Ohio State defeated Penn State 33-24 Saturday to notch its fifth straight win against the Nittany Lions.
Following the victory, Ryan Day, C.J. Stroud, TreVeyon Henderson and a number of other Buckeye players stepped up to the podium to address members of the media.
Here's a rundown of everything the Buckeyes discussed in the post-game press conference.
QB C.J. Stroud
- Stroud says "it was a blessing" to get the win and take pictures with fans after the game.
- "I feel like we're the best offense in the country, no matter what's going on ... it's just about fighting." Stroud says Penn State was "calling some of our plays out."
- "These type of games are definitely needed. Just to have this type of win, we can do anything we set our minds to."
- Stroud said his fourth down throw to Chris Olave that came up short was his fault. Does Stroud wish he had that throw back? "Hell yeah, but I ain't gonna get it back."
- On not running the ball much at quarterback, Stroud says he just runs the plays that are called and isn't trying to "do his own thing" by running the ball. "That's how you lose games."
- Stroud jokes that Henderson and Smith-Njigba got "hawked" from behind when they both had potential touchdowns on breakaway plays.
- Stroud says it "just took a minute for it to click" on offense, but that not much has actually changed about the Buckeye offense since losing to Oregon.
- Stroud said the team "shot itself in the foot" during the game, but that he stepped up as a leader and told the team to calm down.
- Stroud says that every game Ohio State has lost in recent memory, "the Buckeyes beat the Buckeyes."
Ryan Day
- Day says he was proud of TreVeyon Henderson for sticking with a tough game. Day says the game was "frustrating," but that the Buckeyes were "gritty" and "kept swinging." Day says the Buckeyes weren't trying to get "style points" against Penn State. "That's not how this works."
- Day says "you can't flinch" in games like this. Day says the Buckeyes won't play nervous, even after certain players make mistakes.
- Day on Stroud saying Penn State was calling out certain Ohio State plays during the game: "That happens in just about every game." Day says teams pick up on other teams' tendencies.
- Day says "I thought the defense won the game" against Penn State.
- Day says Jerron Cage was "carrying the ball like a loaf of bread" on his 57-yard fumble return TD.
- "We didn't have our heads down or anything like that." Day says Olave's long touchdown reception "kind of broke things" open for Ohio State.
- "We kind of expected some of this. What we didn't expect was some of those penalties and lack of execution."
- "When you look at college football right now, it's about surviving and moving on." Day says several teams in the Big Ten are "capable of beating us."
- Day credits the Buckeye fans for filling the house at Ohio Stadium. "The crowd was excellent."
- On the run game struggles, Day says maybe it was a good thing that the Buckeyes didn't have a great game overall. Day says "to me, if you finish off a lot of these drives in the end zone, it looks a lot different."
- Day says he wanted the Buckeyes to hit 250 yards rushing, and that they came up short of that mark tonight.
- On the CFP race, Day says "our body of work's gonna speak for itself" if the Buckeyes continue winning games.
RB TreVeyon Henderson, DE Zach Harrison, K Noah Ruggles
- Henderson: "It was tough, that was a physical game." Henderson said the Buckeyes "stayed the course" and ended up having success.
- Harrison says he was "in shock" that Jerron Cage scored a touchdown, and that he didn't know Cage had that in him.
- Harrison says it was a team win, and that sometimes the offense isn't going to hit on all cylinders. Harrison says it was "one of those games where the defense had to make more plays."
- Harrison says Tyreke Smith is "really a special talent." Harrison says he and Smith were "racing to the quarterback" tonight.
- Harrison says the Buckeyes are building confidence as a unit.
- Henderson says "that defense, that's a great defense. One of the best defenses we've played all year. But I needed that to prove to myself that I'm tough."
- Ruggles says "I'm not sure what the numbers are, I just take it one kick at a time."
- Harrison says the Buckeyes have the best offensive line in the country, in his opinion.
S Ronnie Hickman, CB Cameron Brown
- Brown says the interception he made "took a lot of film study," and that he watched the exact play Penn State ran on his INT this morning.
- Hickman says "the guys in the locker room know our potential."
- On scoring a defensive TD, Hickman says "it's huge." Hickman says the Buckeyes talk in the locker room about who's going to be the one to do it every game. Hickman says nobody thought it would be Jerron Cage, though.
- Hickman says "the game's not gonna go perfect each week. There's gonna be slip-ups or whatever." Hickman says the offense has to have the defense's back, and vice versa.
- Hickman says "guys are playing with more experience under our belt." Hickman says "not too many guys knew what they were doing" during the first two games of the season.
