Postgame Quotes From No. 18 Ohio State vs. Minnesota – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
No. 18/17 Ohio State (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) 38, Minnesota (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) 7
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Oct. 24, 2009
Attendance: 105,011
OHIO STATE POSTGAME PLAYER QUOTES
Jermil Martin, freshman running back
On his touchdown
“It felt good to score a touchdown. It was a dream come true. It felt great to be able to help the team. I’ve always had that drive and motivation and it was great to go out and show it today. Terrelle told me good job and that I was finally proving myself.”
On practice
“I’ve gotten a lot better. I get better every day. We work hard in practice. I’ve better getting more reps in and hopefully it is paying off.”
On the game
“Coach Tressel told us at halftime that this was what it was all about. He told us to keep running the ball. I think we played well – Terrelle ran for over 100 yards and Posey scored twice. It was a great game for the team.”
Jim Cordle, senior offensive lineman
On his injury
“It doesn’t affect me during the play; I’m usually a little sore after though. It’s great to be back in a game situation. It can be up and down each day, but today I felt good. “
On the running backs
“The running backs came into the game and played great. Jermil has been waiting a long time and it was great to see him get a 39-yard run.”
On the win after the loss to Purdue
“It humbles us and we know that anyone can beat it. We bring it every day in practice. It felt great to still score touchdowns after some penalties. It showed us that we can still recover. It was a day of big plays.”
Dane Sanzenbacher, junior wide receiver
On the game
“We’ve taken the same approach at every game, but this game I think things just opened up more for us. We knew that it came down to the execution and that it was not a personnel thing.”
On the second half
“Going into the second half, he said the key was to keep doing what we were doing. We knew we could move the ball, we just weren’t putting points on the board.”
On Terrelle Pryor
“Terrelle played well. I know he took a lot of heat this week, but we know what he is capable of. Things went well today and we’re glad we came out wtih a win.”
Thaddeus Gibson, junior defensive end
On his three sack performance
“I don’t think I’ve done anything like that since high school. It felt great – have to credit to the rest of my line, they made my job a lot easier.”
On the fumble recovery at the beginning of the third quarter and the play of the special teams
“Our special teams unit was huge for us today. It is something we focus on a lot, using special teams to set and defense to help set up the offense – they came to play to today and it showed.”
On the third quarter
“It was probably the most complete quarter we’ve played all season. Everyone came out with a purpose, played hard and did what they need to do to help us win.”
John Simon, freshman tackle
On his forced fumble
“I didn’t really even know that is had happened until I heard the crowd start to roar – then I knew something good had happened. I just was lucky to get good pressure and knock it loose, and thankfully I had 10 other guys with me ready to jump on it.”
On play of the offense
“I think it was huge for the offense to have some positive things happen. They really turned it on and gave all of us on defense the chance to catch our breath – they did a great job of putting points up today.”
Aaron Pettrey, senior kicker
On his missed field goal
“I put the ball in a good spot and the wind shifted it a little bit. Everyone knows how seriously I take my job on the field, so it was very upsetting.”
On completing his field goals after the second half
“Contributing after that kick helped me to feel better. It’s always hard after something goes wrong in the beginning of the game because you have to try not to reflect on it later on as the game progresses.”
On trying to get past his missed attempt
“It was frustrating. I missed the ball probably within my first step. I always tell myself not to think too hard on it, so I’m trying not to let it bother me.”
Doug Worthington, senior lineman
On redeeming themselves after Purdue
“We wanted to make sure we came out and redeemed ourselves in front of our fans. We did a great job today. The leadership was good and everything really came together.”
On positive aspects that happened today
“We did a lot of things we need to do. Our offensive and defensive lines were a lot stronger than last week. We worked on a lot of things this week and tried to put the Purdue game out of our heads. As far as we’re concerned, it’s all about moving forward.”
On Terrelle’s improvement
“Terrelle did a great job. He’s really critical of himself. This week we told him to just work on getting better, and he did.”
Mike Brewster, sophomore lineman
On Terrelle Pryor
“Pryor made a lot of progress today. I don’t like to hear people say that he hasn’t improved from last year. He tries his hardest every game, and a lot of times the blame should be put back on us for not doing our jobs … After the [Purdue] game, [Pryor] stepped forward and told us the blame should be put on him and that he’s working to get better. We just told him that we’re all behind him and that we love him and we’re always here to support him.”
On getting a wake-up call
“It feels good. It all comes down to us doing what we need to do on the field. Sometimes you get a wake-up call and it really humbles you.”
DeVier Posey, sophomore wide receiver
On his touchdowns
“I feel like I still have a lot of learning to do. The touchdowns feel good but I’m only half of the equation. Terrell made great passes.”
On playing to the max
“We really went out and tried our hardest today. Everything we practiced we utilized the max this game. That said, there’s always room for improvement.”
On reaching his full potential
“I feel, personally, that I’m nowhere near where I want to be yet. I haven’t reached my full potential, especially because of my hamstring issue early on. I’m learning a lot and really trying to incorporate that knowledge onto the field.”
Brian Rolle, junior linebacker
On the win and rebounding from the Purdue loss
“It was just a great win overall for all of us. To hold an explosive offense like that to only seven points is really impressive. Our heads just weren’t in the game for some reason last week, but we were fully focused on the task at hand today.”
On Minnesota receiver Eric Decker’s injury
“He’s their main target, so losing him early really seemed to crush them. They had a hard time finding other guys to step up and make plays, and it made out job on defense much easier.”
On loosing the shutout in the fourth quarter
“I’ll take a win over a shutout any day – we just needed a positive result after last week and we were happy to get it.”
Bryant Browning, junior guard
On Jim Cordle’s performance
“Jimmy’s just such a hard worker on and off the field and it shows on Saturdays because he really excels. It’s great to know that you have guys like that who will be there to step in if you need him to.”
On the left tackle position
“Left tackles are really important for protecting the blind spot, especially when you have a right-handed QB like Terrelle. You really have to be alert at all times and be ready for a fight.”
Ross Homan, junior linebacker
On the absence of Dexter Larimore
“He’s such a great player, a big guy who draws doubles and can stuff the run. I hope to have him back soon because he makes my job a lot easier. “
On the difference between the Purdue and Minnesota game
“The main difference between the two games is that we came out of the gate fast this week and were really fired up. We used that energy throughout the game and it helped us to focus in and execute better.”
On keeping his brother Adam’s moral up
“I just tell him to keep his chin up, work hard and be eager to learn. His time will come.”
Kurt Coleman, senior safety
On the similarities between Purdue and Minnesota’s game plans
“They really came out and hit us with short passes just like Purdue did. We adjusted well and just played out game.”
On the difference between last week to this week
“We came out with a purpose and executed well. Everyone was just really into the game, and it showed on the field. This was a big win for us.”
Austin Spitler, senior linebacker
On the team’s mood throughout the week
“It was hard to not think about the loss to Purdue, but good teams have to come back and take care of business. We all came out today prepared and ready to play.”
On his first career interception
“I have to give all the credit to the defensive line. They got good pressure and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
On Minnesota WR Eric Decker and his injury
“We knew coming in that he would be one of the best wide receivers that we’d face. We base a lot of our game plan around him, and so did they. You could tell that they’re moral really took a hit when he went out.”
Coach Jim Bollman, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach
On Terrelle Pryor
“We want him to get better every day, just like we want everyone to get better every day. It’s not just the quarterback to blame for a loss, it’s everyone. We want everyone to get better.
On the game
“We had a missed field goal and had a bad play at the end of the first half. We had a couple of good opportunities that we weren’t able to cash in on.”
MINNESOTA POSTGAME QUOTES
Tim Brewster, Minnesota head coach
On his team’s overall performance
“I feel like we came ready to play today. We were excited to play against a good team. We played well in the first half. It was 7-0 in favor of Ohio State at the half so we were right in the middle of things. The mishandled kick return at the very beginning of the second half really hurt and the drops by our receivers hurt us as well. It’s just very unfortunate.”
On senior wide receiver Eric Decker
“Decker is our best player, so when he sprained his foot in the first half it was tough for the whole team. We have a saying that goes ‘Next man up’ that says that the next person in line has to step up and make plays and its disappointing that those guys couldn’t make the plays that we needed.”
On turnovers
“When you’re playing on the road in the Big Ten, turnovers are a recipe for disaster. That was part of our problem today, but not all of it.”
On moving his team forward
“We have got to be able to make big plays on the field. We’ve got to learn from what we did today and go out there and improve.”
On Terrelle Pryor’s long touchdown passes
“Our safety got matched up on their receiver and got turned around a bit and he obviously got beat. We didn’t make the plays we needed to. We also can’t let Pryor scramble around or sit in the pocket and hope that our coverage is going to hold for that long. It puts too much stress on our secondary.”
On the opening kick-off of the second half
“We were expecting a high kick on it and the wind just totally got a hold of it and knocked it down. It made it a very hard play but it’s a play that we’ve got to make.”
MarQueis Gray, freshman quarterback
On Eric Decker’s injury
“After Decker went down, we needed other guys to fill his shoes and step up. We had to move on and focus on putting points up on the board.”
On late touchdown score and using two quarterbacks
“It felt real good, but obviously a win would have felt a lot better. I was doing my run offense well and I’m trying to get better each game with it. I had no idea how much time I was going to play today. I had a set number of plays and just kept rotating in. He’s [Weber] been here for three years and knows what he’s doing.”
Troy Stoudermire, sophomore wide receiver
On Decker injury and turnovers
“With Decker out it was pretty obvious that other guys needed to get in the action. We dropped the ball a few times, but also had some good catches. When you play a team like Ohio State, you can’t have many mistakes and that cost us today.”
On the Minnesota special teams’ mistakes
“On the kickoff to start the second half, the wind took the ball in a different direction in the air. I need to try better next time. On the penalty during the punt coverage, I was running full speed and about ten yards out he [Small] signaled for a fair catch. I was confused because I barely tipped him and I was trying to get out of the way.”
Lee Campbell, senior linebacker
On the difference between the first and second halves
“We felt like we played our tails off both halves, on offense and defense. It just didn’t work out. Credit Ohio State. They played very well. They busted our coverage and made plays when needed. We need to play more sound on offense, defense and special teams and take care of the football.”
On what his emotions are following game
“I feel sad, mad and disappointed in the loss.”
On the momentum swing after the opening play in the second half
“We have to be able to handle adversity. Our motto is ‘don’t flinch.’ We can’t let that happen if we want to win these types of games.”
