Tim Albin | Ohio Head Coach
Opening Statement
Hats off to Coach Franklin and his staff, ball club, hard-fought unit. I felt as a team too many big plays by their offense. The long run, quick score in the first quarter, that was a tough one. I thought for the second week in a row, we defensively started slow. Was it environment that had something to do with that? We'll see. I thought they settled in and got off the field on third down. As an offense, we just couldn't really help them. We had the one good drive. I think the Penn State defense has got a lot to do with that, but those are a couple of the negatives. The positives, getting the big stage, the effort of the team. These guys want to be good. We love coaching them. We're going to continue to raise the bar and take the teachable moments and forge ahead.
Q: While you were focusing on this week, you kept repeating that you just wanted to get better every day. How do you feel you guys got better today?
A: I feel comfortable saying that I think we did [get better]. I challenged the team after the game about looking at this. Missed tackles, they've got some great players with space, but if it's a simple day-one install and the opponent has nothing to do with it then we're going to address that aggressively as a staff. We treated last week as a loss. We came here to win the football game. We didn't, it didn't go our way. As a staff we have to rebound it, take 24 hours, get a few guys' bumps and bruises cleaned up, but I think next week, big stage, we'll handle it much better. That's how we're going to challenge them.
Q: What made you want to pull out some of those trick plays?
A: All of them but one were in last week. It's just time to call them. We came here to win the game. We're going to call the plays that are necessary to win the game. It's not trying to trick anybody. Last week we called whatever we called to win that game. The defense that we were seeing, it was time to go. The guys executed pretty well so that's my thoughts on it.
Q: What did you see from the defensive line that you liked today?
A: I think we had five [sacks] if I have the numbers right and as I've said before, with Coach Nowinsky and his track record with getting to the quarterback, I thought we left two or three out there. We've got to find a way. Too many big plays and we missed tackles. I think the opponent's got something to do with that. I'm not taking anything away from the guys or making excuses, that's not what we do, it's not in our DNA. I'm pleased with some of the pass rush things, but we have to consistently be disciplined if it's on the screen and that's two weeks in a row that we've let up big screen, we have to leverage the ball. Penn State and who they are and the Big Ten and the opponent has nothing to do with leverage. Those are correctable and this staff is going to go and get them fixed.