Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day
On words exchanged with Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano…
“They came after the punt and Jesse (Mirco) just rolled up to the right. That was nothing we had ever worked on. When he saw it, he took it, and then they took that shot on the sideline. Things got heated and it was just one coach defended their side and one coach defending theirs. No hard feelings at all. An unbelievable amount of respect for (Greg Schiano), so that’s all that was.”
On CJ Stroud’s play…
“You could see they were playing a lot of two safeties really deep and forced us throwing the ball which we ultimately had to do. We came out with a shot coming out in the first play in the second half and we missed it but, there were a lot of ways you could throw ways that weren’t there today by CJ but he still made some really good throws as well.
On Miyan Williams…
“Twenty-one carries, 191 yards, five touchdowns, and the big one for 70 yards; that says a lot about the way he was running, especially in the red zone. I think our red zone numbers right now are really good and it’s a big part of the offensive line and the way we’re running the football. I just think overall the tight ends, the wide receivers, everybody’s involved with this run game. But Miyan was running hard today and finished a bunch of runs in positive. He turns a three-yard run into five and keeps us on schedule. It was tough down there in the red zone. They kind of dug in a few times and we had to go for on the fourth down. But Miyan had a really good day for us.”
On the defense…
“Anytime you’re trying to stop the run and play great defense, you have to win the line of scrimmage. That’s a big, big part of it. You can see that they were disruptive just watching the play. You could see the line of scrimmage get moved back a bunch. Overall, I thought our guys had a good feel for it and a good edge. Now we have to keep building on it and go on the road next week. I think you are starting to see a rhythm with those guys up there in terms of rotation and the way that they’re playing. It’s starting to become a body of work which was important.”
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud
On running the ball versus passing…
“From my perspective, we won; I don’t really care. I think their goal as a defense was to not let our pass game win, so we ran the ball. It’s not just about me; it’s about getting wins and other people eating. When it’s time for me to shine and do my thing, we’ll do that.”
On Miyan Williams…
“He’s definitely one of my best friends on the team. It’s been really inspiring to see him have a good game like that with all the stuff he’s been through, and all the stuff he’s going through to this day. He puts in work and stays focused, so it’s cool to see his work pay off.”
On his chemistry with his receivers…
“I’ve built a good chemistry with everybody, the young guys even. Sometimes, when we’re throwing the ball so efficiently, it’s a big surprise when we’re not perfect every Saturday, but I feel like our rhythm was fine. We just have to be smart on our drives, and we only didn’t score on one drive; that’s a really efficient day. I think we’ll continue to get better at the end of the day. I think both the run and pass were great.”
Ohio State running back Miyan Williams
On building momentum with the run game…
“It was the first after the first drive, I was like, “I just need to keep the ball rolling”. I just told the offensive line, we have to keep going.”
On tying the school record for touchdowns in a game…
“It’s a blessing just to be up there with those names, those legends. It’s a blessing.”
On his 70-yard touchdown run…
“When I got the ball, I knew the safety blitzed. So, when I made him miss, I knew there was nobody behind him. When I broke, I just was seeing green grass and telling myself, “Don’t get caught.” Once I was running, I didn’t feel like I was going to get caught, but it was just a thought in the back of my head.”
Ohio State defensive end Zach Harrison
On Coach Day sticking up for the team…
“That’s Coach Day. That’s nothing extra because we know that’s what he’s going to do. Coach Day has got our back just like we have his.”
On holding Rutgers to under 200 yards…
“We definitely, as a defense, are building that mentality that that goal line is ours. That’s the mentality that Coach Knowles brought, and a lot of guys are adopting that.”
On the level of competition in practice…
“It’s Ohio State; if you line us up, we’re going to go hard. That’s something I think is a weapon that we use. We practice hard and the only way to get better during the season is to practice., and I feel like that’s something that we’re doing, and I can feel our team getting better as the season goes on.”
On playing on the road at Michigan State next week…
“That stadium is going to be rowdy; I already know it. I’ve been to Michigan State and those fans are electric. It’s going to be a fun environment. We haven’t been on the road yet, so it’s going to be a unique challenge for us. We haven’t had to deal with being on a plane for a couple of hours and how that affects your body and hydration. We’re going to have to rely on the veteran guys that have been there and done that before.”
Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers
On whether Rutgers was his best game yet…
“I felt like that, especially from last week, we definitely improved, just trusting the defense and doing my assignments. But yeah, I think that was one of them. Just really doing what’s needed for the defense. The coaches put us in certain spots to make plays.”
On Coach Knowles’ teaching…
“His whole thing is that we’re playing offense on defense. So, we’re just being really aggressive. I feel like that’s something I thrive at. All the stuff in the offseason, getting with Coach Knowles, getting with Coach Koy (McFarland). And just going over the defense, understanding how to be a better linebacker in general outside the scheme. I think that was really big for me. I’m just getting to be a better player.”
On his relationship with Tommy Eichenberg…
“I don’t know. It’s just fun being out there with him. He is one of my best friends, basically, like a brother to me. We’ve been living together for three years. So, it’s us just having fun out there.”
On Zach Harrison…
“He gives us a lot. He’s long. He’s fast. He’s quick. He’s strong. He just creates chaos up front. I mean, they have a lot. Like I said before, the D-Line has been doing great and he’s a huge part of that.”
Ohio State defensive tackle Taron Vincent
On the defense’s confidence…
“We’re pretty confident. Every day we’re building and getting better. You can see the guys are coming to completely understand what we’re doing; everybody is taking ownership of their job and responsibilities, and once every man does that, it’s a great thing.”
On the defense’s chemistry…
“We’ve worked on building a bond with each other and our teammates, and knowing your brother is going to do his job. We know that if something goes wrong, you’re going to have a brother there; it gives the defense tremendous comfortability and confidence in each other. You can see it in how we play, we all love each other.”
Ohio State linebacker Javontae Jean-Baptiste
On the D-line rhythm…
“I feel like every game the whole D-line has been able to get penetration, we’re knocking the line of scrimmage back every play. I think that’s the most any linebacker core can ask for.”
On Ohio State defense’s high-level of play…
“Throughout the week of practice, we are practicing at a high level, so it’s not a surprise when we do it on game day because we’ve been doing it all week.”
Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano
On Ohio State…
“This was a tough game. Ohio State’s got a good ballclub, and we didn’t do enough things right. We wanted the score to be close at the end in the game. Our hope was to be close in the fourth quarter so we had a chance. We didn’t accomplish our goal, but I’m proud of our players. They prepared very hard, and they played very hard. Just not our time yet. The word yet is the operative word. It’s just not our time yet.”
On his interaction with Ryan Day…
“It’s not Ryan Day and I. I think it’s two coaches that want to protect their players. My player was in a sea of Ohio State players, and it was closing fast. I wanted to make sure I stopped our team from coming across the field, and I wanted to make sure that our player got out of there. But we are both very competitive guys. I have the utmost respect for him. We’re good friends.”
On the Ohio State offense…
“Well, I’ll tell you the thing that had me the most fearful was their passing game. So we were going to make sure that we defended the pass, because if we don’t, the game gets out of hand. We’ve seen that happen to many people. They are just explosive. They have a Heisman candidate quarterback and stable receivers.”
On Rutgers’ defensive play…
“We were a depleted secondary today. So, I thought all in all, we did a pretty good job against the pass. But it was the run that beat us. Again, you kind of have to pick what you are going to try and cover. But Ohio State is the third ranked team in the country for a reason. I thought we played our guts out.”
