It’s hard to share thoughts after a performance like that to open up the Big Ten season against Michigan State. Sometimes, you make a adjustments to stay in the ballgame. Sometimes you get outplayed by a better team. Then there are games like this where one side of the football gives you a chance to win, while the other does nearly everything possible to throw a ballgame.
They say that defense wins you championships. OSU fans are quickly learning you at least need a steady dose of moving the football to be successful. Here are some numbers and quotes to ponder after Saturdays 10-7 Loss.
Quotes:
Ohio State –
Tyler Moeller:
On how the defense performed on the field:
“I thought we played pretty well out there. We had some decent turnovers when we needed to. We did give up 10 points which was 10 too many.”
On losing their first game against Michigan State in the Dantonio Era:
“This is a hard one. Every loss is hard. We fought hard and came up short. The hardest ones are the close losses. The ones where you think you are going to get it done and fall short.”
On the lack of offense:
“I’m not on the offensive side of the ball so I don’t know what goes on with them. I do know they do a lot better job than I could at throwing the ball or being a quarterback. I support them. We are one team.”
On bouncing back for Saturday’s game against Nebraska:
“We will lick our wounds for 17 hours then get in the film room and see what we did wrong and what we can do better. We’ll come back and prepare for the next team.”
Joe Bauserman (yes, he actually had something to say after the game):
On the team’s performance today (yikes):
“We played hard. They didn’t do anything we weren’t ready for. They are big and fast. But we just seemed to miss the big play that we needed.”
On what his role is for this team now that he saw time
“Braxton (Miller) is still the starter. All we can do is go out, practice hard and give it all we can. Then the coaches can decide. As long as everyone is on the same page and knows which one of us is starting, then we can prepare accordingly.”
Carlos Hyde:
On the struggling running game:
“They (Michigan State) got to the point where seven or eight guys would play to the run. It was more than we could handle. It’s frustrating. I know our offense is good and capable of scoring points and making plays.”
On who leads the offense in the huddle:
“I feel Zach Boren is a leader on offense. Michael Brewster is a good leader as well. He keeps the offensive line together.”
Christian Bryant:
On upcoming road action against Nebraska:
“We are going to go into the game at Nebraska super pumped. I feel like we have a lot of season left. We have to worry about ourselves.”
Andrew Sweat:
On the coaching staff’s postgame words:
“They told us, you win or lose as a team and we have to get better. We have 17 hours to think about it and then get back to work.”
On his teammates and their performance:
“We did not have our best game defensively or offensively. But I’m proud of my teammates. I’m proud of who I play next to.”
On Ohio State’s First Road Conference Game:
“We have to have short term memories going into Nebraska. We’ve heard the environment is similar to Wisconsin and Penn State. But we have to play our game regardless of the environment.”
Head Coach Luke Fickell:
On what to do with struggling offense:
“We’re going to look at it as a whole team. Both sides of the ball we have some things to shore up. But we’re going to take a hard look at it, both the quarterback situations and how you run the football. There’s a lot of things we’ve got to do that doesn’t put us in a good situation at times but we know we’ve got to be better. I think it starts really with the penalties. I think we can’t put ourselves in that negative situation to put us behind the count.”
On the offensive line play:
“Obviously they didn’t do a great job. I mean, they were bringing ‑‑ sometimes they were bringing more guys than you could block. There’s a lot of those things you’ve got to check out of and sometimes that’s what we’re talking about being able to see the field, whether it’s from the center spot or from the quarterback spot. We just gotta do a better job. That’s ultimately what it comes down to. You don’t give your quarterback much of a chance if he’s getting sacked nine times. But that goes all around. If you can’t run the football really well, then you put your quarterback in a situation that he is a sitting guy back there. Gotta give them credit. They did a really good job at it.”
On new quarterbacks in the mix:
“We’re going to have to continue to battle. And we’re going to see who can compete and maybe those guys will get a shot here tomorrow. But it’s hard to jump to conclusions just yet. We’ve got to see the whole picture and try and figure out as we move forward what’s best for this program and what’s best for that offense.”
On predictable offensive play calling (13/15 FD Running plays):
“You were out there and the conditions were probably not the best. I know they did a good job at throwing the football. But, you know, with a young guy and the conditions probably weren’t the best starting off thinking we were going to wing it around a little bit. And I think that’s what hurt us the most, is when you rely on doing some things and it doesn’t get done and you put yourself a little bit behind the eight ball. Maybe don’t give yourself the chances that you’d like to. So we’re not going to point fingers and say the game plan this, that or the other thing. We just didn’t do a good job executing. We know we’ve got to be balanced whether that’s on first down, second down, in the personnel grouping or running or throwing. We’ve got a lot of areas both sides of the football we can get better.”
On the bad play calling of the offensive coaching staff and running the football continuously with nine in the box:
They know what they’re doing. And I think it comes down to you got a plan and sometimes you’ve got to be able to adjust. And I think we probably didn’t do maybe a great job at picking up some of the pressures and whether it’s adjusting on the field or from the sideline.
But those are some of the problems that Michigan State posed. Like I said, you want to hold your judgment until you see if you even had enough guys in there to block them all. If you don’t, then you’ve got to be able to get that ball out faster and somebody’s got to make some plays. That ultimately is what the game comes down to.
When you really look at it, their whiteout made a big play on a ball thrown up in the air. To me that’s the difference in the ballgame. That was probably my number one, number two note I had for what, the keys to the game. We had to play physical. I think we played physical. I don’t know that we won the physical battle by any means. Number two it was big plays. It’s about their tricks and fakes and different things, and ultimately that’s what ends up probably being the ‑‑ I can think of two big plays. Obviously one was a touchdown and both were in their favor.
On getting Posey, Herron, and Adams back next week:
We’re just going to try and focus on how to get better right now with what happened today. We’re going to go and evaluate. We’ll move forward with that. And with those guys, we’ll wait for Monday or Sunday when we’re back in there and hold judgment and I don’t have a real plan just yet.
Michigan State:
Mark Dantonio:
On beating Ohio State:
“It was a big program win for us. I thought our guys played well, especially together. We played well on special teams and defense. You have to play good defense and special teams and protect the quarterback to win. I thought we did all of those things today. ”
On how the game played out:
“They have a great defense, they always have. The wind was swirling down there and it was really a factor so we knew the game was going to be back and forth. We knew we had to play well on special teams. They came up with some plays defensively, that play in the end zone was a great football play.”
On the OSU/MSU Rivalry:
“I think this goes way back. The Michigan State-Ohio State rivalry is always good. We don’t play each other often; we only get down here once every four or five years. But this is special especially if you are from Ohio like I am. It is special to all of our Ohio players. It is special to all of our players to come here and play in Ohio Stadium.”
Kirk Cousins:
On the TD pass to B.J. Cunningham:
“That was a broken play. He wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near where he caught it. He was supposed to be basically standing on the sidelines and he caught it underneath the field goal post. That was improvising and it shows why he’s a great player.”
On Ohio State Defense:
“We didn’t finish drives. We feel like we could have, with a few plays going our way here or there, come away with 20-plus points with the field goal. I think you have to credit Ohio State’s defense for them to bend but not break. That’s what good defenses do.”
B.J. Cunningham:
On his TD catch:
“I looked back and he was rolling out. I wanted to try to get open and try to make a play. He threw the ball up, trusted me, and I just went and made a play on the ball.”
Jerel Worthy:
On MSU’s Defensive pressure from up front:
“I have to credit my defensive coaches with coming up with a good game plan. We had a lot of pressure early. Once you get into that rhythm, you realize the offensive line is on their heels a little bit, you kind of want to keep the pressure on.”
On his sack:
“I was getting in a good rhythm of the game. I was being a smart defensive lineman and was able to get a good jump on the ball to make a good play.”
On Ohio State’s late push:
“It was a little upsetting. You work so hard that you want to come in and play the best game you can. You have to give credit. A good offensive team like that, it’s hard to shut out. They made some plays down the stretch. That’s a credit to Joe Bauserman, the wide receivers and the offensive line.”
Breakdown:
What is there to say? To relieve your anger and displeasure from the game, I recommend listening to our post-game show. This is a game you should win. The Buckeyes controlled the position clock. They forced three turnovers. If they would of put together an ounce of offensive consistency, we might be talking about how this team can compete with Nebraska.
Now we’re left wondering if DeVier Posey, Boom Herron and Mike Adams can do anything for the lethargic play-calling on the field. Meanwhile they are burning coaches in East Lansing. You have to wonder who has the upper hand when it comes to coaches in this game and their relationship. Without a doubt, Mark Dantonio was able to take advantage to his familiarity with Luke Fickell. The Spartan defense got to the quarterback nine times. In the fourth quarter alone, Joe Bauserman was brought down five times.
Let the questions begin coming up this week. There is a lot to talk about, worry about, and hope for as the season continues.
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