A few days after picking up the biggest win of the season, seven Ohio State players met with reporters on Wednesday.
In his first interview since having a rough game against Oregon, cornerback Denzel Burke didn't want to dwell too much on the past, saying he's “just got to get the job done” and then asked for the next question.
Meanwhile, center Seth McLaughlin has tremendous respect for his quarterback and how he bounces back from mistakes, calling Will Howard a “tough MF-er” on Wednesday.
Burke, McLaughlin, Lathan Ransom, Kayden McDonald, Ty Hamilton, Jeremiah Smith and Jayden Fielding all met with reporters on Wednesday and you can see what they had to say in the videos and bullet-point recaps below.
CB Denzel Burke
“It was a great game, a great defining moment for our program. We just gotta continue to keep building on these games, continue to worry about Purdue and continue to dominate.”– Denzel Burke on Ohio State’s win over Penn State
- When asked “what went wrong” for him in the Oregon game, Burke responded, “Nothing. Just got to get the job done. Next question.” Later, Burke revealed how he was able to respond after the Buckeyes’ loss to the Ducks: “That’s the life of playing corner, man. Just gotta continue to keep building. We’ll see them again.”
- Burke said Ohio State’s defense has performed better the past two weeks because the Buckeyes understand “what’s all on the line” this season. “We gotta win out. We gotta continue to keep playing hard, continue playing for each other and understand what our goals are.”
- Burke said he has a great relationship with Davison Igbinosun and was proud of how IGB performed against Penn State. “He brings so much energy to my group. He’s my brother. He’s actually my hotel roommate every weekend. We’re really close. He’s always gonna be him, and I’m never gonna change that.” Burke said sometimes he can’t sleep before games because Igbinosun snores.
S Lathan Ransom
“I think that we try to be the best two safeties on the field every time we step on the field. And we’re constantly competing to make plays and who’s gonna play better.”– Lathan Ransom on playing with Caleb Downs
- Ransom said he knew that Penn State was going to want to throw to Tyler Warren on its 4th-and-goal pass attempt because the pick play they attempted to run with Warren is one of their go-to plays on the goal line.
- On the defense’s performance since the Oregon game: “Obviously we didn’t play the way we wanted to at Oregon. But I mean, it’s not like the defense changed players or we’ve changed a lot of stuff. I feel like we’ve been a dominant defense all year other than that game we didn’t play well. And we addressed those issues and we know what we had to fix, and we got right back to doing what we did, and now we’re back to playing the way we should be playing.”
- Ransom said he suffered the injury that kept him out of the Nebraska game late in the Oregon game. He said he’s feeling healthy now.
- Ransom said he’s motivated to get back to the Big Ten Championship Game because his only previous appearance in the game was in 2020 when fans were unable to attend due to COVID-19.
K Jayden Fielding
“It’s a good feeling. Being able to help the guys win, its a team effort. John (Ferlmann) and Joe (McGuire) did their job so I could do mine. The coaches put me in a good position to make the kick. It’s a complete team effort. Being able to finish it off like that, it’s a really good feeling.”– Jayden Fielding on making two field goals against Penn State
- Fielding was thankful to help Ohio State secure a win at Penn State. His two field goals and two extra points accounted for eight of the team’s 20 points. When asked if he felt pressure to make all of them, Fielding said, “In the moment, you’re out there, and it almost transforms back to the practice field in your head. You’re not really thinking it’s a clutch kick then because it’s not like there’s no time left on the clock. You’re just doing what you can to help your team on that drive. I try to go into (each kick) with that mindset.”
- Fielding said he’s worked hard to have a short-term memory if he ever misses a kick. Fielding missed his lone field goal attempt against Nebraska but made two against Penn State. “It’s all about mindset. You can’t have a negative mindset in any sport, in my opinion, because if you do, you’ll dig yourself deeper into a hole. … It’s having a short-term memory. You have to have a short-term memory, and you gotta be able to bounce back.”
- Fielding said he tweaked his hip flexor on the opening kickoff against Marshall. He struggled against the Herd, sending three kickoffs out of bounds. Fielding said he’s fully healthy now.
WR Jeremiah Smith
“Everything is special. The receivers we have, the best two backs in the country that we have, the O-line that we have, we’ve got the best quarterback in the country. So it’s pretty special to be in this offense, for sure, as a freshman to be out there playing.” – Jeremiah Smith on Ohio State’s offense
- Smith said he thought the ball was going to Carnell Tate on the deep ball from Will Howard that he didn’t bring in. “That’s on me.”
- Smith said breaking Cris Carter’s school records for an Ohio State freshman receiver – one of which he’s broken (receiving yards), one of which he’s tied (touchdowns) and one of which he’s just two away from tying (receptions) – was one of the goals he wrote down for himself when he arrived at OSU in January.
- On Carter congratulating him on social media: “I can’t thank him enough for that.”
- Smith said he still hasn’t met his own expectations for his freshman season. “I feel like there’s more stuff that I need to work on. Stuff I definitely could be better at. But you’ll see it for the next eight to nine games.”
C Seth McLaughlin
“Will's a tough MF-er. He might mess up like that, but he comes through. He's like, ‘Hey, it's on me. We're not going to let that affect us going forward.’”– Seth McLaughlin on how Will Howard bounces back from mistakes
- On Ohio State’s success running the quarterback sneak: “We worked the crap out of it in practice. We have a drill every day that we work on Tuesdays and on Wednesdays to get really good at that because when you need a yard, you want to have something you know for sure you can go and get it.”
- McLaughlin said the public criticism of Ohio State’s offensive line was a motivator for the unit. “We got called out by the media and everybody after the Nebraska game and after losing a couple guys and we took that personally and wanted to go out there and put a good product on the field. And that's just what we got to continue to do.”
- On Carson Hinzman: “Usually if there's a guy new at their position, you can kind of tell when they're messing up. And I would go to people after practice, I was like, ‘How did Carson do? I didn't really feel like him messing up next to me.’ And they're like, ‘Yeah, he's doing a really good job.’ ... He's a great football player. He's always been a great football player.”
- On Kayden McDonald: “Every Tuesday during an inside run, he gets me a couple of times. That kid's a freak on the inside, and when he just lines up and he gets to run forward and run through somebody's face, he's going to do really, really well. So I'm happy to see it happen to other people and not just me.”
DT Kayden McDonald
“This is what I do. I enjoy playing football, the pride in pushing somebody back against their own will.”– Kayden McDonald on pushing Penn State’s center back on 3rd-and-goal at the 2-yard line
- On why he was prepared to step up after Tyleik Williams went down with injury at Penn State: “It's all about the opportunity, having guys like Tyleik and Ty pushing me every day, having me ready for the moment. I think that's why it's starting to show more every day.”
- McDonald wore a big smile throughout the duration of his interview, which he said is because he loves playing for this Ohio State team so much. “This is historic. This is once in a lifetime, you know, having all the guys come back, always just being happy, having a smile on your face. It's a blessing to be here every day.”
- Braxton Miller’s spin move against Virginia Tech in 2015 first piqued McDonald’s interest in Ohio State. “I remember I watched Braxton Miller. He did like a spin move in the game against Virginia Tech and I was like, I'm going there when I get older.”
DT Ty Hamilton
“It just shows what practice does for us. All week, we were just working on playing as a team, playing as a unit and being able to come together as a defense. To be able to have three goal line stops in the past two weeks. It’s amazing to see.”– Ty Hamilton on Ohio State’s defensive standing tall when it matters
- Hamilton attributes OSU’s success with goal line stands to team chemistry and having a mindset to shut down the opponent before taking the field.
- When Tyleik Williams went down, Hamilton said the team adopted a next man up mentality and it opened the door for guys like Kayden McDonald and Eddrick Houston to contribute.
- Hamilton said McDonald is “showing a lot of flashes” and works hard every single day in practice to contribute when it matters most in the game.
- Hamilton lauded Eddrick Houston being adaptable and moving to an interior defensive line spot and said Larry Johnson “has his ways.” Hamilton recalled he was brought in originally to play defensive end at Ohio State, but found success after switching to the interior spot.
