Oct. 24, 2009

Recap |  Final Stats

Ohio Head Coach Frank Solich

On Theo being sick:

Theo got sick just prior to the start of the game. He went in a series but then had trouble going and was throwing up, so that got him off to kind of a rocky start. As the game went on he seemed to feel a little bit better and didn’t have a temperature, so we were able to continue to get him back on the field when he was ready to go.

 

On Tyler’s performance in the game:

He was put in some tough situations. We weren’t playing very well as a unit, so it’s hard to say that he wasn’t playing well. I don’t think there were a lot of opportunities for him where he just had great time and was able to go through his reads, so I’m sure it was kind of tough going for him. He’s a competitor and he responds well, so I’m sure that he’ll be ok.

 

On what a game like this does to a team or a program:

It’s tough. Obviously there were a lot of good things that have happened for us throughout the course of the season and to not to be able to come up with some answers to make things work and to get things done is tough. It looked like a fairly complete breakdown in terms of all phases of the game. I think the defense played well early on and created some turnovers and gave us a chance if we’d have put points on the board to get the game started off in the right direction. But, we were not able to take advantage of it on the offensive side, and then eventually the defense gave up some big plays. That will happen if you keep putting them back on the field. Special teams, there was a mixture there of some good things and some not so good things. We were in the hole a lot in the first quarter. I thought their punter hit some punts that pinned us deep and took away field position and that was huge early on because we just never seemed to get out of the hole.

 

On being flat or not playing well:

Both. I thought they prepared pretty well. It’s tough to be truly on top of your game 12 games in a row. You just hope that when you’re not hitting on all cylinders you’re good enough to make it work. But that’s not the case.

 

Senior Quarterback Theo Scott

On how he was feeling (health-wise):

“Just one of those days, is all I can say.”

 

On getting sick before game-time:

“Yeah, I was actually throwing up. After our second series, I believe, I was feeling queasy and my body just really wasn’t feeling it today. I was just trying to push through that.”

 

On offensive execution:

Honestly, we just hurt ourselves. There were a lot of things that we didn’t execute, especially coming from my end. Throwing the ball in the proper spot, staying disciplined and going through my reads, not trying to force it and make that big play when you’re down…that’s when things can happen. Overall it was just one of those days where you have to look deeper inside yourself and fight through all that other stuff that’s going on and come out with the win.

 

On the loss:

Our performance wasn’t well, but you’ve just got to take it as it is. You’ve got to learn and grow from it and continue on.

 

On how today’s game affected the roll that the team was on:

Honestly, I’ll take the blame for my lot. A lot of it has to do with me. I touch the ball every play and my role is key and I feel like there were a couple of times where we could have changed the game, the momentum of the game and get some scores. All I can do is look back and learn from my mistakes and just keep pushing. My teammates believe in me and they understand today was a struggle. We kept fighting but it just happens. It’s about how you’re going to deal with it. We didn’t deal with it that well but I’m still holding my head up high and next week we’re going to get after it.

 

Ohio senior safety Patrick Tafua

On the difficulty of this loss:

I’m not going to lie, this is a tough one to take. We always take it one game at a time. Personally, I’m going to let this one settle in tonight, but tomorrow is a new day and we are going to come right back to work and correct the mistakes we made tonight. It’s going to hurt. We’re all human, so it’s going to hurt tonight, but tomorrow is a brand new day.

 

On the defense’s performance in the second half:

We were out there quite long as the game progressed, and it started a little wear and tear but that just comes with the game. I know we’re conditioned. I know we’re in way better condition than that. I think consistency wasn’t there, and that was a factor in the second half. That’s just something we’re going to have to make sure we fix coming in on Monday.

 

We were there, we showed up tonight, we showed up to play. We played physical as a defense, and just as time went on throughout the game, we made little slip ups, little mental mistakes, but not big enough for us that we can’t fix. Everything that we have for this season, we still believe is going to happen and it just depends on our mindset and we approach next week’s game. As seniors, I know we are going to make sure the change happens and leave this game here and leave it behind and get better for the next game.

 

Ohio senior wide receiver Taylor Price

On offense’s performance:

Protecting the quarterback, blocking up front, then running backs, quarterbacks, receivers coming together…we just had one off night. We’re still a very talented team. We’re not going to let this affect us. We still have a lot of goals ahead of us that we still want to accomplish. Next Saturday we’re going come out a try to get a win.

 

Kent State Head Coach Doug Martin

On Kent State’s play overall:

It was a great team win by our guys. I’m not sure that we were great in any area, but we are good together. We’re playing good team football right now in all phases. Our guys have a real belief in each other, and that showed today. It was a tremendous effort. We beat a good football team today, Ohio is a good team.

 

On the team’s play after tough loss to Bowling Green:

They got tired of being sick and tired. They are still shaken up by that Bowling Green game. I think emotionally they have gotten themselves back and playing the type of football that we should be playing defensively, and we’re contesting the ball better in the air. The coaches have done a great job simplifying things a bit with zone coverage, and that’s helped us some too.

 

On how to attack Ohio’s Defense:

When you play a team like Ohio, you have to throw the ball. You have to try and stretch the ball deep.  We tried to create explosion plays with the passing game, you either get the interference or you make the catch. We had several chances to make some plays in the first half that we just didn’t make. In the second half, we made some plays.

 

On the success of the running game:

That was a key contributor to why we could run the ball. If we don’t get the running game going, then we wouldn’t be able to keep taking those shots down field. We would be in third and long all day long.  We told Jacquise (Terry) that we would have to run the ball for four-five yards to keep us at 3rd and medium.  I thought our offensive line played pretty good too.

 

Kent State quarterback Spencer Keith

On rebounding in the first half and Kent’s defense throughout the game:

In the first half we just didn’t get any breaks, a few missed plays we should have made, but you can’t really think back on that. In the past where we have gotten beat in the fourth quarter, we’re just really trying to forget that and move on from that. The past couple games we have done a really great job.  Our defense was great today. It helps when they get a lot of three and outs and put our offense back on the field.

 

Kent State running back Jacquise Terry

On Kent’s team effort down the stretch to win against Ohio:

Our motto is ‘Attack’. Coach told us that we need to learn from the Bowling Green game and make plays down the stretch, and that’s what we did. We got some first downs and ran time off the clock. The defense played great, absolutely phenomenal. They only gave up three points in the first half and until that last punt return there were no touchdowns. My hat’s off to them.

 

Kent State linebacker Cobrani Mixon

On the play of the defense in today’s game:

Our d-line played great today. All week we heard about how Ohio doesn’t give up sacks and that motivated our defensive line, and we went out there and changed that. I know we slipped up on the punt, but we just wanted to keep attacking and not let them have a chance to get comfortable.