Ohio State Captains Comment on USC Loss
In a very tight game in Ohio Stadium last night, Ohio State come up short for the 6th straight time against a top rank team. Head Coach Jim Tressel and the team captains spoke with the media after the game. Jake Ballard was the weekly captain for the offense with Austin Spitler, Kurt Coleman and Doug Worthington being the season captains and all defensive players.
By Steve Patterson
Austin Spitler talked about the final drive that gave USC the win after a Buckeye punt with near 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. “I mean, obviously it's a tough loss again, put on the big stage, we want to go out there and get the victory, we were feeling good and the last drive comes along and they just pounded it down our throats.” He explained. “Obviously it's a tough loss. We have to bounce back, though, and understand that we played a heck of a team and we've got a bright future.” Spitler said about moving forward after the loss.
Jake Ballard spoke from an offensive perspective. “We didn't take advantage of our opportunities. We just kept getting three and out.” He felt about Ohio State’s production. “ You can't do that when you get the ball.” Ballard stated about playing a game against a top ranked opponent.
Kurt Coleman was a little bit more emotional about the loss. “I'm really just physically drained and I know this whole team is just physically drained.” Is how he described his condition following the tough battle with Southern California. “We worked so hard and it's just tough coming off -- I mean, the offense did a great job of doing their job, as a defense we've got to get off the field. Especially we knew the ball was going to be the ball in our court and we had to stop them on that last drive and we knew that and it's just tough, man, I don't know, it's just tough.” Coleman displayed his upset about the difficult lose.
Doug Worthington felt good about the defensive play in the game and the ability of the special teams to get a safety late in the match. “Obviously it hurts. I commend the Trojans, they played a great game, a tough game, and it hurts, I mean, that's the bottom line. We went out there, I think the defense and special teams put it on the line and we came up a little short and got to get back to the drawing board.” Is how Worthington described resetting the season and getting ready for the next game.