Postgame Quotes From No. 1/1 Ohio State vs. Northern Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 2, 2006
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Brian Robiskie, sophomore flanker
On playing his first game as a Buckeye
“It was great. Getting some catches made it even better. My heart was pounding and I was ready to go. It is easy to get pumped up. It was exciting.”
On the play of Troy Smith
“Troy played like we expected. He had a great game. He and the offense came out firing. They looked great. He will have a great season.”
Brandon Mitchell, senior free safety
On the play of Garrett Wolfe
“He is amazing. With a field that was wet and tough to run on, he made some great cuts and moves. He showed just how much athleticism he has. He made plays that average backs wouldn’t make.”
On next week’s game against Texas
“We will definitely be prepared. It is going to be a great game. We are looking forward to it.”
Troy Smith, senior quarterback
On the game
“We did a good job overall. The offense did what we had planned to do. I can’t speak enough about the offense today. The defense did a great job holding them to 13 points.” David Patterson, senior defensive lineman
On the game
“I was happy with the effort on defense today and impressed by the younger guys.”
Doug Datish, senior offensive lineman
On Ohio State
“The new guys were consistent today. I was happy also with how the offensive line performed today.”
On Ohio State’s offense
“We took a big step on the offensive line today. The communication was one of the best things about today. We did great with that and with the communication being smooth, things are much easier for me.”
Quinn Pitcock, senior defensive lineman
On Garrett Wolfe
“He is a great running back as I watched on film and here today. I wish him the best of luck and think he’ll do great this year.”
Marcus Freeman, sophomore linebacker
On first game of the season
“It was the first game and we were going to be nervous, but after the first play, butterflies were out of the picture. My performance was OK. I just need to keep getting better each week. We just need to wrap up for next week and keep getting better as the season goes on.”
Alex Boone, sophomore offensive lineman
On today’s game
“The game was great today and the offense felt great today, too. It felt slow at first but we play better at the end than at the beginning, which is good. I had a great time. We need to be serious out there but still have some fun.”
On Ohio State’s offense
“The offense was great. When we are all in sync nobody can stop us.”
James Laurinaitis, sophomore linebacker
On the defense
“This year it is just 11 guys flying around the ball. There is a lot of competition and that is a good thing. Depth is always a good thing and it makes people step up.”
On the Texas game
“It is going to be a battle and we know that. They are good team and we need to limit the big plays that we gave up today.”
On the Northern Illinois
“Every time they broke a big play, it was a missed assignment. We need to sit down and look at the film so we can fix the mistakes we had today.”
Larry Grant, junior linebacker
On his interception
“We were in a zone and I was just sitting back and watching the play develop. I saw the quarterback’s eyes and just put myself in front of the ball.”
On the crowd
“This was by far the biggest crowd I have ever played in front of. In the spring game and the night practice, we had more people in the stands than I played in front of last year.”
Northern Illinois Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Joe Novak
On the way Northern Illinois played
“I was hoping to give Ohio State a better test than we did today. We got in a hole quickly and it was hard to come back. I was proud of the second half because we competed. We settled down and played better.”
On placing pressure on Troy Smith
“We blitzed a few times, but they picked it up. That hurt us. This offense is going to score a lot of points. I voted for them as No. 1 in the preseason and I’ll vote for them as No. 1 again.”
On Northern Illinois’ positives of the game
“In the first half, I was afraid things were out of hand. I thought we settled down and played better in the second half. We ran and threw a little better in the end. Playing a team like Ohio State points out the things we need to work on.”
On Ohio State’s defense
“The front group is good and the kids can run. They are talented athletes and all they need is the experience.”
Garrett Wolfe, senior tailback
On the defensive pressure of Ohio State
“It’s not so much they came at us hard, but we made mistakes up front. They played just as hard as Michigan did last year.”
On team’s loss
“I’m very disappointed with us losing. I believe this is the worst loss I’ve had as a player. We competed very hard, it was just unfortunate we had to lose.”
On Ohio State’s performance
“They are fast and athletic. The two defensive tackles cause lots of problems. We had a disadvantage not being able to see them on film. It is Ohio State – there is not going to be too much of a drop-off in talent.”
Phil Horvath, senior quarterback
On playing Ohio State
“I was not intimated. They are No. 1 for a reason. They have a great defense, so it was tough. There was a lot of pressure on me. I was doing too much. We are told to never watch the scoreboard, but you see all that is happening around you and it’s tough. They deserve to be No. 1. They are a great team.”
On their game plan
“We were trying to run the best plays into their defense. Nothing was going right. During the second half, we got rolling pretty good. It wasn’t the sharpest game I’ve ever played, but it was a good learning experience.”
On Ohio State’s defense
“They are a tremendous defense. I didn’t know what to expect. I can’t compare them to last year’s (defense) because we didn’t play them, but they did not struggle.”
Ken West, senior defensive end
On Ohio State’s performance
“Their offensive line was pretty good. We had All-American Kirk Barton up against us. They made big plays and they are a great team. They are No. 1 in the nation. (Antonio) Pittman found the holes, and hit where we weren’t.”
Alvah Hansbro, senior cornerback
On playing a No. 1 ranked team
“It’s Ohio State. Everyone wants to play in this stadium and play a No. 1 team. We got overzealous. Everything comes at you at once and that’s when mistakes start happening.”
Adriel Hansbro, senior cornerback
On Ted Ginn Jr.
“I’ve played people of similar speed, but he was fast. That is the name of the game. We tried to cut his angles and tried to get our hands on him as much as possible. We made a lot of mistakes – things we can’t do, let alone against a No. 1 team.”
