COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Postgame quotes following Maryland’s 52-24 loss to No. 20 Ohio State at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.
Maryland Head Coach Randy Edsall
Opening Statement:
“First, I want to compliment the crowd today. It was a great environment, a great atmosphere out there today. We really appreciate all their support and everything else. We wish we could have done a few more things today to give ourselves a better opportunity, but what we found out today is that Ohio State is a very good football team. We knew that coming in. That’s the standard that we are going to have to reach here at Maryland. We are prepared to do that. I love our kids, they played hard, they got after it and, again, we just made a few too many mistakes against a quality team to be able to come out on the winning side of the ledger.”
On starting quarterback Caleb Rowe in the second half:
“Well, I felt that we needed to be able to throw the football a little bit more in the second half if we were going to have an opportunity to win. So that’s why I ended up making the decision I made to go with Caleb. C.J. [Brown] is our quarterback, but I felt that we just needed to do that and that’s why I made the decision that I made.”
On Ohio State’s offense:
”They have a very good offense and we said all week long that they’ve been getting better. The quarterback is a dual threat quarterback who can run the zone-read. They ran a little bit more option today. Did some of those things utilizing the quarterback and they put a lot of pressure on you. We’re not as big up front as we would like to be, but again, I thought our kids competed and battled and what we have to do is get off blocks a little bit better and just continue to tackle a little bit better.”
On quarterback C.J. Brown’s interception before halftime:
“We were in a two-minute situation and we’ve worked on those things and the young man made a poor decision and things like that happen in football. You don’t like to see things like that happen, but it did. When those things happen, we just have to regroup and come out and overcome those things.”
On Ohio State’s scheme:
“The things that we saw today, we felt they would do. Everybody always come in with one or two little things that they put in. I thought that we adjusted to those things, but again, we didn’t execute well enough. Give Ohio State credit.”
On Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett:
“We said during the week that he was a really good quarterback and you can just see him getting better each and every game. There were things that we tried to do; pressure him and zone coverage. He’s very good. My hats off to him in terms of how he played.”
On quarterback Caleb Rowe’s performance:
“Well again, we will watch the film and take a look at it. As we say about our two quarterbacks, they can both win for us and we will evaluate the situation. [Rowe] did some things that were good and that were not so good. He made some poor decisions and that happens in a game like today’s game. As coaches, we have to coach these guys each and every day to try and make sure that they do not make poor decisions. He went in there and did the things we asked him to do.”
On quarterback C.J. Brown’s lack of rushing and overall performance:
“No, it was not anything to do with his wrist. Give Ohio State credit, they are a pretty good football team and they can run on defense. They are very athletic and what we are working to do is to get to that point. They should probably be ranked higher than what they are and we were not able to do some things against them.”
On how the team stacks up in the Big Ten:
“We’re close to being a team like Ohio State. Again, what we have to do is continue to build the program, we have to get facilities and we have to be able to recruit at the level we have been recruiting at. Our guys now know that this is the league we are in. If we want to win the Eastern Division of the Big Ten, we are going to have to go through these places. So, today was good for us and told us what stands in front of us. We have been working before but we are going to continue to work even more to make sure that we can get to that point and be able to achieve those standards that we set for ourselves.”
On heading into the bye week:
“The bye comes at a really good time for us. We have some guys who are banged up, but we really appreciate being in the Big Ten and there is a lot on these kids to be able to go through what they have gone through so far in these first six games. With last week’s game in Indiana and this week’s game at home, we are really looking forward to heading into the bye. We are looking forward to taking a deep breath, getting healthy and evaluating ourselves after these six games. We have a chance to analyze ourselves even more.
On the stadium atmosphere:
“These atmospheres over the last two weeks have been great. Our kids really enjoyed playing in Indiana and they enjoyed today other than losing. This atmosphere today was outstanding and hopefully we can continue to have the same atmosphere for the rest of our home games and throughout the rest of the season. We have to make sure we are more precise in what we have to do after playing a team like Ohio State.”
On Ohio State’s speed:
“Their closing speed on defense was very good and we got a couple of plays today against them. They are very fast and they close very quickly. I give my tip of the hat to them and they are an outstanding football team that has proven that for many years.”
Maryland Players
Quarterback Caleb Rowe
On the loss:
“It is definitely a tough loss. Ohio State is a great football team and it would have been nice to get a win. We’ll be fine; we’ve gone through adversity before. It’s good to have a bye week this week and then we can just get things going again.”
On the Ohio State defense:
“They are good up front. They have a great defensive line and linebackers and very athletic defensive backs. It was basically us. We didn’t execute the way we should have today, and we just have to keep working on that.”
On being surprised to start the second half:
“I’m never surprised; I’ve gone through it before. I just always have to be ready like coach preaches all the time. When it happens you just have to go in and do your best.”
Defensive back Jeremiah Johnson
On if anything about Ohio State’s offense surprised him:
“Not at all. They pretty much did everything that we thought they would; credit to them for executing.”
On how Ohio State played:
“We came into this game understanding that they are a top team. We expected them to get the ball to their athletes and they did that today, so I wouldn’t say they are any better or worse than we thought they were.”
On the loss:
“Any loss you take is disappointing. We’re not in this for moral victories. Any time you have to come to the locker room and receive a speech after a loss, it’s tough. Obviously we wanted to beat this team, just like we want to beat Iowa in the next coming weeks.”
Defensive lineman Andre Monroe
On Ohio State doing anything unexpected on offense:
“No, I don’t think they did anything that we weren’t expecting. I think we had a game plan and it came down to execution and I think that’s the story of today.”
On how it feels to play Ohio State:
“I don’t feel any different at all, I think all of us came into the game viewing it as just another game on our schedule that we need to handle business with, and don’t treat it any differently and stick to the game plan and go out there and execute.”
Kicker Brad Craddock
On his school-record 57-yard field goal:
“I wasn’t really expecting coach to put me in for it. I just went out there and did my normal thing. It was a great job by Nate Adams. It was his first game and first snap he had. He did a pretty good job on keeping the target down and I hit it good and then it was good.”
On his progress from freshman year until now:
“It was a big change. Just changing from punting to kicking is the biggest thing. I don’t punt at all anymore. I did a lot of work with Matt Stover and he helped me change my technique and that’s pretty much it.”
On his parents being in attendance at the game
“I got to see them once before the game and then I was able to see them as I came down from the locker-room. They got to watch the game today.”
Defensive Lineman Darius Kilgo
On Ohio State’s offensive line:
“They’re pretty good. Nobody’s special though. They just executed well and executed the offense as a whole.”
On the defensive performance in the second half:
“We were just executing the play calls. Certain guys recognized things and we were able to get up the field and make a couple plays.”
On playing Ohio State:
“They are a good team. They came out and executed their game plan. We just have to come back and prepare during this bye week. We have to be ready to come back and run in the Big Ten.”
On the upcoming bye week:
“It gives guys a chance to get their bodies back and their legs back under them. It just gives us the chance to go over certain things and come back ready.”
Running Back Brandon Ross
On Ohio State’s defense:
“It didn’t really seem like they did anything special. We just got off to a real slow start. They did a really good job at covering the backs when we went out in motion to make sure we didn’t get any flair passes. Their defensive line did a great job getting penetration, and was really good with their hands. They really disrupted the offense.”
On Ohio State’s size and speed:
“They were definitely fast up front. We did a good job scoring and getting a couple drives together in the second half. It just caught us off guard in the first half a little bit.”
On playing in the first Big Ten home game
“It’s painful. We had a chance to be 5-1 and 2-0 in the conference, but at the end of the day, we are 4-2 and 1-1 in conference. We have a bye week, so we have a chance to get some guys healthy and really get back at it for Iowa and homecoming. It’s not a good loss, but we still have everything we want to do in front of us. We’ll be okay.”
Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer
Opening statement:
“I’m very pleased with our performance today. I know it wasn’t perfect; and obviously that’s what you strive to be, but we’re not. Today, going against a team that was 4-1, a team that we have a lot of respect for, and athletes that can make plays, a phase that I was most pleased with was the return yards were minimal. That kickoff team, those are my guys. I might put them in first-class on the flight home. I have so much respect for those guys. I love their demeanor and how they answer challenges. I was very impressed with our coverage units. One thing that we worked hard on was the noon kickoff on the road. We put them in bed at nine o’clock last night, challenged them all week about the early kickoff, and our coaches did a good job of getting their units ready to go.”
On what was impressive about his offense today:
“I have to watch the video tape, but I think I’m impressed with the fact that ever since the Virginia Tech game we are really getting that bare zero coverage. You start to see the quarterbacks, receivers and coaching staff get really excited and start making more aggressive calls. So, that’s a sign that our run game is really solid and our o-line is growing up. The bare zero coverage takes away the other team’s run game. It forces the other team to take some other shots. We’ve worked hard at it because we know what’s coming. “
On importance of a quick start in Maryland atmosphere:
“It was critical and I knew that coming in. It’s not just Maryland, it’s any time you go on the road. I had never been to this stadium, it’s a very nice stadium with the students and fans right on you. But it worked out that we started on the other end to get some momentum going. I’ve had teams before with a noon kickoff that have a dull look coming out of the locker room and that wasn’t the case. I could tell they were ready to go when they got up this morning.”
On after the punt, interception, fumble recovery - “swing point” of the game:
“Someday we will take away the big hits, but our defense today, I think we scored more than one today. Raekwon McMillan scored, someone else brought the ball down to the four-yard line and our offense punched it in. We are going to be more aggressive on defense with tighter coverage. There’s somewhat of a risk that we need to continue to work on with the isolated man-to-man coverage, but there’s also more opportunity to step in front of the ball like we did today.”
On the game plan during the week versus game-day play calling:
“We have a lot of confidence in our quarterback and skills positions right now. It’s a very balanced offense, I’m very involved in the play calling myself with Tom Herman. There’s a lot of opportunity to make plays because we’re confident. We weren’t that way the first game because we didn’t practice like that, but now we are.”
On players stepping up offensively:
“J.T. Barrett is playing very well and the big thing is we can still get better. The guys playing around him are pretty good too. There’s a lot of confidence when you start rotating six receivers in there and they are all quality guys. Corey Smith made some plays today, Michael Thomas continues, Devin Smith, Evan Spencer, Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson – we are developing depth and recruiting skill.”
On the road ahead:
“The road is just getting tougher and tougher. We are just worried about getting better this week. It’s a bye week, I wish we were playing another one next week, our whole team wishes we playing. I’m going to just give them as many game reps as I can to show maturity.”
Ohio State Players
Quarterback J.T. Barrett
On if he was surprised of the effectiveness of the rushing attack on the opening drive:
“Not exactly. I think that was just one of the things we did coming into the game. To get an early start, tempo, and things like that, but it just so happened that they were giving it to us so we were taking it.”
On the confidence he feels when a play is called:
“A lot of things when you look back like that are things we go over on the sidelines before we go out there. We already have somewhat of an idea what we’re going to get into, but there’s definitely some times out there where they’ll do some things defensively and I don’t even have to look back; just with the things we do in practice, I can see the play and we’ll be alright.”
On the confidence level and growth of the offense over the last four games:
“I feel like with the things that the defense present to us, we just take advantage of that. We just try to be prepared for anything and everything and so we just have to do a good job of executing. As far as myself, I’m just trying to get better during the week and not wait until game day to just react to everything. I learn the defense on Tuesday and Wednesday so come Saturday I can have that confidence and go out and play.”
On if being personally recruited by Urban Meyer plays into their relationship:
“I’m not sure if that really makes that much of a difference. I think the earned confidence and trust with Coach Meyer comes with how you practice and how you prepare for things. He definitely doesn’t believe in game time players, that’s not a Coach Meyer thing. Him recruiting me as his first quarterback while he was here doesn’t have a lot to do with it; you definitely have to earn his trust through, the way you practice and the way you interact with other people.”
Linebacker Raekwon McMillan
On his first career interception return for a touchdown:
“It’s one of the best feelings in the world. My teammate helped me out by tipping the ball and I just took advantage of the moment.”
On the play of the defensive line:
“We have one of the best, if not the best, defensive line in the nation. It really helps the linebackers out. It really clears stuff up for us.”
Wide Receiver Devin Smith
On the offenses comfort level with cover zero:
“What’s good is we got out there knowing what we could do and we work extremely hard when we see those looks in practice, and we just want to execute every time we see them.”
On if he’s surprised that defenses are still giving that look:
“I am. You know from last year and coming into this year we had a few chances where they went no deep and we scored. We seize the opportunity every time it happens.”
