Q: What advice would you give to Dwayne as he approaches the Game and the rest of the season?
A: This is a game where you really make a name for yourself. This is a game where everyone is going to remember what you did. You can throw that 10-1 record out the window. I think the reason I’m so popular and well known is because I never lost to Michigan. I’m 3-0-1 against them. Back then, when we played, if you didn’t win the Big Ten championship or title, you didn’t go to a bowl game, so all the marbles were on the table when we played. It meant everything to me.
Q: Do you believe when OSU plays Michigan that the records truly do go out the window?
A: There is no doubt about it. You can see even when Michigan didn’t have some good teams and good records, they always played Ohio State really tough though. You can throw the records out the window. This game is going to go down as a street fight.
Q: Do you have any concerns going into the game? Even though Ohio State is 10-1 many people think OSU has underachieved. Is it a matter of flipping a switch?
A: I think nobody thought that Ohio State’s defense would play as well as they did when they played Michigan State. I think the defense is going to show up like they did against Michigan State. That might be surprising to some, but they played great after the Purdue collapse. They came back and played good defense. I think Maryland had a very tricky offense. When you come and play Michigan, they are not tricky at all. You know pretty much what they are going to do. I can’t see them putting wide receivers out there throwing deep passes. I think the defense has a better shot playing against Michigan versus playing Maryland, where they split a lot of guys out at wide receiver.
Q: What advice would you have for the current team going into the Game with them being a 4-point underdog?
A: Obviously, never look at that as far as points. I think we are ready. I definitely think these guys should have some confidence because Michigan hasn’t beaten us since Harbaugh has been there. So obviously we have an edge and also, we have an edge being at home. I don’t think Michigan has seen a passer like Dwayne Haskins and their defensive backs aren’t that good to me. I feel really good, especially with our passing game.
Q: Did you notice a difference in the emotion and the intensity during the Michigan game versus the regular season games?
A: There is no doubt about it. Because we practiced for Michigan the first day of practice, which was Aug. 20th. I remember we practiced for Michigan and we were playing Indiana. We practiced for Michigan Monday and Tuesday, and we practiced for Indiana Wednesday Thursday and Friday and we weren’t playing Michigan for another 5 weeks.
Q: Do you root for Michigan to do well during the season or are you just kind of neutral on that?
A: I’m a little neutral with Michigan but I also know that when Michigan does well and we do well it’s great for the conference and great for the rivalry. It’s not like I’m always wishing for them to do bad. It’s kind of been in our favor here lately, so no matter how good they do, we always catch them at the end of the season, so it’s fine with me.
Q: Do you have a score prediction for this year’s game?
A: I think we might win 31-17. Put one field goal in there for us.
