didn’t turn the football over, we thought we could move it. And I don’t know how many yards we got, but it was decent.
REPORTER:: Jim, after Michigan scored the first two drives, pretty much the rest of the game your defense did a great job. Could you talk about the effort of the defense and what, if anything, changed after those first two runs?
TRESSEL:: I think like anytime, sometimes you spar a little bit and figure out where they’re going and what they’re doing and our defense, I think, got a handle on things, plus they had a lot of pride in themselves and they didn’t feel good about those first two drives. And you couple it with the fact that the offense did a good job of scoring points and putting pressure on their offense. All of a sudden their offense was under the gun. And I think you add those together with a punt return. When we didn’t make that fourth down touchdown attempt, I felt very confident that if we didn’t make it, we were going to get it back in good field position, because I sensed our defense was playing well and we would score the next time. Unfortunately, it was just a field goal, but we can’t leave this room without talking about Mike Nugent. Heavens to Betsy, what did he have? A 48 and 42 or —
REPORTER:: Yeah, 42.
TRESSEL:: He’s unbelievable.
REPORTER:: Coach, can you talk about Troy’s perseverance for the long term and also coming off a game where he had three turnovers? It just seems like he’s been able to bounce back from things earlier in the year when he wasn’t playing a lot and then coming back off a game where he had some mistakes late in the game.
TRESSEL:: I think Troy is one of those guys that’s very willing to figure out and digest what it is he needs to do to meet the goal that he has. I thought he worked hard to work himself into opportunities playing and then when he got his opportunity playing, there were some great things he did and some things he needed to improve upon and he knew as he left West Lafayette that we weren’t going to beat Michigan if we turned it over. Now, that didn’t mean he felt horrible about his performance. He thought he did some good things, and he did. As I mentioned early in the week, he’s competitive, he’s tough, he studies it. He’ll take a step every day as long as he stays as focused as he is.
REPORTER:: Jim, looking back the last couple weeks, was there a eureka moment with this offense? A lot of fans out there are asking now, where has this offense been the middle of the year and so forth and what just came around and putting Troy in the shotgun, shot
GINN: formation?
TRESSEL:: Shot
GINN:? That’s what they call it in Alabama, right? Tim’s from Alabama. We’re friendly. I think. I’m hoping. I think it was an evolution of what we were trying to get to and why did it take so long and all that stuff? I don’t know, but it did, and here we are and now we’re doing a little bit better. The kids have been trying all along, the coaches have been trying all along, a lot of young guys that have tried to figure out how they could fit in and us figure out how we could fit them in and sometimes I err on the side of seniority at times and maybe I went too long sometimes, but I love those seniors, I love those kids and I want to give them opportunities and I don’t regret it for a moment.
REPORTER:: Coach, nobody in NCAA history has had a career punt return — nobody’s had a career at Ohio State like he has when he’s only a freshmen, can you talk about his potential and the year he’s had already?
TRESSEL:: When they asked us to send in a ballot on the coaches All-American team and they asked us who do you really think is deserving to make All-American team and I sent in Nooge, of course, and I hope he does and I sent in as a return specialist, Ted
GINN:. I get to watch it every day in practice. And that one today, I don’t know where that — I mean, I was shocked. He just came out of nowhere. If you study had film, you’ll see with the two returners, we have a call guy and I don’t know that Santonio ever called who had the ball. And Ted just kind of kept looking back and forth like that, like ball, Tone, am I getting it? And all of a sudden he flipped his hands out and I was just happy he caught it. And how many yards later? 82? Oh, Lord. 82 yards later we’ve got a touchdown, he’s special.
REPORTER:: Coach, if we could stay with Teddy
GINN: for a moment.
TRESSEL:: I’d like to stay with him for four years.
REPORTER:: He’s distinguished himself on offense. He came in originally, I believe, playing defense. In the long hall do you see
GINN: possibly going both ways?
TRESSEL:: He’s very capable. His dad said, work him, you’re not working him enough. And he reminds me that he has to run the 200 hurdles and the 400 meters the next event. He said, I wouldn’t do it to any other child, but don’t worry about doing it to my child. I’m sure he’ll have a chance to do lots of things in the future.
REPORTER:: Jim, with everything you guys have been through this year, up and down season, the Clarett stuff off the field, how important was this win for the program and just the general morale of things?
TRESSEL:: Well, it was important because it was the Ohio State/Michigan game. Let’s go back to some years where there weren’t up and downs and let’s just go two years ago. There weren’t too many up and downs. We were 13-0 coming — or 12-0 coming into the game and that win was so crucial and Ohio State/Michigan is huge for the morale. Coach Bruce tells us every year, the Ohio State coach, if he wins the Ohio State/Michigan game, he can walk down the street in Columbus. If he loses, he better walk the back alleys. So it’s an important game. Thank you much.
