Ohio State flew into rainy and humid New Orleans on a double-decker charter plane that some players described as the nicest, biggest, best aircraft they’d ever stepped foot on.
Upon landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport about an hour later than expected according to Sugar Bowl itinerary, Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer, Alabama’s Nick Saban and a handful of players met with a band of reporters who followed off the plane and into a cabin of sorts for interviews prior to the teams’ College Football Playoff semifinal bout Thursday night.
Urban Meyer
- Meyer said Dontre Wilson, who is recovering from foot surgery and walked off the plane in a protective boot, is still “50-50” in respect to whether or not the sophomore H-back will be able to play against the Crimson Tide. If Wilson, who broke his foot against Michigan State in early November, he would provide another weapon on a surging Ohio State offense.
- Meyer said, “you’d really have to check the pulse of a human being,” if his players weren’t excited for the Sugar Bowl.
- Meyer on making history by partaking in the first-ever College Football Playoff: “What a great place to have in the Sugar Bowl.”
- Meyer said there’s a bit of a different mentality to be had with a playoff versus the old, traditional bowl system. He added: “We’re just treating this like a one-game season and then worrying about next week.”
- Meyer said, as far as his knowledge extends, all players made the trip to New Orleans, adding there weren’t any surprise issues in terms of off-field conduct be it academics or otherwise. “Everybody is here who should be here.”
- Meyer said junior nickel Armani Reeves is expected to play against Alabama. Reeves has dealt with undisclosed injuries since late October.
Nick Saban
- Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who sauntered off his team’s plane in a dapper, crimson suit, on Ohio State: “Outstanding … They are an outstanding team in every phase of the game.” Saban pointed to the Buckeyes’ team speed as a major reason for their success this season.”
- Saban on Alabama’s bowl preparations: “I think maintaining intensity for a bowl game is one of the critical factors for any team in terms of their ability to get back to the kind of football that got them here.
- Added Saban: “A lot of times when you prepare, you have to expect the unexpected. you've got to be able to adjust and adapt and be in control and command .. discipline is always very important when you haven’t played for a long time.”
Adolphus Washington
- Washington on playing a team like Alabama, which has claimed three of the five past national titles: “We’re very confident in what we’ve done. Everybody knows about Alabama — how they are, how they win championships. But we feel like if we come out here and play like we did against Wisconsin, then we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. With the way we prepare, there’s no reason to worry about what they do. All we need to do is go out and there do what we do.”
- Washington was among many who ranted and raved about the team’s charter jet to New Orleans: “The seat turned into a bed, I’ve never seen that before. I slept real good — only when we didn’t hit turbulence, because that’s scary.”
- Washington said Ohio State had a “very good practice” Saturday morning before leaving for New Orleans. “We’re ready, still preparing for them. To get on that plane I hoped that kind of helped you (relax), because that plane was wonderful and we happen to be down here in New Orleans and we’re ready to get the job done.”
- Washington echoed Meyer’s sentiments about treating the Sugar Bowl a bit differently than perhaps years in the past. “That’s kind of out of our mind. We’ve kind of taken a playoff approach to it … normally with a bowl it’s like you’re one and you're done. It’s just a different mentality before the bowl. We’ve got two things to play for with the playoff system.”
- Washington said Alabama has “a lot of explosive players on offense as far as receivers, running backs, quarterback’s very good. O-Line’s very good. And we just have to come out on our A-game just like we did against Wisconsin. If we play how we played against Wisconsin, I think we’ll be fine.”
- Washington said “we actually came back. First day we were just in shells, running around getting back in shape and together. This morning, I feel like we put together a pretty good practice this morning and just coming off a break. When we get down here and we practice tomorrow, we’ll be fine getting into things."
- Washington added: “About Tuesday night of our break, a lot of the guys from the D-line were texting each other saying how we missed each other. We’re just not used to being away from each other for that long of a period. So I think guys are kind of anxious to get back at it and try to get this win.”
Blake Sims
- Alabama quarterback Blake Sims said his "feet would probably be sweating" if he were thrust into the same situation as Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones. "Probably a lot of things going through my head and just pretty much talking to my teammates and seeing if they trust me."
- Sims said: "I have nothing but respect for him, he came in his first game and it was very big the team. He handled himself very well and we know that he’ll probably come in and do it the same way and we gotta do a great job stopping him and getting him off the field on third downs."
- Sims on what stands out about Ohio State's improved defense: "Their passion, their passion. They really do whatever they gotta do to win.”
- Sims on playing in New Orleans, a city with more vices than you can count on both hands: "Everyone knows this is a business trip, this is not a vacation for us. In order to get to our dreams, we gotta focus on the little things."
- Sims on playing in the first-ever College Football Playoff: "It’s just another opportunity to play under the lights and show the world what Bama’s made for and Coach Saban’s gonna lead us the right way ... Just another game — that’s all it is to us.
- Also note, Sims is very much afraid of planes: "I do not fly, I don’t like flying at all. They just try to play jokes on me and try to mess with me at the same time."
