Photo by: Ohio State Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Penn State
10/21/2023 4:53:00 PM | Football
No. 3 Ohio State 20, No. 7 Penn State 12
Oct. 21, 2023 – Ohio Stadium; Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 105,506
Ryan Day, Ohio State head coach
On the environment at the game...
"When the Shoe is rocking like that, it's a difference maker. I thought our players fed off it and you can tangibly see it on the field. They fed off the crowd. When we got that JT [Tuimoloau] sack on fourth down, that was as loud as I've heard the crowd. I just felt the toughness and physicality on defense. You started to see the confidence grow in a big way."
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On the offensive performance and the dominance of Marvin Harrison Jr…
"They were the number one defense in the country statistically coming in, so we knew it was going to be a little bit that way. There were times where we were moving the ball okay, didn't run the ball well enough and make enough explosive plays, but we had enough to win. Overall, just not good enough, but I have to give Marvin Harrison Jr. so much credit. To go for 11 catches, 162 yards and a touchdown when most teams, the first thing they look at is how to take away Marvin Harrison Jr."
On what he saw from Kyle McCord…
"There were some really good things. He kept battling in there and enough for us to win. I know we're going to watch this film and there are still going to be some things that we need to grow on and things that we did well that we're going to enhance. We'll watch the film on Tuesday and have a better assessment on that and whether we're good enough to be a champion or not. I thought we left a lot of plays on the field today."
On the defense...
"They were 1-for-16 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down, so 2-for-19 on third and fourth down is tremendous. If we could play like this, then this is that champion-level defense and if we grow as a team, we will be tough to beat down the road."
Â
On Cade Stover...
"Cade does so much of the dirty work. He's such a great leader and a tough player, so we have to keep finding ways to get him the ball and keep finding ways to be creative to do that for him. He deserves that."
Marvin Harrison Jr., wide receiver
On his incredible stats...
"It sounds crazy to say but, I'm just doing my job out there on the field. I focus on what I am doing and just walk out there and make a play."
On the atmosphere...
"The bigger the game, the better. I actually love those moments."
Â
On the defense ...
"They're playing tremendous right now and are the best in the country."
Â
On quarterback Kyle McCord having somewhat of a slow start...
"That is just part of the game. It's going to be a long game and we need to push all the way through the fourth quarter."
Â
On having something to prove offensively or defensively...Â
"I think it's just a matter of coming out there and thinking about how we can execute. That is the most important. We have tremendous respect for the defense."Â
On takeaways from the game...
"This team has a lot of experience both offensively and defensively; we are more battle-tested and we want to be able to blow teams out. Â We aren't really doing that right now, but we will fight to the end."
Â
On improving going forward...
"We have two games under our belt against the top two teams in the country and we are learning that in the fourth quarter, we need to go out and make plays. Â We know we have to go out and stick with it and trust ourselves and our coaches."
Â
On getting open...
"It feels great; I'm just trying to do my part. Â I do everything I can to make the plays."Â
JT Tuimoloau, defensive endÂ
On how the defense is looking compared to years past...
"It feels great. I mean, just trusting in the process and planning and staying close to God. None of this is ever possible for myself and the team if God is not involved. God is the center of everything and I believe that being patient is hard. But you stay together. It's especially hard with the ups and downs, but this defense has a chip on its shoulder especially from last year."Â
On this game being a statement...
"I think it's a statement, but I think being consistent, staying consistent, not just showing up against big matchups but showing up in everything. I think for us to do it. We hear a lot about what we learned last year. There was barely any talk about will be this year and I think that's a lot of our motivation and we want to continue to be able to defend ourselves."
Â
On the second half...
"We came out there and we just keep delivering these moments. Coach Knowles tells us every time, 'You want to be the team that has the ball on the back end,' and you have to embrace that."
Kyle McCord, quarterback
On his confidence post-Notre Dame...
"I think especially a game like that type of opponent that, it was Notre Dame, who I think is a really good team, as well as the environment. I don't think you can really draw up, especially early on in the year, a tougher game for a team to go into and get that win is huge. For myself and for the rest of the team that was a huge confidence boost, being able to go in there and get a win. We obviously got back from that game and tried to correct what was wrong, but at the same time, we knew that if we can continue to use that momentum, well, it's gonna be a good year."
On his connection with Cade Stover...
"I think when I first got here it was Cade's third year and at that time, he was kind of bouncing back and forth between linebacker and tight end. Seeing the work that he's put in over the past few years, especially with Coach Bailey, I think the work speaks for itself. I think he's always been a very physical presence. I feel like he's never lacked anything in the run game, but then just seeing the work that he puts in his route running and his balls shows all that. I think it's really starting to show. Teams want to give Marvin Harrison Jr. more attention. That's going to leave other guys with one on one situations like you saw there. Obviously he went out and made a great play and he's been doing that for the entire season."
On the team's resume...
"In terms of a resume, I don't know if we could have a better resume right now, but that doesn't mean anything if we don't continue to win and continue to stack these games. Everyone in that locker room has the next game mentality; as long as we continue to keep winning, everything else will take care of itself."
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On where the offense is in terms of its end goal...
"I think we're really close. You go back and watch film and ask yourself, 'What is holding us back from scoring on every single drive?' It's little things that can easily be cleaned up. Every single week we're getting better and better."
Jordan Hancock, cornerbackÂ
On shutting Penn State down...
"It means a lot because that Penn State offense is really good. A lot of eye discipline violators that they do so we had to play with extreme discipline and play with a lot of energy, which we did today."
On Jermaine Matthews stepping up today...
"That kid, he's great, man. When he came out there, we had the utmost confidence in him because we're just super proud of him. We see how hard he prepares and he's just a dawg. I'm happy to have him in the secondary with us."
On holding Penn State to one-for-16 on third downs...
"That goes to our preparation. On the secondary, Coach E [Perry Eliano] and Coach Walker have been preparing us for this game knowing we had to take on that challenge."
On winning with defense...
"It means a lot. Maybe in the past couple years, the offense couldn't rely on us but that's not the case this year. We just wanted to make a statement to the whole country that we can win games with defense."
On Penn State's defense being talked about as the best...
"We took it personal because we feel like we're the best defense in the country. We had to show those guys that we came here to play too. They had a lot of attention on their defense, but I feel like we just had to play with a chip on our shoulder."
On the defense being much better in big games than last year...
"We're more experienced. You have a lot of people that can play everywhere. We have young freshmen stepping up. We have a lot of people playing multiple positions, so it's making us play a lot better. We're playing with confidence."
On his third down hit in the backfield...
"I just had that B-gap. I just had to make a statement that corners can tackle too, so I started to come down to the play."
On playing after dealing with injury last year...
"It's awesome - I just look up to the man above. I thank the training room for getting me healthy so I can play this game and play in front of 100,000 fans."
On Denzel Burke being out and stepping up...
"Next man up. I had to go outside. Jermaine Matthews had to go outside. I had double duty playing slot and outside, so we had to rise to the occasion."
Steele Chambers, linebacker
 On Jermaine Mathews Jr. stepping up…
"It was awesome. It was an underthrown ball, and he just kept his composure and didn't create a pass interference. I know as a freshman I couldn't do that. I think that's just a little glimpse of what he's gooing to have his entire career here."
Â
On the significance of the win...
"Any kind of game you can win like that is huge, especially getting a top-10 team like Penn State. They're a hell of a team; they've got good coaches and good players. I think that's just extra momentum for us going into the rest of the season."
Â
 On the energy from the fans...
 "It's just a big energy booster seeing Buckeye Nation like that for us. I think it's huge."
Cody Simon, linebacker
On Jermaine Mathews Jr. stepping up…
"He's a baller and he's fearless. Like Steel said, I don't know if I'm making those plays as a freshman. How he stepped up is all about competitive excellence."
On how the pass rushers performed…
"They are so violent and elusive, having JT and Jack on both sides and it's like I wouldn't know what to do as a quarterback either. Hats off to them."
On the team's progress...
"We're always trying to build and get better every week. We know our end goal is in mind and we know we want to get better each week."
Â
On "championship level" defense...
"Coach Knowles is the mastermind and head honcho. He has a great mentality. He lets us make plays and puts us in the right position."
Â
On if the Buckeyes felt they had something to prove against Penn State...
"We always feel like we have something to prove. It doesn't really matter who you're going up against."
Jim Knowles, Ohio State defensive coordinator
 On third-down stops...
"[Our defense] knows the scheme. Â We make adjustments during the week. Â I talk about, 'We have to get the stops,' and try to make little adjustments, and they pick up on that. Â When we do that in the game, it's huge, and it only comes with preparation and with guys who are knowledgeable about the scheme."
Â
On Jordan Hancock...
"They [Penn State] started huddling a lot, not showing us the formation so I can make the call based on that, and Jordan has been recognizing the formations and it shows a lot of progress in him."
Â
On the defense's confidence...
"Confidence and momentum are such a huge part in the attitude of playing defense and what I'm most proud of is when we got the stop in their end, and we turned it over right after and we did it again. Â It shows a lot of confidence."
James Franklin, Penn State head coach
Thoughts on the game…
"I'm not sure if we didn't just watch two of the best teams in college football, specifically on the defensive side."
On Marvin Harrison Jr…
"We went into this knowing that we needed to have an awareness and limit the impact of 18 in the game. We had a hard time doing it and that guy is a heck of a player that you have to give a lot of credit to."
On why Penn State lost…
"The story of the game came down to third down. We weren't able to stay on the field on third down on offense, which was the biggest difference in the game in my opinion.
"We didn't make enough plays in the passing game, and we weren't able to create separation. A combination of too many third and longs and obvious passing downs. OSU was one of the best short yardage defenses we had seen on film. They had a good plan and they executed it."
On defensive play…
"Our defense played extremely well. So did theirs. We knew coming into this game [that] these are two of the better defenses in college football. They played their tails off, there's no doubt about it."
On improving for the future…
"I think there's some things we can do in terms of how we're calling the plays and I think there's some things that we need to do from a fundamental standpoint there's no doubt about it."
Oct. 21, 2023 – Ohio Stadium; Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 105,506
Ryan Day, Ohio State head coach
On the environment at the game...
"When the Shoe is rocking like that, it's a difference maker. I thought our players fed off it and you can tangibly see it on the field. They fed off the crowd. When we got that JT [Tuimoloau] sack on fourth down, that was as loud as I've heard the crowd. I just felt the toughness and physicality on defense. You started to see the confidence grow in a big way."
Â
On the offensive performance and the dominance of Marvin Harrison Jr…
"They were the number one defense in the country statistically coming in, so we knew it was going to be a little bit that way. There were times where we were moving the ball okay, didn't run the ball well enough and make enough explosive plays, but we had enough to win. Overall, just not good enough, but I have to give Marvin Harrison Jr. so much credit. To go for 11 catches, 162 yards and a touchdown when most teams, the first thing they look at is how to take away Marvin Harrison Jr."
On what he saw from Kyle McCord…
"There were some really good things. He kept battling in there and enough for us to win. I know we're going to watch this film and there are still going to be some things that we need to grow on and things that we did well that we're going to enhance. We'll watch the film on Tuesday and have a better assessment on that and whether we're good enough to be a champion or not. I thought we left a lot of plays on the field today."
On the defense...
"They were 1-for-16 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down, so 2-for-19 on third and fourth down is tremendous. If we could play like this, then this is that champion-level defense and if we grow as a team, we will be tough to beat down the road."
Â
On Cade Stover...
"Cade does so much of the dirty work. He's such a great leader and a tough player, so we have to keep finding ways to get him the ball and keep finding ways to be creative to do that for him. He deserves that."
Marvin Harrison Jr., wide receiver
On his incredible stats...
"It sounds crazy to say but, I'm just doing my job out there on the field. I focus on what I am doing and just walk out there and make a play."
On the atmosphere...
"The bigger the game, the better. I actually love those moments."
Â
On the defense ...
"They're playing tremendous right now and are the best in the country."
Â
On quarterback Kyle McCord having somewhat of a slow start...
"That is just part of the game. It's going to be a long game and we need to push all the way through the fourth quarter."
Â
On having something to prove offensively or defensively...Â
"I think it's just a matter of coming out there and thinking about how we can execute. That is the most important. We have tremendous respect for the defense."Â
On takeaways from the game...
"This team has a lot of experience both offensively and defensively; we are more battle-tested and we want to be able to blow teams out. Â We aren't really doing that right now, but we will fight to the end."
Â
On improving going forward...
"We have two games under our belt against the top two teams in the country and we are learning that in the fourth quarter, we need to go out and make plays. Â We know we have to go out and stick with it and trust ourselves and our coaches."
Â
On getting open...
"It feels great; I'm just trying to do my part. Â I do everything I can to make the plays."Â
JT Tuimoloau, defensive endÂ
On how the defense is looking compared to years past...
"It feels great. I mean, just trusting in the process and planning and staying close to God. None of this is ever possible for myself and the team if God is not involved. God is the center of everything and I believe that being patient is hard. But you stay together. It's especially hard with the ups and downs, but this defense has a chip on its shoulder especially from last year."Â
On this game being a statement...
"I think it's a statement, but I think being consistent, staying consistent, not just showing up against big matchups but showing up in everything. I think for us to do it. We hear a lot about what we learned last year. There was barely any talk about will be this year and I think that's a lot of our motivation and we want to continue to be able to defend ourselves."
Â
On the second half...
"We came out there and we just keep delivering these moments. Coach Knowles tells us every time, 'You want to be the team that has the ball on the back end,' and you have to embrace that."
Kyle McCord, quarterback
On his confidence post-Notre Dame...
"I think especially a game like that type of opponent that, it was Notre Dame, who I think is a really good team, as well as the environment. I don't think you can really draw up, especially early on in the year, a tougher game for a team to go into and get that win is huge. For myself and for the rest of the team that was a huge confidence boost, being able to go in there and get a win. We obviously got back from that game and tried to correct what was wrong, but at the same time, we knew that if we can continue to use that momentum, well, it's gonna be a good year."
On his connection with Cade Stover...
"I think when I first got here it was Cade's third year and at that time, he was kind of bouncing back and forth between linebacker and tight end. Seeing the work that he's put in over the past few years, especially with Coach Bailey, I think the work speaks for itself. I think he's always been a very physical presence. I feel like he's never lacked anything in the run game, but then just seeing the work that he puts in his route running and his balls shows all that. I think it's really starting to show. Teams want to give Marvin Harrison Jr. more attention. That's going to leave other guys with one on one situations like you saw there. Obviously he went out and made a great play and he's been doing that for the entire season."
On the team's resume...
"In terms of a resume, I don't know if we could have a better resume right now, but that doesn't mean anything if we don't continue to win and continue to stack these games. Everyone in that locker room has the next game mentality; as long as we continue to keep winning, everything else will take care of itself."
Â
On where the offense is in terms of its end goal...
"I think we're really close. You go back and watch film and ask yourself, 'What is holding us back from scoring on every single drive?' It's little things that can easily be cleaned up. Every single week we're getting better and better."
Jordan Hancock, cornerbackÂ
On shutting Penn State down...
"It means a lot because that Penn State offense is really good. A lot of eye discipline violators that they do so we had to play with extreme discipline and play with a lot of energy, which we did today."
On Jermaine Matthews stepping up today...
"That kid, he's great, man. When he came out there, we had the utmost confidence in him because we're just super proud of him. We see how hard he prepares and he's just a dawg. I'm happy to have him in the secondary with us."
On holding Penn State to one-for-16 on third downs...
"That goes to our preparation. On the secondary, Coach E [Perry Eliano] and Coach Walker have been preparing us for this game knowing we had to take on that challenge."
On winning with defense...
"It means a lot. Maybe in the past couple years, the offense couldn't rely on us but that's not the case this year. We just wanted to make a statement to the whole country that we can win games with defense."
On Penn State's defense being talked about as the best...
"We took it personal because we feel like we're the best defense in the country. We had to show those guys that we came here to play too. They had a lot of attention on their defense, but I feel like we just had to play with a chip on our shoulder."
On the defense being much better in big games than last year...
"We're more experienced. You have a lot of people that can play everywhere. We have young freshmen stepping up. We have a lot of people playing multiple positions, so it's making us play a lot better. We're playing with confidence."
On his third down hit in the backfield...
"I just had that B-gap. I just had to make a statement that corners can tackle too, so I started to come down to the play."
On playing after dealing with injury last year...
"It's awesome - I just look up to the man above. I thank the training room for getting me healthy so I can play this game and play in front of 100,000 fans."
On Denzel Burke being out and stepping up...
"Next man up. I had to go outside. Jermaine Matthews had to go outside. I had double duty playing slot and outside, so we had to rise to the occasion."
Steele Chambers, linebacker
 On Jermaine Mathews Jr. stepping up…
"It was awesome. It was an underthrown ball, and he just kept his composure and didn't create a pass interference. I know as a freshman I couldn't do that. I think that's just a little glimpse of what he's gooing to have his entire career here."
Â
On the significance of the win...
"Any kind of game you can win like that is huge, especially getting a top-10 team like Penn State. They're a hell of a team; they've got good coaches and good players. I think that's just extra momentum for us going into the rest of the season."
Â
 On the energy from the fans...
 "It's just a big energy booster seeing Buckeye Nation like that for us. I think it's huge."
Cody Simon, linebacker
On Jermaine Mathews Jr. stepping up…
"He's a baller and he's fearless. Like Steel said, I don't know if I'm making those plays as a freshman. How he stepped up is all about competitive excellence."
On how the pass rushers performed…
"They are so violent and elusive, having JT and Jack on both sides and it's like I wouldn't know what to do as a quarterback either. Hats off to them."
On the team's progress...
"We're always trying to build and get better every week. We know our end goal is in mind and we know we want to get better each week."
Â
On "championship level" defense...
"Coach Knowles is the mastermind and head honcho. He has a great mentality. He lets us make plays and puts us in the right position."
Â
On if the Buckeyes felt they had something to prove against Penn State...
"We always feel like we have something to prove. It doesn't really matter who you're going up against."
Jim Knowles, Ohio State defensive coordinator
 On third-down stops...
"[Our defense] knows the scheme. Â We make adjustments during the week. Â I talk about, 'We have to get the stops,' and try to make little adjustments, and they pick up on that. Â When we do that in the game, it's huge, and it only comes with preparation and with guys who are knowledgeable about the scheme."
Â
On Jordan Hancock...
"They [Penn State] started huddling a lot, not showing us the formation so I can make the call based on that, and Jordan has been recognizing the formations and it shows a lot of progress in him."
Â
On the defense's confidence...
"Confidence and momentum are such a huge part in the attitude of playing defense and what I'm most proud of is when we got the stop in their end, and we turned it over right after and we did it again. Â It shows a lot of confidence."
James Franklin, Penn State head coach
Thoughts on the game…
"I'm not sure if we didn't just watch two of the best teams in college football, specifically on the defensive side."
On Marvin Harrison Jr…
"We went into this knowing that we needed to have an awareness and limit the impact of 18 in the game. We had a hard time doing it and that guy is a heck of a player that you have to give a lot of credit to."
On why Penn State lost…
"The story of the game came down to third down. We weren't able to stay on the field on third down on offense, which was the biggest difference in the game in my opinion.
"We didn't make enough plays in the passing game, and we weren't able to create separation. A combination of too many third and longs and obvious passing downs. OSU was one of the best short yardage defenses we had seen on film. They had a good plan and they executed it."
On defensive play…
"Our defense played extremely well. So did theirs. We knew coming into this game [that] these are two of the better defenses in college football. They played their tails off, there's no doubt about it."
On improving for the future…
"I think there's some things we can do in terms of how we're calling the plays and I think there's some things that we need to do from a fundamental standpoint there's no doubt about it."
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