Postgame Press Conference Transcript (OSU vs. Marshall) – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Video: Highlights | Head Coach Jim Tressel | Ohio State Players
Audio: Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday
REPORTER: Coach, defense pitches is shutout, offense —
COACH TRESSEL: There was a lot we got out of it. It was coming off of a hard training camp and I was a little worried about the fatigue factor on our legs. So it was good that we got a number of guys in. The things, unfortunately, we coaches remember are the blocked field goals and the kickoff returns that were brought back against us and so forth, but I thought our kids played hard. It was good to see guys like Tyler Moeller, you know, back in there and it was good to see the fact that some of the kids have grown and are, I think, becoming better football players and the reality is we’ve got a tremendous challenge next weekend and if we’re willing to learn a little bit from this weekend and get rested and get healthy, it will be a lot of fun.
Brandon Saine, when he hits that gear, he can go. I thought our guys did a good job on that one. The long one that picked up a little blitz and a little crease and B. Saine was out of there. I thought Terrelle did some real good things. It’s going to be a more difficult world next week, but for what it was, it’s a win. We got a chance to leave training camp and play a game of football. Now we have a chance to evaluate ourselves and get ready for what we know is going to be a great challenge.
REPORTER: Jim, you’ve had some openers that weren’t quite as impressive as this. How important was it to come out with a game like this tonight and now have nine days before the big game against Miami?
COACH TRESSEL: Well, it was important that we come out and play hard and make some plays. I think in Marshall’s defense, a new staff coming in and playing against a solid team, that was a tough draw for them, but I thought we did some good things. It was important that we did, it would only be real important if we could learn that they weren’t all good things and there’s a whole bunch of things we have to do better if we have to compete at the next level next weekend.
REPORTER: Do you feel like Terrelle has sort of picked up where he left off? What did you see?
COACH TRESSEL: I thought Terrelle had confidence in where he was going with the ball. I thought his anticipation was good. Sometimes when you’re wearing a black jersey since April and you know you can hold the ball a little longer, you might not let it go as quickly as you need to. I thought he did a pretty good job of that. Now, he’ll need to do it even quicker next week, but I just thought his command and his anticipation was pretty darn good. I think he knew what they were doing out there and I’m not so sure when we got into the third quarter, after that good first drive which I thought was a good drive, I’m not sure we were quite as good after that, quite as sharp. All of a sudden it was 42-7 and we were hoping that first group would go down and score again, but we weren’t quite as sharp.
REPORTER: Along the lines of Terrelle — Coach, to your right, along the lines with Terrelle, it seemed like he stayed with plays longer, did not anticipate trying to run the football quite as much as we’d seen the last two years and was that part he had maybe better protection than he had? They gave up only one sack tonight.
COACH TRESSEL: I think maybe a little bit of both. I think he has a much greater handle on how the guys up front and the backs are going about their protection and he’s involved in the discussion on the line of scrimmage as to what the line of protection is going to be, so he has a better feel for where people are coming from and just those experiences, growth that he’s had, I thought our guys did a pretty good job. There were some times where he sat back there and there was a lot of time. You know it’s going to be more difficult than that in the future, but this was a good first start.
REPORTER: Coach, you mentioned some of the struggles on special teams. Down in front. You mentioned some of the struggles on special teams. Is that a product of execution, maybe a little bit of the youth and what can you guys do in the one-week span to kind of fix those things up?
COACH TRESSEL: I think we just didn’t protect the gap on the field goal because we got the kickoff in like 1.22 seconds. Now, I don’t know if it was hit high enough. Sometimes you drive those long ones, they’re a little lower, but we just flat out didn’t protect, so that better get fixed in one week. As far as the kickoff coverage, you know, we sure hope it does. I can’t sit here and tell you exactly what happened, who got blocked or who went out of a lane or whatever, but we’ll figure that out tomorrow and begin working on that tomorrow.
REPORTER: Coach, as Clay said, the defense didn’t allow any points at all in an opener and that’s got to make you feel really good. The quickness of the defense tonight both on the line and the linebackers looked really, really good, they really didn’t allow Marshall anything. Can you short of reflect on the defensive unit and how they played tonight?
COACH TRESSEL: We have excellent quickness and we’ve got those veterans in there and Ross and B. Rolle have been there a long time there in the middle and of course Cam is a force, Johnny Simon’s getting better all the time, the kids — Dex is. We’ve got a pretty good veteran group. And as you say, to me their greatest strength is their quickness. And to have quickness, you have to know what you’re doing. Sometimes, you know, lack of knowledge makes you not look quick, and so they’re a bright bunch, they work hard, they prepare hard, they know they’ve got a battle coming this weekend because there’s going to be a little bit of “I” formation playing and pounding, it’s going to be a different world, which is what Marshall used to be, so Marshall is doing a transition away from a style of play they used to play and I’m not sure they were ready for our defense.
REPORTER: You’ve had a hot camp, a hot night tonight, does that equalize anything, prepare you for a team that’s preparing and practicing in 95/100 degree weather down there?
COACH TRESSEL: I guess it will depend upon what the weather is here next Saturday, but, you know, it’s been good because it’s been challenging and our guys have had to really work hard to concentrate and hopefully we’ll get back to 100 percent healthy and then all of that training, that pounding will serve us, I hope, down the road, but I don’t know if it will be an advantage for next week, but it’s going to be a good thing if we can get back to healthy. I think the only guy that got banged today, Corey Linsley banged an ankle a little bit when Jamaal Berry kind of hit him in the back. Carlos Hyde rolled an ankle I think a little bit. Dorian Bell, I think, got dinged, but other than that, hopefully we got out of it healthy.
