COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson, offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, quarterback Justin Fields, punter Drue Chrisman, offensive lineman Jonah Jackson, and defensive tackle Davon Hamilton will speak with reporters. They’ll look back on last weekend’s game and preview Saturday’s game against Cincinnati. Refresh for updates.
Justin Fields
+ “I was crazy sore” Sunday after the game. The training staff asked him what hurt and he said everything.
+ He watched Jalen Hurts and Oklahoma and he was rooting for him. They are friends.
+ His favorite play was the first touchdown run. It was surreal. “I was thinking, ‘God is real and God has blessed me.'”
+ His first game in the Shoe lived up to the hype. It also was a blessing to be able to tie Dwayne Haskins’ OSU record for touchdowns in a debut (5). He didn’t know that was the record. If he did, he probably would have tried to score a six.
+ Fields has never slid on a run in his life until this year so it’s been new to him.
+ He thinks he did a pretty good job of staying in the pocket after looking at film. There are always plays that you’d like to fix, but you can’t get too hung up on that.
+ Day always tells Fields to play smart and emphasizes he likes when he throws the ball away. Day wants smart decisions. You just have to know the situation and know the team and what it needs at the time.
+ He watched some film yesterday on Cincinnati with Mike Yurcich.
+ “I think I did pretty good on the read option plays in terms of the defenders.” He’s not trying to take a lot of hits early in the season.
+ After the game his mind moved right to Cincinnati, so he wasn’t really thinking about FAU.
+ The best thing he did was lead the guys.
+ The most important thing he learned was that it is his job to keep the tempo up and keep the standards high.
+ The offense has to keep up the tempo and act like the score is 0-0 the entire game.
+ As the season goes on his body will adjust to getting hit.
+ When he and Josh Myers would have to jog around the field after a botched snap they would discuss what went wrong and why it went wrong during their lap.
+ He still needs to fix little things like protections and going through all of his reads and carrying out his fakes.
Drue Chrisman
+ The most satisfying thing is pinning a team inside the 10-yard line.
+ Cincinnati is going to come into Ohio Stadium and try to “take us out.” There is definitely a little bit of a rivalry building.
+ It means a lot that OSU puts their best players at gunner. It gives the punter a lot of confidence and takes some pressure off of him if he doesn’t get the hangtime he needs.
+ His hangtime wasn’t where he wanted it last week, but his gunners bailed him out.
+ The gunners did well last week. Punters and gunners have to develop chemistry just like quarterbacks and receivers do.
+ The most important stat for him is net average. That’s the one he pays attention to because they don’t want to allow any return yards. They failed in that this past week.
+ This is a big game for him being from Cincinnati. He’s getting a lot of calls for tickets. Cincinnati didn’t offer hi.
Davon Hamilton
+ Luke Fickell is a great leader. When he was here, he led the defense. He was always prepared. “We’ve got a lot to look forward to Saturday.” It helps having somebody who is from Ohio recruiting Ohio kids.
+ Jashon Cornell has the proper attitude to move back and forth from defensive end to three technique. He’ll do whatever he needs to do for the team.
+ Their gap defense now makes RBs a little hesitant to hit a hole because there might be a linebacker waiting for them.
+ He feels like the coaches were happy with the defensive performance, but the second group giving up points is part of the learning and growth process.
+ There is still a lot of room for this defensive line to grow.
+ “I was very proud” of Jashon Cornell. It’s hard for anybody who has dealt with injuries, but he has continued to fight and grow.
+ The defense feels more connected as a whole now compared to last year. They’re all together playing together.
+ Nothing is going to bring Jonathon Cooper down. He’s around and he’s watching and making sure everybody is doing their job.
+ The defensive line always preaches competitive excellence, so players always need to be ready to step up for injured teammates.
Jonah Jackson
+ Being at Ohio State, you realize the expectations are different.
+ They can build relationships in classrooms and weight rooms, so even though Thayer Munford didn’t play much in practice, they had a rapport.
+ Josh Myers’ maturity in that first game impressed him.
+ He felt like the offensive line adjusted well to what FAU did.
+ Opponents aren’t going to play OSU straight up so you have to expect the kitchen sink.
+ He wanted to make sure he finished each block and played nasty and he believes he did that. His nine knockdowns may have been a career high.
+ He’s not sure what the offense can hang their hats on because they can do a lot of things well.
+ It definitely felt different to play for the home team in the Shoe.
Greg Studrawa
+ “We have a long way to go” to become a cohesive offensive line. They can be a tremendous offensive line, but there is still things to clean up. They also need to get used to playing with each other, which is why they were in maybe longer than expected.
+ Josh Myers played really well. They ask the center to do a lot in this offense. He handled it well. He had four or five tremendous blocks. He was able to overcome his nerves and handle his job. He only had two mis-identifications.
+ The battle at right tackle was really close, but Branden Bowen’s maturity and how he played the last two scrimmages won him the job. Nick Petit-Frere is still going to play. Studrawa talks with NPF to keep his head up and let him know that his time is coming and to keep developing because you never know what’s going to happen.
+ The FAU defensive line initially got knocked off the ball, then they started jumping around and moving around and going lateral, which forces OSU to change their technique. They went to some counters and gap schemes that allowed them adjust successfully. They’ll be working on that today because it will happen again against Cincinnati.
+ Florida Atlantic changed some things up in the second half with their defensive line. The were throwing some blitzes and OSU wasn’t quite finishing blocks. There was a little bit of a lull, which you don’t like to see.
+ He saw the enthusiasm he wanted on Justin Fields’ touchdown run. The linemen were happy and celebrating.
+ Jonah Jackson is a serious player who is attentive to the details and he just wants to win. He gives great effort and shows his teammates how the game should be played. He goes to just past the echo of the whistle.
+ There are some differences for the offensive line when they snap from under center, and not just from the center. They handled it well in the first game. It was a concern because it was new.
+ Thayer Munford played really well. “He played great.” The most reps he had in a practice was 22. He played 50 plays in the game, which is where they wanted him. He had no ill effects. He’s lighter than he’s ever been. He’s at 313 right now.
Larry Johnson
+ Antwuan Jackson had a great camp and his confidence is way up right now and he can help this defense.
+ They weren’t sure if they were going to move Jashon Cornell, but they didn’t want to start a freshman there. They want him back at three tech and he could be back there this week. This was his best game as a Buckeye.
+ The defensive line played really fast early on.
+ Javontae Jean-Baptiste and Zach Harrison got some reps that they needed to get last weekend. Tyreke Smith and Tyler Friday may or may not be back this week, but they feel good about the experience that JJB and Harrison got.
+ Cincinnati’s offense is power football. “They’re really a Big Ten team.”
+ Against UC’s running back, they’ll need to be gap sound.
+ Jonathon Cooper is a resilient guy. It hurt him at first. He’s in the training room all the time and only leaves for class. The team is encouraging him.
Running backs took the wrong holes.
That “offensive” line never adjusted anything. Disinformation is ugly.