QUOTING ILLINOIS HEAD COACH Ron Zook...
Overall impressions of the game:
"I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of the way they fought. In the first half we played tight like we were playing the number one team, but we said 'Hey, you just got to go out there and have fun,' and they did. And that's why I'm proud of them."
On backup quarterback Tim Brasic's performance:
"I'm proud of what Timmy's done and how he's handled everything. It's hard to be the backup quarterback and to go into a game like that and be able to complete like he did."
On QB Juice Williams returning:
"Juice is the guy who can make plays. He has an innate ability to make plays, and as long as he does that he's going to be the quarterback."
On how this game will help build the program:
"The wins are going to come. I've said that now for five or six weeks, but there's no question in my mind. There's no doubt in my mind. A lot of times when things go bad you can fold your tent, but these guys are fairly confident in being able to say 'We're not going to fold our tent anymore.' These guys are going to come to play. I think people realize our program is getting to the point where it's supposed to be. It's not going to happen overnight, but we've made some great strides. I'm really proud of our guys. We've asked them to do so much. We just keep squeezing it out of them, and they keep giving it."
On the onside kick late in the 4th quarter:
"I told the guys on Thursday that it's going to come down to an onside kick. It's a critical, critical play. When I saw the ball in the air I really thought we were going to get it, but it wasn't meant to be."
On LB J Leman's 19 tackle effort:
"I look at J and I draw strength from him. He's a competitor, a winner, a team guy, and he cares about the football team. I'm just so proud and glad that he's on our team."
QUOTING ILLINOIS PLAYERS:
LB J Leman...
On the difference between the defense in the first and second halves:
"I think the defensive coaches made some good adjustments. Ohio State came out early in the first and really made some good plays against our defense. So we made some adjustments and put some more pressure on them."
On leading the league in tackles vs. team performance:
"It's good but it doesn't come close to beating the No. 1 team in the country. This is the fifth week in a row the game has come down to the last minute, literally. And that was the No. 1 team, so we've proved we can play with anyone. It is just a matter of finishing games right now and we aren't doing that."
On Ohio State's offense:
"That was a prolific offense with weapons all over the place. Receivers, quarterback, running backs, offensive lineman, you name it. I thought we played well considering that, but there is always room for improvement."
DT Chris Norwell...
Differences between the first and second half:
"I think we just executed better in the second half and we just didn't want them to score another point. It was a challenge going up against their offense, but we held them and our offense started to click in the third quarter."
Thoughts on Ohio State's offense:
"They were definitely was the best offense we have faced all year. They have so many weapons with wide receivers, their quarterback is amazing, and their whole line is big."
RB Rashard Mendenhall...
About scoring a touchdown against the No. 1 team in the nation...
"I was just hoping I got there. I didn't think Tim was going to pitch it the way that he did because of the defense. But we got in the end-zone and I was happy about that."
Thoughts on Illinois' defense...
"Everybody on this team knows that our defense has been coming out and really playing the last couple of weeks. They have been making some critical stops and they keep on making stops. As an offense we came out in the first half and were a little tight. We weren't letting it go as we should have, but we came out in the second half and were better with that. But the defense continued to do a great job and didn't let them score in the second half"
On losing games...
"It's frustrating to lose games. No matter what we do, our record is still 2-8. And it is frustrating as a player to not have a great season and not be heading towards a bowl game. But we know where our program is headed. We just try to go week-by-week, and if we don't win this game we will win the next one."
QUOTING OHIO STATE CAOCH JIM TRESSEL...
On playing Illinois on the road:
"Illinois is a good football team, playing hard and defending their home ground. We have to pay them as much respect as anyone could possibly deserve. I thought we had the tempo of the game pretty well in hand through the first two or three series of the third quarter. We were up at half, and we came out and stopped them right away and moved the ball down the field, but then didn't finish that drive. At that point we lost a little bit of the momentum of the game. But as we always say the Big Ten is a battle, with eight weeks when you're playing half of them away from home and half of them are at home. We're ten weeks through it and hopefully we can learn a lot from what we haven't done as well. We'll grow from this game. We have excellent leaders. They'll handle that well. We have guys who are more than willing to look at themselves with our coaching staff to find ways to get better and go from there."
On his comments to the team after the game:
"It's a Big Ten victory on the road. That's huge. We always talk about the idea that championships are won with tough wins on the road when you play in a conference like ours. Obviously we've got to get better but we said the same thing when the game is 44-3. They need to keep their heads up. They're undefeated in the Big Ten conference. That's pretty good."
About coming into today's game as the favorite:
"I don't know what overwhelming favorite does for us. It doesn't spot us any points or first downs. You've got to go in and win every battle. Illinois is a good football team and is playing hard. I think anyone who has watched them through the course of the year knows full well that they could probably be near the 6 or 7 win point. They just keep playing. What I was particularly impressed with was mid-way through the third quarter, we were in command of the game, and they were still playing. I don't think our guys stopped at all. I just think the tide got turned a little."
On Troy Smith stepping up with rushing yards:
"Illinois had their ears pinned back, and they were flying after him with no regard for a quarterback stepping up, and he stepped up. I don't know how many yards he rushed for. Through the first three quarters, he had some huge step ups for us."
On seeing anything unexpected:
"I didn't see anything really that we didn't expect. You can see conceptually Illinois has grown and grown to understand their system. Everyone's got a system and that's why they took Wisconsin to the wall and had the opportunity to beat Penn State and you look down their conference games, they could have beat Indiana. It's 17-0 and we're kind of in control in the third quarter, and they kept playing."
QUOTING OHIO STATE PLAYERS:
QB Troy Smith...
Opening Statement:
"First off, you have to give Illinois pretty much all the credit in the world. We knew that as a team that they were going to come in here and give us everything. It was pretty much their last shot to do something big, ending their season on a positive note, knocking us off. We have an understanding that Big Ten road games, Big Ten games in general are going to be pretty much a battle through and through, and it was just that."
"In any situation I am a realist. I understand that everything is not always as good as it seems and everything is not always as bad as it seams. So today's performance, offensively and defensively was one where we have to work on things, but we got through the game. A win is a win, any which way you look at it. Whether you score 50 points or 17, not the way that you want to, who cares? We won today and will continue to grow."
On Illinois' defense:
"They did a great job today. Toughness is one key to anyone becoming great. There were times where I really had to dig down deep and understand that this is where I want to be, this is going to be the situation I'm going to be in, and I'm going to have to take some of these hits to continue to play in the game."
On his rushing:
"Anytime you get into a situation where you have to get 50-plus as a quarterback, whether it be a step up or a designed run, it's always good. Everybody on the offensive line did a great job today, creating step-up lanes and things like that to get good rushing from the quarterback."
WR Ted Ginn, Jr....
On being ranked No. 1 at this point of the season:
"Everyone's been saying it all year that we shouldn't be up there, we shouldn't be tough, we shouldn't be ranked the number one team. We've just got to keep our heads tight and just keep on playing as a team and moving forward. You just concentrate on the ball game. We've shown it every week that we can be the number one team. We just came out and had a dog fight. We just will come back next week and play hard."
On keeping composure during a close game:
"If you get frustrated and lose confidence, you are just going to make more trouble. You are going to bring more things on you, so you just have to play hard."
On Illinois' defense:
"It was a whole different scheme. Their cover two isn't like a regular cover two. They play a lot of cover one out of a cover two shell. That's kind of difficult to see as a receiver at that point in time, but you just have to do things on the run and be an athlete."
"I don't know where they rank, but I know they should be up there. They play hard and play tough. They are going to be a great team."
