Postgame Quotes vs. Arkansas State
9/10/2022 4:56:04 PM | Football
Ohio State 45, Arkansas State 12
September 10, 2022
Ohio Stadium — 100,067
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day
On Ohio State’s growth…
“There were some good things there, but if we’re going to be the team we want to be, we need to be able to keep building and keep growing and there’s certain areas that we’re going to improve on. There were a lot of things that I would like to see done better, but there were also a lot of good things too, and what we don’t want to do is take winning for granted. It took a lot of really hard work and there were a lot of good performances, but I know there’s going to be a lot of things that we have to look at tomorrow that we have to keep building on, keep growing and making improvements.”
On Marvin Harrison Jr. …
“Marvin is very mature for his age with that high level of route running. To see somebody who has played as much as he has and has that high level of route running, it’s pretty remarkable. Marvin was a big part of getting us going and certainly has big play capability.”
On how Ohio State played vs. Arkansas State…
“We’re playing with toughness. We’re playing with an edge and taking care of the football. Those are really positive things, but the negative things get us off schedule and we just don’t execute at a high level and then that throws us off.”
C.J. Stroud, Ohio State quaterback
On Marvin Harrison Jr.’s development…
“They just couldn’t contain him today. Every day in practice, he just shows how great of an athlete he is. And he works so hard. During the week, bloody Tuesdays, going into Wednesday third downs and red zone. He’s always given me clean numbers. H e’s one of the best route runners I’ve ever played with. So today, it was just the day to do it. I know Emeka (Egbuka), (Xavier Johnson), and all those other guys, like Julian (Fleming) and Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) when they’re back, will do the same thing, too.”
On the run game…
“I think as a whole our run game is much more clean. It’s a lot of runs that we like to do. They’re more schemed up, so we’re really working with people, a lot more conversation, and then of course it starts up front. I think our O-line did a great job today. Miyan (Williams) and (TreVeyon Henderson) have been great since they stepped foot on campus. I don’t think they’re doing anything new. Just as a whole, we’re working better together and getting communication down.”
On the tight ends…
“It’s helping us majorly. Our tight ends have been able to be versatile in the run game and in the pass game. You’ve seen Cade today get that big-time catch on that play. We’ve been grinding on that play all week. I think they’re leaders more than anything. Cade is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around in my life. So, I think that definitely plays a part. We want to give him the ball because he’s just a great guy, but at the same time, he does his job very well.”
On working hard and having fun…
“We put in so much work in the offseason behind closed doors that nobody really sees. So it’s started to pay off a little bit. I feel like we can do more. We have fun with it and just keep working. Keep having fun out there. I think today we had fun.”
On whether he is satisfied…
“I don’t think I’m really ever satisfied. I don’t think anybody on offense or defense is ever satisfied. No matter if we had a perfect game, which never happens, we’ve never played perfect. So no, I mean, I don’t know if we’re supposed to be where we’re at. I think we’re at where we’re at. We just have to build from that. We’re definitely where we’re supposed to be in certain aspects but have to get better.”
On Donovan Jackson…
“Just his confidence man, just being that young. He told me he was nervous before the Notre Dame game, but I told him you’ve been doing this since you were seven years old. It’s just the same game we’ve been playing and he’s been playing really well. He’s very confident, he knows his looks, knows his reads, knows where he has to get to, knows the ID’s and things like that. So he’s very knowledgeable, a very great young player. Great footwork, very strong. I mean, you look at him, he looks like a big body. He’s doing a lot of great things and he’ll continue to be great.”
Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers
On the Ohio State team…
“I feel like there was a lot that we left on the field, a lot of points and a lot of yards. We just need to be more disciplined as an entire team.”
On the Ohio State defensive style…
“With the defense we have, it allows you to play kind of courageous and to be aggressive.”
On the expectations of the Ohio State defense…
“I think we can be the top in the nation.”
On the Ohio State defense…
“It’s really nice knowing we’re able to keep teams to such low points. At the same time, there is so much we can improve on; there’s so many mistakes we’re still making out there.”
On the new defensive structure under Jim Knowles…
“We got together in the winter; we came together as a close unit, as a defense. Since then, we have been on the upswing.”
Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
On what he learned last season that’s helped him this season so far…
“This is only my third start, so I’m still trying to get better each week. I think I’m a pretty good route runner, but that too is just trying to be a complete receiver.”
On quarterback C.J. Stroud…
“He can put it wherever he wants to. He’s a great player – it’s like he handed me the ball.”
On how dangerous the Buckeyes’ receiving corps is for opposing defenses…
“I know how difficult it will be for them, we just try to do our part. Anybody can have a breakout game, having as many weapons as we have on the offensive side, even running the ball with TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams. We can hit you in so many different ways.”
Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson
On the Ohio State offensive line…
“My whole line, they work very hard. These guys work very hard, and so it’s great. When I get to the second level, I’ll be in touch.”
On the Ohio State offense…
“I’m glad I have other running backs who can make plays; it takes that load off me.”
“It’s working great, but our main goal is to not get too complacent; we have to bring that same mentality every week.”
On opportunities this season compared to last season….
“It’s a little bit too early to tell; it went the same way last year. It is just about keeping that consistency from the beginning of the year to the end.”
On the second half…
“We had a lot of penalties and we made a lot of mistakes in the first half, so in the second half, we just came out and fixed up those mistakes that we made.”
Arkansas State head coach Butch Jones
On the game…
“First of all, I have a lot of respect for Ohio State and Coach Day. Ohio State is a very good and very talented football team. So, we knew that it would be a challenge coming here. When you play a team like Ohio State, every mistake you make is magnified. So, you have to do a great job and not beat yourself. They have great football players, they have got really good schemes and they force you to execute.”
On the second half start…
“I didn’t like the way we started the second half. I thought we lacked some intensity. And when you look at it, we had two three-and-outs offensively to start the second half. On [Ohio State’s] first two possessions they went down and scored. But I will give our kids credit. It’s like I told our team, there are no moral victories to be the type of team that we want to be. You expect to win no matter who the opponent is, no matter where you play. That’s kind of a mindset that we’re building in our football program. But I am proud of the way our kids competed. And that’s what I wanted to see is what type of competitive grit they would have. I thought they showed some competitiveness.”
On the small things…
“When you really look at the game within the game, I think it came down to critical downs. When you look at third down conversions, I believe we were five out of 20. You’re not going to win very many games if you don’t possess the football. We gave up way too many explosive plays on the perimeter of our defense. I believe there were four plays of 40 yards or more for touchdowns. You can’t do that. You have to make an offense drive the ball. But again, I thought our kids competed.”
On the takeaway from this experience…
“Like I told our players, you know, we need to self-assess, look at everything with a critical eye in what’s one positive thing that we can build off of. We are disappointed, but not discouraged. I thought our kids competed. The first half was a lot of great learning lessons. We got a long football season, but I think there are a lot of things to build upon as well. It’s disappointing because we lost. We practice with crowd noise. We practice in the winter time with crowd noise. We practice Thursdays with crowd noise. We practice with annoying noises. So, I didn’t think that was a factor at all. And I think when you’re at this level, the first thing you want to see is a clean game. The biggest thing is we didn’t turn the football over on offense. That’s against a really good defense. That’s something to build upon. So, there are a lot of positives. Like I said, we expect to win the football game. But I think what our team learned, and we’ll talk more about it, is we can be a really good football team if we don’t beat ourselves.
