Postgame Quotes From No. 6/9 Ohio State vs. Miami – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2005
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
Justin Zwick, Quarterback, Jr.
On starting as quarterback
“I thought it went really well. We weren’t able to get into the end zone as much as I wanted, but it was good overall. I just wanted to come out and have fun and not put too much pressure on myself. Now I am going to have to prepare for next week.”
Todd Boeckman, Quarterback, Fr.
On the game
“Today was a great opportunity for me. It was an unbelievable feeling to be out there and have my first touchdown in Ohio Stadium. I felt confident with myself and just went out there and did what the coaches asked. I just wanted to have fun.”
Nate Salley Free Safety, Sr.
On Texas
“Texas will most definitely be a big game. I love night games, because there is so much energy in the Shoe. I have been looking forward to this since my freshman year, because Texas had the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation and we were second, so this will decide which one was better. This is probably the third biggest game since I have been here, besides Michigan and the national championship.”
On the defense
“We used a lot of blitzes today that we have run since freshmen year, so we were pretty familiar with them. We were able to put a lot of pressure on Miami and I believe we did a good job.”
Rob Sims, Offensive Lineman, Sr.
On offensive line play
“I think we played very physical today and picked up a lot of blitzes. Obviously we didn’t play perfect but we’ll learn a lot this week from the film and get ready for Texas.” On first drive
“We had a lot of pent up energy coming into the game. It felt great to hit someone else instead of our own team. As an offense we feel like we’re unstoppable, especially up front. We have a lot of experience and talent and if we play like we can then we’re going to be successful.”
Nick Mangold, Center, Sr.
On mental preparation
“It was a little hard with all the hype about next week but we know every game is special. Like we learned from the 2002 team, you can’t overlook any team but we all had Texas in the back of our mind.”
Maurice Wells, Tailback, Fr.
On first carries as a Buckeye
“On my first carry, I didn’t expect to score so it was surprising to get so close. But I’m happy with my performance today. I felt like I ran well and blocked well. But I don’t want to be satisfied because once that happens you get complacent.”
A.J. Hawk, Linebacker, Sr.
On Ohio State team
“I feel like our whole attitude is very good right now. We have really come together as a team and we don’t have any individuals. Today we took a few steps forward and we have a huge game next week.”
Bobby Carpenter, Linebacker, Sr.
On defensive pressure
“That’s our goal every game to get after the quarterback. Today we got a lot of pressure on (Josh) Betts and because of that he started throwing some balls up.”
Miami Coach and Player Quotes
Head coach, Shane Montgomery
Opening Statement
“I’m disappointed with the outcome. We were well prepared; although we did have a couple of positions we had question marks in. One of those was the defensive line. I thought we were prepared to play. We played an excellent team today, No. 6 in the nation. We knew they were going to be a big, physical team and that they had many starters back. I think I’m disappointed not in the effort of our team, but in making plays. I told my players in the locker room, though, that whatever happened today was not going to affect our goal this season: to win the MAC championship.”
On the emotions from first game as head coach
“I knew as a coach, the players were going to play off of my emotions. I tried to play it even-keel and actually, I thought of it as a regular game. It was more exciting because it was my first game as a head coach but once the opening kickoff happened, it was just another game.”
On defending against Ted Ginn Jr.
“When you play against players like Ted Ginn, you just hold your breath. You’ve got your defense. You’ve got your schemes against him. But there are questions. We did do a good job of containing him. We covered well. We watched video last night of a few of his punt returns. I think that helped get our players ready a little bit. I think we bottled him up pretty well.”
Josh Betts, Quarterback, Sr.
On the Ohio State defense
“Ohio State did a great job of getting pressure on us all day. I know they had some questions with their D-line and I thought they did a great job. “They did a great job or mixing their personnel and blitzes. We did our best, which is a credit to them. They’re a great team. We’ll rebound for next week.”
On the Interception thrown in the second quarter
“I knew as soon as I let it go there was a chance it would get picked off. It’s very frustrating.”
On moving on to next week
“We did the best we could today. We have a great team and will be able to recover from this.”
Ryan Robinson, Wide Receiver, Jr.
On difference between first game last year and this season
“We have progressed a lot as a team in the last year. We had some anxiety in the first half that stopped some things we were trying to do. We were much better in the second half.”
