Ohio State 37, Colorado 17

Postgame Ohio State & Colorado Quotes

OHIO STATE POSTGAME QUOTES

Adam Bellamy, sophomore defensive tackle

On his fumble recovery

"I was in the right place at the right time. It felt good to make something happen. It was a zone read play and the quarterback was unsure of what to do. It’s great to give our offense good field position."

 

On the team’s defensive play

“It’s great to have someone like Coach (Jim) Heacock to work with. It’s easier to play faster now that we’re starting to understand who we are as a team.”

 

On improving from last week’s 27 missed tackles

“This week in practice we put a big emphasis on keeping our knees bent and staying forward. We had to have a different mentality going into this week’s game. We had to learn from our mistakes and move forward.”

 

Zach Boren, junior fullback

On improvements from last week’s game at Miami

“This whole week at practice we knew we had to change our attitudes. We had to keep fighting. We wanted that to be our mentality.”

 

On Braxton Miller’s first start as a freshman

“There are a lot of differences between high school and college football. He’s learning to take hits and get back with the play.”

 

Reid Fragel, junior tight end

On the play of the tight ends and receivers

“We have a lot of weapons at the receiver and tight end position. I think we all bring different elements to surprise the opposing defense.”

 

On facing Michigan State next week

“I’m ready for it [the Big Ten season] to begin. A lot of my buddies go there, so I’m excited that we get to travel there to start the Big Ten.”

 

John Simon, junior defensive lineman

On the defense

“I think we are ready for conference games. There are a few things we have to correct, like the big plays at the end of the game. We know Michigan State will capitalize on those opportunities, but today we had a good day.”

 

On the upcoming Big Ten season

“We have a tough schedule ahead of us, but we had some good early preparation against some good teams. We know we can make plays and we are ready for next Saturday.”

 

Travis Howard, junior defensive back

On the play of the defense

“We came out really physical and we were well prepared. Last weekend we left with a bad taste in our mouth and we jumped out to a great start today.”

 

On Colorado’s big plays toward the end of the game

“I think they figured out our secondary a little bit toward the end and picked up a couple key plays. We know we have to get better this week for Michigan State.”

 

Michael Brewster, senior center

On Braxton Miller’s first career start at quarterback

“He was very good. He got it going slinging the ball and made sure everyone in the huddle knew the play call before we went to the line. He stepped in and did his thing.”

On what Miller did well

“He used his natural instincts. That’s what I did as a freshman and he’s doing it now. He got a little banged up out there but tried to get as many yards as possible. He probably could have gotten out of bounds a little more to take a few of the hits away so he doesn’t get as banged up, but he's a fighter.”


 

COLORADO POSTGAME QUOTES

Jon Embree, Colorado head coach
On Colorado’s special team mistakes
“We spend 35 minutes at practice on special teams. We play young guys but there are no excuses. They are out there and we expect them to execute. We just keep emphasizing what we need to do to make it better.”
 
On Colorado’s use of the rugby punt
“Right now our hang time is not good enough to do what we want to do from a pure coverage standpoint against a returner like that. We were doing that to allow our coverage unit to get down the field and minimize the return.”
 
On defending Ohio State’s quarterback Braxton Miller
“I felt like our defense did a decent job but we did not tackle him. He did a good job on eliminating losses where we should have had them for negative gains. We had shots but just couldn’t bring him to behind the line of scrimmage.”
 
On Colorado’s play at the start of the game
“We have been awful starting games. We script plays and we go through it and we give them the looks and we practice it. We do everything. But, for whatever reason, when the lights go on whether it’s a drop, whether it’s a missed block, whether it’s a fumble, we continually struggle starting games." 

Toney Clemons, senior wide receiver
On the team’s offensive struggles
“We started off too slow, which you can’t do against a squad like this one. We haven’t been able to put two halves together yet. We need to get back and work on the basics.”

On how he and wide receiver Paul Richardson complement each other
“We need to keep making plays. We have to let teams know we have two playmakers and not just one, and we have to work on getting into a better rhythm.”

Tyler Hansen, senior quarterback
On how to get Paul Richardson more involved in the offense
“Defenses notice where number six is and they’re going to find him on every play. We’ll keep working on it. We have a lot of playmakers and we just have to focus on getting them the ball in space.”

On where the team stands
“Everything we want to accomplish is still ahead. This game doesn’t count towards our goal of winning the PAC-12. We’re still motivated. It hurts to lose, but we’re going to keep fighting. We have a big game against Washington State next week.”