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OSU Quotebook: Insights Into The Texas Game
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Santonio Holmes
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Steve Helwagen Managing Editor
Date: Sep 13, 2005
We have a chance today to share some of the postgame thoughts from the Ohio State perspective after Saturday's 25-22 loss to Texas. We got some great and insightful comments from several players on the quarterback situation, Vince Young, key plays that shaped the loss and what comes next for OSU. Click this free link for more.
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Just in time for this week’s battery of interview opportunities on Tuesday, we cleared out the notebook with a plethora of comments and opinions from the postgame interview room following
Ohio State’s 25-22 loss to
Texas.
Here are what several of the Buckeyes had to say after the loss:
Santonio Holmes
* On the play of the quarterbacks -- “They were bringing in leadership. Both of those guys were fired up and eager to compete against Texas. They gave it their all. They played their heart out.”
* On OSU’s inability to get touchdowns in the red zone -- “We should have gone in and scored more points. Things happened. Their defense played great. They held us to just field goals. Our defense pretty much did the same thing to them. But in clutch situations in the red zone, you have to score touchdowns.
“It hurts a lot. We should have put up more points. That’s been our goal for this season to score 40 points. We had opportunities in front of us, but we just didn’t capitalize. Their defense played great.”
* On Texas’ resolve -- “They fought their butt off and we did, too. We just came up short. You can’t fault anybody for not doing this or not doing that. We lost as a team.”
Josh Huston
* On what he saw when Texas’ Ramonce Taylor was nearly tackled in the end zone on a kickoff -- “I was pumped. I thought we had him deep in the end zone. I don’t know what he was doing. He caught it 4 yards deep and acted like he was going to kneel it. I thought we had him, but he got away and got up the sidelines.”
* On missing a 50-yard field goal with 5:00 left -- “Fifty isn’t a long field goal. It isn’t anything you need to worry about or change your form or kick harder. I just didn’t get through on it and left it out to the right.”
* On what coach Jim Tressel told him after the miss -- “He told me after the game that we should have got us closer. But it doesn’t matter. I should have made it.”
* On making 5 of 6 field goals in the loss -- “I look at what’s best for the team. We didn’t win. Those five field goals put some points on the board. But we needed that sixth one, too.”
Justin Zwick
* On sharing time with Troy Smith at quarterback -- “You can’t worry about that. You just have to go out and make plays when you get the opportunity. I prepared myself to play in the game and whenever they call my number, I just have to go out there and try and make some plays.”
* On what happened on his late-game fumble -- “I think the receiver slipped. I just tried to pull it down and get some yards, but I just didn’t take care of the ball like I should have.”
Ashton Youboty
* On Huston’s best day as an OSU kicker -- “Every play counts. I thought Josh Huston had a great day. I don’t think people are missing Mike Nugent today.”
* On Texas quarterback Vince Young -- “I saw once even A.J. (Hawk) had a problem getting him down. Usually, if you have the angle, you make the tackle. He did a good job. Their coaches called a good passing attack. They knew what they were doing.”
* On whether Young was a Heisman Trophy candidate -- “I think so. He made his plays. I don’t think he hurt himself at all.”
* On what happened on the late touchdown from Young to Limas Sweed that lifted Texas to the win -- “It wasn’t a good re-route on my part. I didn’t buy the safety enough time to get over the top, and they just made a play.”
Troy Smith
* On sharing time with Zwick -- “When we got the chance and opportunity to come out and make some plays, we had to do so. Unfortunately, we came up short today as a team. We had so many opportunities in the red zone to get points. We just have to get better.
“It was pretty cool. Any player, once they get into the groove of the game, they want to play. But that is what he saw fit to do for the team. Hopefully next time, if we do rotate, we’ll get a W.”
* On playing in a game for the first time in 9-1/2 months -- “It felt good. It felt great. Still, decision-making is the big part of my game I need to improve on. But other than that it felt great.”
* On what happened on his 36-yard touchdown pass to Holmes -- “I think that gave us a good bolt of energy, but we didn’t finish it. There were still a lot of little things we needed to do. We’ll keep working on those things next week.
“It starts up front. The guys up front did a great job protection-wise. Santonio made a great play on the ball. That gave us a little bit of momentum. Just trying to get the ball into the hands of the play makers is my number one thing.”
* On whether he can handle a platoon situation -- “I’m not the decision maker. I can’t make decisions on that. I just try to go out there and execute the game plan. If I have to get used to it, I will adjust and get used to it.”
* On what he was trying to do when he was sacked for a safety with 19 seconds left -- “It was a Hail Mary on my part to get the ball up. It was a bad decision on my part. I should have let the ball go.”
* On pushing hard for a touchdown in the red zone -- “I just wanted so bad to get on the board with a touchdown so we could extend that lead. (The margin) would go three-six, three-six. We needed a touchdown. That’s all I was thinking about.”
* On criticism of OSU tight end Ryan Hamby, who dropped a Zwick pass that could have been a game-clinching touchdown -- “Ryan has been here. He’s a leader from day one, square one. Who cares? Ryan is a great leader and he’s a great player. He’s a starting tight end and he’s not going anywhere. We are going to continue to throw him the ball again and again. If the play happened like that again, we’d probably throw it to him again.”
Jay Richardson
* On Texas and the play of the defense -- “I give them all the respect in the world. He is a great player. But I don’t think he beat us. I think we lost. We have confidence in our defense and we can stop anybody. But we didn’t get it done in the fourth quarter like we should have. I thought we played 3-1/2 quarters of good defensive football. That last drive, they got us.
“They have some good players on the offensive line. I feel like we did a good job against their offensive line.”
* On what he saw when he forced a fumble, which A.J. Hawk recovered -- “I had an inside move. I came in and wrapped him back up. I guess he let it go and A.J. came in and got it. It was a great play by A.J., and that’s great team defense.”
* On what comes next for the Buckeyes -- “Right now, our main goal is to get back, find out what we did wrong and get better. And we have to keep that fire. We can’t let this game put our fire out. We have a lot of fire on this team and a lot of heart on this team.
“If you had been down there in the locker room, you would see that no one is beating themselves up. No one has their head down.”
* On what makes Young special -- “Vince Young is a big, strong quarterback. He’s a tall guy. You can’t arm tackle him, obviously. You have to hit him hard and it takes a couple guys. It takes a team effort basically.”
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