Ohio Football vs. Syracuse Postgame Quotes - Sept. 4, 2021



Ohio Head Coach Tim Albin 

Opening Statement 
Awesome crowd. Wow. Wow. Great to see the hill packed student section, it was awesome. Of course, we wish we could have gotten everybody the victory, but that was pretty cool. So, the game. Hats off to Dino and Syracuse, they did a great job, caught us off guard with us probably with just running the running the ball. Sean Tucker, I looked him up after the game, he's really good one. Wow, he did a good job, you'd like to say, you know, make a few more tackles but he was he, you know, did a really nice job. I thought the easy thing is offensively we've got to get touchdowns. Because, you know, if we get a couple touchdowns, I think that would have tightened up the other side, Syracuse in their play calling. We just couldn't get enough things done. From that standpoint, but I told the team I thought, I mean we battled. They fought and just couldn't get a touchdown to get put the heat back on. We had them on the ropes a couple times, we just couldn't punch it in. So, anything consistently shows up in the redzone tonight. They played a lot more two high shell than what we what we had seen, you know, the games that we study last year were new DC and all ACC teams and they had everybody in the box and played a lot of man, we had one step man coverage and got one quarterback throwback man coverage. Nobody has quarterback, you know and we had some things, you know to attack, what you know that and we were halftime, have made some adjustments. Jerome Buckner, I thought he had his best day, I mean he is a warrior two surgeries in his first two years here and this is his first year having an offseason with Coach Miller, but he had a real fun game. His pinky popped out, put it back in and kept playing. So I'm very excited. You know the interception with Curtis, I mean, come on, he's three games in. This is his fourth game, right, and he is beating himself up and the series before that, we got a little bitty RPO thing to move in. A little slip draw, and they show zero, you know, and I was ready, I was barking out to change it. And they unraveled and they drop it goes to drop a curse trying to do it to do it. Hi, but took care of the ball but I think we've experienced he's going to turn it into a quarterback draw that's going to be, we get perfect call right there with a little chess. Chess game going on there with a young quarterback and, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna learn from it, and he was, he was beating himself up coming up with signs. I said Hey buddy, this is what happened and, and you get to go live and learn from it. So I told the team that we could practice another six weeks and not get any better. It's time to play we've been beating up our brothers for, you know, four or five weeks, and we play the game. I like what I saw., We're here to win games and we will but also, I will tell them this week that we will see our most improvements from week one to week two.  What a bunch. This team's got great chemistry. I hit them hard with the character thing right at the end, and it's a good bunch. It's one at a time 24 hours later, win or lose, and we're going to correct the issues. And after 24 hours we're on to the next one.
 
On why they did not go for it on fourth down on the first drive and choices made in the second half on the missed field goal
I thought it was a little longer than two, you know, three. Steven and Tristian have both made, you know 55 consistently in practice. And, you know, I just, yeah, I can sit here and say we probably should have gone for it, especially now thinking about it. But I did tell Rus that in the video that I thought probably should go on for right there. And we were almost an exact same spot maybe left, middle, in the third quarter on Jerome's fourth down, and he just to didn't come up with the catch in tight coverage and got you know, catch, catch bang deal and it didn't work out on fourth that, you know. And so, yeah, I don't lose any sleep on, on missing a field goal, you know, on. With the score what it was. 
 
On how big of a momentum switch was the muffed kickoff return
You know, how do you, you tell them in meetings, hey, this, this is the rule, but how do you rehearse that how do you play dropped this and then pick it up and fumbling back in the end, so how do you tell them this is the rule, and just down the ball. He never had control of it, but to actually pull it off, you got to drop it actually you have to fumble it twice and then you could finagle the ends on it, but, you know, he will learn from it, and the right thing to do is be on the ball, get the ball and, you know, and he tried to bring it out. And it was a good defensive front, and he couldn't get it up, probably should have been a quarterback. It was talked about; we ran the quarterback twice on a little fly sweep thing that was to call, That will keep me up tonight. 

On the defenses effectiveness for most of the game
I thought Ron and the guys on defense, did a nice job mixing up coverages. I mean, I went down there to slap them a couple times because I was so impressed man. They just looked at the sideline, you know, and they let it rip and our guys held up. I think they did a nice job, just in the fourth quarter they kind of wore down, and they were able to pop a couple of big runs out there again. Hats off to Dino and his football team, they are a physical bunch.
 
On his first game as head coach and his visit with Frank
I'll be honest with you I brag on the staff. Our guys are phenomenal. We have older guys that we've been together for a long time. I mean younger guys have been through our program. All of our football teams is bought in, with the staff, and it's been really awesome. Since we started practice things have slowed down for me. And we just were coaching. On the sideline, I did have trouble seeing a couple times as moving around a little bit. But the energy is awesome with our team. So, there's couple things I got to do a little bit better you know, when the ball gets down that high red zone and getting my call sheet out of my own pocket, I got to get my system down. So, you know I am disappointed but I'm darn proud of the guy's fight.
 
I was up in the office today doing my game prep in the two-hour window that is kind of a routine thing. Coach pops in the office, and he was nervous and I have never seen coach nervous so I just walked out of there and I said you know what I'm gonna take a little walk. And because I never seen coach like he was, so I just took off cross the bridge and got about halfway into the walk and I thought about our team.  I told the guys, I said, I'm not nervous and that is pretty cool. I got back to studying because this football team, gives the staff all the confidence. So, I just wish we could have got it done and put some more heat on them. 


Ohio safety Jarren Hampton:
 

On Syracuse's ability to run the ball: 
I mean, obviously it's hard when you're coming in, this is your first game. You got to prepare for a lot from what we've seen last year, they had 10, 11, games to go from. Man in the offseason, they can change the whole playbook, so we're just trying to watch film from from last season, and then try to make adjustments on the fly. We were trying and there's a couple of big run that they had. I felt like we did pretty good, and once we got him down like when our backs against the wall we started making some stands. But like you said, we gave up too many yards on the ground.

On whether Syracuse wore the defense down:
They're very well conditioned personnel and the staff did a great job. Things like that happen in the course of the game. I think all the players kept our heads up and kept fighting.

On playing in front of fans again:
It was fun, very electric. Shout out to the fans that came and supported us, through it all, stayed all the way to the end. It was a great feeling. Something that we haven't had since 2019. So, you know, just being able to throw your hands up and get the crowd going is great.

On Syracuse's approach on offense: 
We kind of got a gauge from practice, We got a gauge on the quick pass, and the slants and pitches and stuff, so I thought we were doing a pretty good job of that early and then I think it was like a third drive, second drive, they tried to open up, take a couple of shots downfield and they didn't connect. When your run game is going, you don't have to do too much. So I think that's what they were just relying on. 34 (Sean Tucker) is a good back. And he made some plays happen.

On whether this loss stings: 
Losing always is going to hurt. If it doesn't, you shouldn't be on the field. But we know it's a long season. 12 weeks, hopefully 13 or 14. And this is just one step on the way. And we know, I mean Coach Albin was telling us, we're gonna have adversity, whether it's this game, whether it's throughout the season, the adversity is going to strike, and how do you come back from that? I look at it, me I've been here for a while now, we've lost some games we should have won, we lost some game it was looking tough from the beginning, and I think from now on, I mean, once you lose, you know you got something to work on to come back to next week, we just get after it. 

On how to handle the adversity:
Me personally, I don't think it's tough. I mean we've all played sports long enough too where we've all lost games. Yeah it hurts, we had a big, power-5 team, come home. We want to show off for the fans, show off for the city, and we didn't get it done. But I think we go back and work out, it starts tomorrow, getting in the training room, getting ready. All week. Now we know, ramp it up. 
 

Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke:

On the sequence of plays in the first quarter:
I thought we moved the ball pretty well throughout the whole game no matter the situation. And that's just a sense of what our team is like. We don't give up and I think that we just didn't finish, but we tried.

On how to improve redzone play:
Just having that awareness of where to throw the ball. Where to run the ball. That comes with practice. We have a lot of great athletes. I know, towards the end of season, even next game for sure, that we'll correct it.

On whether Syracuse playing more games last season made an impact:
I wouldn't really say that honestly. I think that last year was, we were able to have a full season, not a full season but we did we have practices, and you know the eligibility, that didn't count.  So for me, it was extra practice on the field. I know going into the start of COVID and everything, I didn't think we'd even have a season so it was nothing but a blessing. And, you know, they're getting more games but we had the same, even more, time to prepare for them. 

On Buckner's breakout game:
Yeah, I think he showed how good he is. And then when he's healthy, he's gonna be good for us. So, yeah, I'm very happy. I know he worked hard to get back to full strength, and I'm looking forward to him staying healthy and him helping us out.

On his fourth career start:
I think there's definitely some growing that I got to do, especially, myself included, in the redzone, I got to do more things. But I think, if I'm able to, I'm getting a little bit better game by game. And that's all I can ask for. It's really easy, having those super senior guys up front, as well as on the outside, to help me out and help me feel more comfortable. So, I think I'm getting better each day. Still got a lot to work on. 

On his development as a scrambler:
Yeah, it's definitely something I've been working on for a while, and it's kind of just, I was not thinking about going and scrambling just, you know, reacting to everything. And so, happy if it works. Obviously, whatever helped the team.

On Ohio's inability to score a touchdown:
I think that we didn't show our full potential, honestly. I think a lot of our drives we moved the ball really really well. And we just couldn't finish. I think it's a much different game if we punched it in at the end of it and like I said, we're going to work on it. I think that we'll get back to scoring touchdowns. 

On having more playing time:
Yeah, for sure, it's easy to get more, in the rhythm. Like I said, easier to stay in the game and be able to have the momentum going.But you know, coaches are trusting me and my team is trusting me and so they're coming in to be ready.

On playing in front of fans again:
Yeah, it's a huge change. Definitely most fans I've played in front of by far. But yeah, the fans are great, and I'm loving the energy that they bring me. I hope that it continues, because we're gonna put on a better show for sure.

On whether it felt like last year's games:
Not really, no. Way more electric. You'd have to tell there was more couple couple more 1000 there. But, yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Syracuse Head Coach Dino Babers:

When asked about how the improved offensive line contributed to Shawn's success: 
Oh, it contributed a great deal to have those guys out there working together, and they're still not completely at full strength. But boy did they do a nice job.
 
When asked about his message to the team for this game: 
Well, I think the big thing is that we're 1-0, which is really good. Wins are hard to come by, imagine that. Now we get an opportunity to go back home and go to the domes for three games and playing them one at a time struggling with record, so we're really excited about that.
 
When asked about their performance overall: 
I thought it was a good performance, the defense kept him out of the endzone for the most part. That's not a gimme football team, that's a football team that's going challenge for their side of the conference. They're physical and there's a foundation that Coach Solich has left there and the way they do things. They're really first class elder. They're a difficult bunch to beat and very, very seldom do they ever quit, and they did not quit tonight. It was a difficult game for us, and it was extremely physical.
 
When asked about how many other DBs have had a debut like Darian Chestnut: 
You know, his first play was not that good. I lost my voice over his first play, and I'm like "you can't do that".  I said some things, all nice, I don't use profanity. It was all nice, but very highly motivated. I'll tell you what, poke that bear and boy did he come around and start playing. I'm not sure I've seen a better opening day performance, especially with how many tackles he had. He really did make big tackles in crucial situations all by himself.
 
When asked about Duce's performance specifically: 
He was doing a nice job of playing the defense, and you know he was in the endzone and had about eight-nine guys telling him to take a knee. He thought the oh those eight- nine those guys were wrong, and he brought the ball out. Luckily, those eight-nine guys know a little bit about Duce, and they all need some block so he can get in trouble, and we're really excited about Duce.
 
When asked about how he thinks his team's physicality played to his advantage: 
Nobody wants to play a team as good as Ohio to open the season but one thing's for sure, we played a physical football team. Hopefully, we came out of it with no injuries and that'll get us started on the type of season and the type of people that we've got to play. So, we came out, we won the game and now we need to heal up and get ready for the rest of the non-conference.
 
When asked about Kingsley Jonathan limping off the field: 
The trainer told me he was okay so I'm going to take him for his word. I haven't had a chance to see him that, but he was in the huddle with us, so.
 
When asked about Chris Elmore's absence/status: 
That's too much information for me to give my next opponent, but we were really excited to see him out there without gear.
 
When asked about Tommy playing fast and if he decides on his own to do so: 
Well, actually we have signals. He's good, but he's not good enough to just do everything by himself. You know, he did a nice job with the different signals that we had. 
 
When asked about the offensive line: 
Again, it was a really good game by the offensive line. I think Ohio is a really good football team. The competition level steps up and we're going to have to see how we do against higher competition.
 
When asked if there is anything that makes him optimistic going forward: 
Physicality. That was a physical game and I think that's why some of you saw some of the emotion. Now, I don't like those penalties, I don't like those penalties at all. But if you're going to have a penalty, it needs to be a physical penalty not an emotional one. I think we saw some of that today, it was hard hitting out there.


Syracuse QB Tommy DeVito:

On being 1-0 to start the season:
You hit it right there, number one, being 1-0. That's all you could ask for, you know offensively, we did some things where we left meat on the bone and we're going to go and watch film to correct those, I was happy getting the win.

On if his playing time was a surprise:
No, I expected to play the way I did.

On how he felt about his decision making:
No I felt good with all of my decisions, they were stacked in the box, so I had to rewind and make some plays with my legs.

On Syracuse's pace of play:
Yes, getting the first 1st down is the most important thing. I was able to have some fun, once we got that momentum going. That's how we are going to win games." 

On the offensive line's performance:
They did awesome, clearly the run game spoke for itself and that's all we could ask for. We will work on film and get better with week to week that speaks to their performance.

On the team's communication:
I mean yeah, all of that of course ties into it, but It's another year of playing under their belt and now we have a veteran offensive line. 

On his rushing performance:
The defensive they were playing and the run scheme we had going on, they were able to stack the box. When I read one off the edge and he comes down for Sean Tucker or the running back I have in, I have to replace that gap.

On knowing how special Sean Tucker is:
Georgia Tech. When I saw that one play where everyone thought he was down but he did a little spin move and popped up to score. That's a different move right there.

On scoring his touchdown:
It felt good, to get the offense on the board and to get the momentum going because the defense feeds off the offensive and vice versa. For our defense to get a stop and us to be able to put points on the board, that gets the game going.

On being an underdog:
I mean, it was definitely seen and talked about, but we could be underdogs or we could be projected to win by however many and I still got to go out and play football. It doesn't matter or change anything about the game.
 
On being successful running a fast paced offense:
No doubt, we were rolling. When the ball is rolling that's all you do, if it isn't broke, don't fix it. We stuck with that and that is what worked. 

On missing a couple close touchdowns:
No doubt, it is a game of inches and ensuring it is there is the difference in hitting those shots.

On whether this game felt different after last season:
No, it definitely feels good to start off in the right foot. It definitely helps getting that bitter taste out of our mouth that we've been holding on to. But we do have another opponent coming up next week and we have to focus on them now.


Syracuse running back Sean Tucker:

On his overall performance:
I just want to get my credit to my o-line. They've opened up a lot of holes for me you're getting some good blocks and allowed me to get up the field. 
 
On whether he'll take any credit:
I'll say this offseason, I worked on my training and my craft, trying to improve and get technical to help my team win.
 
On how this game feels after last season:
It feels good, last year was a rough year but this year is definitely starting off better and we definitely want to finish off strong.

On tiring out Ohio's defensive line:
It helps a lot, to just keep running the ball and to keep pushing, keep tying up the defense.

On playing with DeVito and the offensive line:
Working with Tommy coming off his injury last season, this offseason we just worked on training and getting our zone reads to get everything lined up again to get better and putting in the work definitely showed out today.

On how much better the offensive line group is:
I'd say that they are definitely a lot better. We have a new O-line coach and he's definitely getting us to a better point. You can see that improvement  every day in practice.

On breaking a long run early in the game:
It felt good, doing that helped my team win and helped my team get points on the board and come out with a win.
 
On the difference mentality wise:
I see a big difference, we definitely don't want to repeat last year. We're trying to come out and start on the right foot. Start Strong, get it done early and keep it going throughout the whole season.

On what his tweet will be after this game:
You'll have to wait till tomorrow.

On how to handle the stardom as a freshman:
For him, he just needs to keep pushing. He had a good game and made a lot of good plays. It's going to be a good season for us.