Quick Hits: Emeka Egbuka Says Buckeyes “Ready to Combat Every Adversity,” Cody Simon Feels “Pressure“ and “Blame” to Bring Ohio State's Defense Back Up

With defense being a major talking point coming off Ohio State's defeat to the Ducks, linebacker Cody Simon said he feels "blame" for the Buckeyes' shortcomings on that side of the ball and "pressure" to fix the issues. Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is confident in OSU's ability to bounce back, saying the team is prepared to “combat every adversity” they face.

Running back TreVeyon Henderson was the last of Ohio State's three captains who spoke with the media on Wednesday while Eleven Warriors also got some one-on-one time with center Seth McLaughlin.

WR Emeka Egbuka

“Going through the ebbs and flows of change is something we have to become accustomed to, but we’re ready to combat every adversity that comes our way.”– Emeka Egbuka on his mindset for the rest of the season.

• Egbuka said following the game OSU had in Eugene it would be easy for the team to get down on itself but said players adopted the mindset that it’s a 12-team playoff and a long season and that OSU has a strong chance to make its way back to the Big Ten title game.
• Egbuka said the defeat may end up benefiting OSU in the long run because you “see the impurities of your team and be able to push it and grind it out.” He added if the team won that game they may not have nitpicked over the film as much and that it could be a benefit going forward.
• Egbuka said as an offense OSU needs to run the ball better and block better on the perimeter.
• Egbuka said OSU’s defensive backs took the game against Oregon personally and hope to use it as motivation to do “amazing things” in the back half of the season.

RB TreVeyon Henderson

“We’ve got so many games and so much season left. I’m really trying to flip the page quick, but still take care of those little details.”– TreVeyon Henderson on Ohio State bouncing back from the loss

• Henderson said left tackle Zen Michalski has been working “really hard” even before the season started in case he got an opportunity. He added he believes Michalski is ready for this opportunity.
• Henderson said the team has been lifting each other up and encouraging each other ahead of their matchup with Nebraska following the defeat.
• Henderson said the team all has to own up to the mistakes they made on their own but very much appreciated Ryan Day took it upon himself to put the majority of the blame himself, even though he feels it’s equally important to do so as a player.
• Henderson said OSU used the off week to clean up little things and work on development and little details going forward.

LB Cody Simon

“100 percent. I feel all that pressure and that blame. I feel fully responsible. I got to lead the defense and we didn’t play to our standard. We’ve got to be better at all times, in all phases. It’s on me.”– Cody Simon on if he feels responsible to lead Ohio State’s defense back to where it should be

• On the past week-and-a-half of practice for Ohio State: “It’s been a tough week-and-a-half, a good time for us to refocus. We just need to play a cleaner game. It starts with everybody. It starts with me, too. We’ve definitely had some struggles, and we’re working to fix those. Our biggest goal is to play as hard as we can and play our best football these next six games.”
• Simon expects Denzel Burke to bounce back from the Oregon game. “This past week-and-a-half, he’s (returned) to all his fundamentals, his base techniques, everything. He’s had really good practices the past week and a half. When you have games like that, he knows that we always got his back. He’s so resilient. He works hard every day. He’s out here getting extra work in all the time. I have full faith in Denzel. I have full faith in everyone on our defense.”
• On how losing to Oregon felt, sitting in those feelings during the bye week: “It definitely hurts. We all felt that. I guess it’s kind of worse when you don’t have a game because you can’t shift your focus. We all had to sit with that for a little bit. But you get back out there, you put another foot forward, you keep fighting — that’s what we’re gonna do. That’s our goal for the next six weeks. We got to fight. We got to win everything. We got to fight for every inch.”
• On how Ohio State will respond to the Oregon loss: “It’s all our mentality. At this point, teams either go up or down. (The loss) can either sink you guys, or it can be the reason you guys win the championship. Our message has been to be as clean as possible and take this as a point of we’re gonna turn this around and go on a run right here. That’s our biggest goal (it to) go on a run.”
• On how Ryan Day responded to the Oregon loss: “He’s the leader of it all. He faces all the blame. He takes all the blame. He has to face (the media) and explain what happened. For him, we gotta find the answer. The biggest thing is going back to what makes us good, going back to our fundamentals. … He’s done a really good job of reminding us and getting back into the intensity of doing our jobs 100 percent as hard as you can as fast as you can.”

C Seth McLaughlin

“It’s a big deal. That was one of my main goals when I came into school is be a finalist for that award and hopefully try to win the thing. But you just got to keep focusing on football and that’s really what matters at the end of the day.”– Seth McLaughlin on being a Campbell Trophy finalist

• McLaughlin feels Oregon was the first team Ohio State played that could expose its flaws. They’ve worked for the past week-and-a-half on fixing those flaws.
• On new starting left tackle Zen Michalski: “I’ve got a lot of confidence in Zen. Even when he wasn’t starting, he was watching a ton of film. He was always working on his craft and just getting better. I’ve got no concerns about Zen stepping in and doing a really good job.” McLaughlin says his job is to make sure Michalski knows what he’s doing and be “a rock for him to lean on.”
• On Nebraska’s defense: “They’re big and strong. They’ve got a unique defensive structure. They make it difficult to fit things up. It’s like a 3-3-5 structure, so you’ve really got to figure out who you’re going to.”