Buckeyes Spoke To The Media Before They Hit The Road To Northwestern
11/13/2024 12:40:00 PM | Football
What motivates the defense for this week's game:
"In November you have to play your best football. This is the playoffs and everything is on the line here. Our opportunity to get to Indianapolis is on the line this week and we are playing in November and we have got to play our best football in November, so I am expecting just like everybody else on the team that they are going to play at a high level on Saturday.”
On improving on tackling:
"The biggest issue with all of sports in general and athletes is complacency. Trying to fight that complacency. I love when I can have something to work on because you can direct your focus towards it. I didn’t feel like we did our job the best we could so we have got to find another way to get better at it so that’s our focus this week."
On Eddrick earning linebackers trust:
"It’s not easy. One thing I love about Eddrick is his aggressiveness. He’s not afraid to go make a play and if he doesn’t make a play it's fine. I’d rather someone be more aggressive than someone be more passive. He’s playing his tail off right now. I’m happy he’s doing it and we’re working trying to get better everyday."
On getting comfortable as a linebacker:
"I started feeling comfortable in camp because I had a full spring playing backer. Each game I’m starting to get better and better. I’m starting to see things a little faster. Obviously there’s still stuff to work on each game, but I’m starting to get a better feel for it."
On six straight noon games:
"I just show up. It doesn’t matter to me what time the game is. Night atmosphere games are cool. I like getting up and going. Night games you have to wait for them but I understand why people want night games. The atmosphere is definitely exciting."
On defense since Oregon game:
"Things definitely changed a little bit. After that bi-week we had some time to figure out our issues and we fixed some of those. You can see the big change in terms of pressure. We’re getting back in the backfield, TFL sacks and we’re being aggressive. We’ve figured out our issues and figured out what we need to work on and we attacked them."
On Northwestern's defense:
"When it comes to these games the record doesn’t matter. They’re gonna play really physical and really hard. They’re gonna play with a lot of energy so its definitely going be a challenge for us. We have to go out there and stay focused and stay dialed in especially during the month of November. It’s easy to slack off during this time so we have to stay focused and try to bring our A game."
How Donovan has helped him transition positions:
“I mean obviously Donovan is a great player and a great guy, so our chemistry is really good. Whether that is with trusting each other's calls or asking him if I am not exactly sure what to do on the set or how I should work my hands on the play. He is super knowledgeable in the fact that even though he's learning a new spot he has definitely helped me out a lot.”
How playing center has helped him transition into playing guard:
“Coming from a center standpoint you can see the defense a little more and have a better understanding of the “why” you are doing a lot of these things. I think it definitely helps the guard understand all the angles and the blocks you are going to be putting out there on the field.”
