Postgame Transcript From No. 1 Ohio State vs. Michigan State – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
COACH TRESSEL: Well, it was an interesting game we played today. I thought our guys came out, played very, very solid first half and defensively I thought we played solid the whole game. Offensively, unfortunately, we gave away 14 points, which you can’t do if you want to be the Big Ten champions, but fortunately our defense is who they are today and got them stopped and we did a fairly good job putting some run drives together there when they were just sending the kitchen sink and all, and the blitz, and Beanie stepped up and toted it a bunch of times. There were some good things, some we’ve got to square away if we want to be good, and we understand what lies ahead.
JENKINS: I think we played well on defense, we did a lot of good things. Offensively we’ve got to keep the ball in our hands, it put us in the hole kind of, made it a better game than it should have been. It’s a win, but every time you come out and win in the Big Ten, it’s a great win. Michigan State is a team who they’re never going to stop fighting. They hung in there longer than we expected them to, but that’s what the Big Ten is. We’re happy with the win, we’re going to watch the film and go from there.
REPORTER: Coach, Beanie Wells ran for something like 220 yards today. Michigan State’s entire offense had like 180. Can you talk about the entire defensive performance because they really gave Michigan State nothing, and again emphasize a little about Wells’ performance today.
COACH TRESSEL: I think that statistic you bring out shows you the importance of turnovers, you can’t turn it over and give them 14 points and have it look like those statistics tell the tale. Our defense held them to under 200 yards total offense, which is extraordinary for a college football game and they were attacking, playing low, and Michigan State is a good run football team, they have big numbers on the run and our guys stepped up to the challenge and pressured the quarterback as well and just played hard and played very well and got better in round No. 8.
REPORTER: That flurry there, that three plays, the pick and a couple fumbles, was there anything they were doing there, was there a common denominator?
COACH TRESSEL: They did a good job bringing some blitzes off the front that we hadn’t prepared for. We still have to, when things go that way, we’ve got to hold on to the ball or take our sack, we’ve got to hand the ball to the official when we get done with the run that’s not so good. We didn’t panic, and it wasn’t a good quarter for us offensively, but I thought our guys did a good job back there, coming-out zone as we called it, seemed like we were pinned down a couple times, I thought our guys raised up and ran the ball, our goal is to be able to rush the ball for 200 yards and I think we were close to that.
So we’ll learn some lessons and hats off to Michigan State. Mark’s going to have those guys playing hard and playing all game and they have good athletes and it’s what the Big Ten is all about.
JOHNSON: Well, they’re not all pretty like you want them to be, but I think we got some great things done on the offense, especially in the first half. Some things we’ve got to clean up in the second half that we didn’t execute the way we wanted to, as long as we came out with the W, I’m satisfied and looking forward to going into Happy Valley next week.
BARTON: Based on the second half, we obviously didn’t finish the way we wanted to. It’s hard to go out there with your family after a game like this, when you’re outclassing a team, and all of a sudden they come back because you give them a couple easy bunnies. Our defense has been lights out, as they have been in every game, and our offense was doing a couple stupid things. It’s hard to be calm and not throw a hissy fit right now, but I’m not happy. We came back to win it all, and that’s what we’re doing. We’ve got to get better this week.
LAURINAITIS: It was a good, tough win. I think anytime you get a win in the Big Ten, it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be physical. I think the most important thing is that it’s a good team win. There are three phases: Offense; defense; and special teams. I think that’s what I like the most about this team is it’s really a true team. No matter what happens, there’s no excuses. Everyone just goes out there and does it for each other and wants to pick up their brother. And the greatest thing about this game was that, you know, on the sideline, when things started going their way, no one had their head down, everyone was encouraging each other, and that’s something to say about the guys we have on this team.
REPORTER: Coach, on Beanie’s fumble, after they scored the two touchdowns, can you say what you were feeling or thinking as that ball came out and obviously how difficult it was for Beanie to get back on that?
COACH TRESSEL: That was not a good feeling. I can’t tell you exactly what I was feeling or maybe even saying, but just sometimes you don’t do as well as you’d like and you have to gather yourself and try to get going back in the right direction and we had good fortune to get back on that ball and here we are.
REPORTER: Jim, staying with Beanie for a minute, what did today tell you about him? Obviously he hadn’t been able to play a full game or hasn’t had to. 30 carries, 200 yards, particularly those last few drives when you needed those downs.
COACH TRESSEL: We knew for us to be a good team, we were going to need Beanie to be a warrior, a workhorse. That’s what he wants to be. That’s what we want him to be. We feel as if Mo and Brandon can also be a part of things, but we feel as if Beanie can be the guy that totes it in moments like that last couple drives, and our backs were against the wall a number of times, it seems like, when we started on the 2 and the 4 and the 5 or whatever, but he toted it for us and I know he was proud of what those guys up front did because they were knocking them off the ball and we need to be able to do that just like we need to be able to hit the long passes to Robie and all the rest to be a good offense.
REPORTER: Before you went back out there for that last drive, did Beanie tell you he wanted the ball? Did you have any kind of conversation before they went out there?
COACH TRESSEL: Beanie doesn’t talk much — I don’t know if you guys have been around him — especially on the field, does he? I don’t ever remember getting a hello from Beanie on the field, so, no, he didn’t.
REPORTER: Did you say anything to him, though?
COACH TRESSEL: I don’t talk much more either.
REPORTER: Jim, I think you mentioned part of the problem with fumbles is the lack of focus and I wonder if — you had an inordinate number of false starts today, was that because of a lack of focus or was that because of so many other things going on with false starts?
COACH TRESSEL: I’m not sure, if you look at the fumbles we had today, Todd was hit kind of from a blind side and I’m not ready to say without watching it that that was a lack of focus. And his interception throw, I’m sure he thought he knew where they were coming from and made a mistake there. But I didn’t sense a lack of focus at all from this football team. I thought our defense was wired in. I thought every special unit was wired in. Our offense knew that once we got up there that they were going to just be coming after us like wild indians and sometimes that makes you jerk a little bit in your stance when you’ve got blitzes running up all the time and so forth, but, no, I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed with the focus.
REPORTER: Coach, going back to Kirk’s opening comments, do you echo any of his frustrations? He looks like a guy who lost a football game right now, do you have any of that same frustration that Kirk has?
COACH TRESSEL: Kirk and I have a little bit different personality, but probably similar thoughts. And it is disappointing when you’re going along and your defense is pitching a shutout and you need to do your part of the thing and you give up 14 points. That’s very disappointing when you take your responsibility seriously. And I don’t know about the hissy fit part, but I’m not happy that those 14 points count against our defense, the way it looks, and our defense shut them out for the most part.
REPORTER: Coach, obviously defensively you didn’t blitz a lot, but when you did, it seemed like it was very effective and some third and longs late in the game, and with Coleman’s sack, kind of talk about that as a weapon and your ability to come from a variety of angles.
COACH TRESSEL: I probably couldn’t draw up one of our blitzes. Malcolm, you answer that for me.
JENKINS: It’s a huge advantage when you can blitz a safety or a corner or linebackers and they all get equal pressure. I think that’s one of the good points of our defense, we have a lot of players, it’s not just individuals, everybody’s making plays, Doug Worthington had an interception today. The thing is that we have so much variety and come from so many angles.
REPORTER: You’ve been asked various times this year about the defense and I know we’re not at the end of the season yet, but what do you think about this defense? You obviously shut down another team that had big offensive stats.
COACH TRESSEL: They have a lot of pride in preparing for their challenges, it’s a group that’s very focused. You watch them as they come into the film room, out on the practice field, they run fast, they’re physical, of course, but what I’ve been very impressed with is their passion for the preparation and it starts from when they walk in on Sunday and doesn’t end until they go out and do their job on the following Saturday. They’re a very prepared group and very talented.
REPORTER: Despite being Number 1, it seemed like a lot of folks weren’t giving you a lot of credit for your 7-0 start, saying you weren’t tested. You were tested today. Are you better for it and can you speak to the quality of 8-0?
COACH TRESSEL: We’ve been tested all year. Everybody that plays Ohio State is going to play them to their A game. It’s just the way it is. We’re proud of that. Everybody we play, plays the best they can, so that’s a test in itself. We know there are some big tests coming up, but the tests we’ve taken so far, we’ve passed, and we’ve got a big one coming up end of this week and we’ll see how we can make out with that one.
