Buckeyes Meet with Media Before Matchup with Grambling State
9/3/2025 12:01:00 PM | Football
On bringing in an HBCU to play in the Shoe:
“Larry Johnson just spoke to the team and talked a little bit about the history of Grambling, spoke about Eddie Robinson and talked about his experience of listening to Coach Robinson at a clinic, after that he realized he wanted to coach, and the impact he made on so many people, but also the game of football. He and I spoke before practice and we thought it was good for our guys to understand that. Coach Robinson and Grambling are a big brick in what is college football now and the fact that there is a lot of guys on our field that certainly the game wouldn’t be where it is right now without him and without Grambling. I think it is important for our guys to know what has come before. We talk a lot about tradition at Ohio State and Grambling has a great tradition as well.”
On how he was impressed by Arvell Reese:
“Well, his production in a big game and in that spot. He has started before, but not like a full-time starter, I guess is the best way to put it. Our defensive staff was creative in what they did, but that’s Arvell putting it on the field and his versatility allows us to do different things with him. Great start for him, but he’s a guy who practices that way and I don’t think anybody who saw him practice throughout the month of August was surprised with the production he had. We are going to continue to need him. He is going to be a big part of our defense this season.”
On what Jalen McClain did to cement himself as a starter and how he assessed his performance:
"He did well. He was very consistent during training camp. He played with great effort and then showed that in the game. He tackled well in space, communicated well, and he played fast. So, he has a great name as an opener, as a young guy.”
When asked what he was most pleased with what happened on Saturday:
"They were pretty poised and calm, but now we have to take the next step, we have to continue to grow, we have to execute, and we have to keep playing with great effort because we have to make sure we do it every week.”
On how he would describe Saturday:
“Saturday, it was definitely electrifying—first time in the Shoe. The atmosphere was definitely crazy. Coming from West Virginia to playing in that—that was different.”
On what it was like to score the first touchdown of the season against Texas:
“It was great, celebrate with your guys, celebrate with the O Line, the tight ends and receivers. Those guys, they blocked hard the whole drive to get the opportunity to celebrate.”
On how having many tight ends who can do many different things adds to the run game:
“It adds a lot. We go fourteen personnel with four tight ends in the game, that’s special. That is like having nine offensive linemen on the field and then those guys also run routes, so it makes the defense not think of us as one dimensional. We’re still a two-dimensional team with that set. It definitely brings a different flavor to the game.”
On what was going through his head during the touchdown play:
“I knew I was going to end up having to one-on-one pass rush one of them throughout the game with a big play. So, we’ve been working, me, Coach Kee, Coach Hinton, Coach Wendy, we’ve been practicing pass pro all off season. That's the big part of our offense and a role I play. I knew that was eventually going to end up happening and I set on him, kind of overset and I knew the only way to recover was to spin back inside quick and get on the strings, have the ball, then me, then my man. So, I ended up doing that, one thing led to another, and we got the job done.”
On having four tight ends on the field:
“That’s our unit, this team looks at us to set the tone and get those kinds of dirty jobs done. Having the four of us out there just kind of shows what our room is capable of.”
On what it is like adding a guy like Max Klare to the tight ends:
“It was awesome. Coach Kee asked us before he offered him, like what we thought of him and I heard only good things. I know he’s a hard worker and likes to get his nose dirty, so I thought he was a great fit. He excelled in the past game a lot, so that just opens up our tight end room for even more.”
On his pride of upholding his Glenville HIgh School tradition here:
“Yeah, I take a lot of pride in that. I’ve been playing for Glenville since I was five years old, so hearing all those names growing up, that’s something I wanted to do. Yeah, I take a lot of pride in that.”
On having help from Caleb Downs:
“He has helped us a lot. Caleb’s smart. Caleb sometimes will be calling out plays. It helped a lot having somebody smart like that behind you.”
On the significance of having four offensive linemen from Ohio:
"My family is from over there. We are all from Ohio, so we can say certain things about certain areas. It's a cool thing to know at Ohio state everybody's from here and we are repping this team.”
On allowing no sacks against Texas:
“It’s something that we all have been preaching this whole summer, that being, we are one of the best offensive lines. We don't care what PFF says or anything, we're one of the best offensive lines in the country and once we get out there, we are one unit and show the world that we're the best."
On earning the start and making plays in the Texas game:
“I'm just blessed. It was a great opportunity for the coaches to show they trust me to be out there on the field for a big game like that. It's just me being myself and making the best of this opportunity and I just made the plays that came to me.”
On playing alongside Caleb Downs at safety:
“He gives me a lot of confidence. Caleb is just who he is. He's going to be a first round pick one day and he gives me that juice, that energy, and the confidence to go out there and make the plays.”
