Ohio State Football
Student-Athlete Quotes
vs. Penn State – September 29, 2018
Davon Hamilton | DT | Sr./Jr.
Q: Davon, were you having flashbacks to last year, you guys up by one and the defense having to make a stand late in the game?
A: Honestly, no. I mean, I just knew we just had to make a play. I mean this is our season right now, so we've got to make a play. We've got to win the game. No matter what.
Q: Obviously you're happy with the win, and it's been sort of characteristic for this defense, that you guys give up some yards but when you have to make a play you make a play. What's it like having that kind of balance between you know, we're going give up some stuff, but when we have to do it were going to do it?
A: I mean that's not the game plan coming in. We don't want to give up any yards, but I mean things happen. They play football, they have scholarships, they're a D1 school too, so we can expect that they might break some plays here and there, but like I said before we're not even at our full capacity, our full potential yet, and when we show that, no team is stopping us.
Q: How far away do you think you are from that?
A: I think we're pretty close. I mean we made some minor mistakes today that might have shown, but we're pretty close right now.
Dwayne Haskins | QB | Jr./So.
Q: Dwayne, you're down 12 was it? 26-14 with seven or eight to go. How did it happen?
A: We just had adversity to earn, we had to keep fighting, keep swinging. You know it wasn't pretty, pretty much the whole game, but we relied on each other, we had faith in each other, and we came out on top.
Q: Dwayne, it looked like receivers had some trouble catching balls tonight, looked like you had some trouble throwing some accurate passes tonight, they were over you pretty good. What just kind of came together there in the fourth quarter in the late going. Obviously the pass to Ben Victor was huge, but what just kind of came together with you guys, and you and the wide receivers?
A: Well they weren't going to let us throw the ball downfield, and that was pretty evident the whole game. There was a lot of pressure, and I missed a couple of throws, and we didn't have great protection on some plays, but Coach Meyer said the play has to be made in the fourth quarter. Coach Day said to us that last drive, 'Remember last year the plays we made at home for us.'
Q: Dwayne, the touchdown to J.K. Dobbins right before half gives you a little bit of a lift, and then you come out second half guns blazing. What changes after kind of an ineffective first half? Then looks like, hey different team.
A: I mean, kind of what happened versus TCU when we played them. We weren't really involved how we wanted to, but we were going to come up big on third downs. J.K. [Dobbins] made a great play before halftime, gave us momentum going into the second half, we got the ball and drove down the field. It's just credit to how great our offense is, and how we rely on each other to make plays.
Dre'mont Jones | DT | Sr./Jr.
Q: Were you in on the fourth and five, what was the big talk before that play? Obviously you all call timeout, they call timeout, you all knew it was going to be a zone read according to Urban Meyer, you felt it was that way. What was the biggest emphasis among you players about that play?
A: We didn't know exactly what it was going to be, but just watching the ball. It was a crucial moment. We didn't want to jump offsides and give them an advantage.
Q: How do you come out of this as a defense? Obviously you're happy with the win, but you guys again had some struggles with the big plays, gave up a lot of yards, but at the end made the plays you had to make. What's that balance like knowing that maybe you're going to give some stuff up, but when the time comes you're going to rise to the occasion?
A: Well we're going to rise to the occasion, but we can't allow ourselves to get in those situations because all we're doing is beating ourselves up, we've got to be able to take over a game early and sustain it.
Q: How far away do you think this defense is from being able to take over a game the way you're saying?
A: We've got to put some work in. It's still early in the season, got a lot of time. We need to find a way to be stout in all aspects.
Isaiah Prince | OL | Sr./Sr.
Q: What was the problem in the first half offensively, and what did you correct in the second half?
A: I feel like in the first half they scored ahead of us. They're a good football team, they played hard, they ran a lot of stuff better than us. We just came in at halftime, made adjustments, went over the business, and picked it up in the second half.
Q: What does this win mean to you given everything, the ups and downs in September, to come out of here and leave 5-0?
A: This is something we worked for. That was a great team we played against. They've been great all year. It's something we see in our schedule. We know what it's like being an away team playing at Penn State. We just came prepared to be in a dog fight.
Q: When you guys were backed up on the four, what's the conversation in the huddle, coming off the field, what's sort of the mindset going through that last drive?
A: There isn't a reason to be nervous. No reason to flinch. Stick together as brothers, play for each other, and just continue to play hard. We've been in situations like this before so it's nothing new to us.