Oct. 25, 2015

Recap | Box Score

Rutgers Head Coach Kyle Flood

COACH FLOOD: Good evening. Let me start by thanking everyone that came to High Points Solution Stadium. I think the crowd at kickoff was exactly what I had said during the week: It is the best primetime crowd and primetime atmosphere in college football, there's no question about it.

We didn't perform very well as a program tonight, and that begins with me. And really, filters through the entire program. We'll get back to work tomorrow. We've got another very tough opponent on the road in our conference that we'll play next week and we'll get back to work tomorrow.

Questions.

Q. The first drive, you went 64 yards, 12 plays. What changed from there that you guys ended up punting five times after that?
COACH FLOOD: We weren't effective enough running the ball. In the first half we were one of eight on third down and we couldn't keep drives going.

Q. Were there any positives you can glean from this defeat?
COACH FLOOD: We'll watch the film and we'll see if there's some individual performances and players that performed well.

But you know, other than that, we've got to turn the page. We've got another game coming in less than seven days. We've got to learn from this, see what applies next week and then put our eyes forward. No different than we did last week when we were really excited about the outcome.

Q. Do you have any update on Leonte?
COACH FLOOD: No.

Q. Just didn't go out for the second half due to --
COACH FLOOD: Physically not able to play in the second half.

Q. I know the drive ended with Federico missed the field goal, did that suck some of the life out of the sideline and suck some of the life out of the team?
COACH FLOOD: It's not that -- it's not the result you want. When we put Kyle out there, we have confidence that he'll make that kick. We would have liked for him to have made that kick. But is that the reason? I don't think so.

Q. Gause and Longa combined for 34 tackles between the two of them. Obviously they had a lot of opportunity. What can you say about their performance and the heart they might have shown?
COACH FLOOD: Those two guys are seasoned performers and guys that we count on. Quentin is the captain and Steve has played a lot of football here and he's always at the top of the tackle list. We always count on those guys to make a lot of plays.

Q. How do you begin to close the gap on a program like that has so much talent and successful for so long?
COACH FLOOD: We come back and go to work tomorrow. I don't know that there's any other way to do it. I think similar questions could have been asked when we played Michigan State last year. And then you come back a year later and it's a different kind of game.

I remember being here in 2005 and we played Cincinnati and we had a pretty good day. And then the next year, they beat us. And then I remember in 2005 playing Louisville, and they had a pretty good day against us in 2005 and then in 2006, we beat them.

So year-to-year, the people change. For us as a program, we just got to get back to work tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about why you put Hayden in when you did and what you saw from him?
COACH FLOOD: I thought it was an opportunity to get him some experience, to let him operate the offense. At times, I thought he did a good job. But the most important thing he got tonight was experience, and now he's got something that he can build on as he goes forward.

Q. Did you think about going to him at all before the game was at that score?
COACH FLOOD: No.

Q. What did you think of Chris's performance?
COACH FLOOD: I don't think it was one of Chris's better performances and I don't think Chris got a lot of help. As you guys have heard me say before, when we don't run the ball effectively, it makes the third downs very uphill. When the third downs get very uphill, it's hard on every quarterback. One of eight in the first half pretty much sums that up.

Chris will be better for it. We'll get better. We'll learn from this. But Chris isn't the only one that's got to play better. There are a lot of guys that are out there that have to play better.

Q. With how physical Ohio State is on offense, did the defense get worn down with having to get on the field so much in the first half?
COACH FLOOD: I didn't feel like that. I didn't feel that way. They are a very talented football team. They have got tremendous playmakers. There's a reason why I think they have won 27 straight regular-season Big Ten football games. They have got a good scheme and they have got very talented players in the scheme.

I didn't feel like anybody got worn down, but I thought we had opportunities to make plays and we didn't make them.

Q. Seemed to be shutting down the passing game early in the first half, and then in the second half, the running game just really opened up. What was your scheme going in, and kind of what did you see during the course of the game that forced to you make adjustments?
COACH FLOOD: You've got to give me a little bit more specifics when you ask me about the scheme part of it.

Q. You seemed to be trying to stop the pass in the first half, early in the first half. They didn't make much progress in the run game, but the second half, they really opened up the run game. What adjustments do you see that they made?
COACH FLOOD: Adjustments that they made? Well, I think they were running their offense. You have to ask them exactly what their adjustments were. I wouldn't want to speak to what they did without having seen it on film.

We went into the game knowing that they have a lot of playmakers and a lot of stops, so you're trying to keep them off balance. You want to have a mix of coverage and a mix of pressure. But when you pressure, you're going to put stress on the corners.

Now you're playing man coverage, and there were a couple balls that got away from us while we played man coverage, and then now you're playing a little bit more zone as the game goes on. But above and beyond that, I don't know how much more specific I can get with you.

Q. What makes Barrett so tough? I think in the last two games against you guys, he's accounted for like ten touchdowns?
COACH FLOOD: Here's what makes him so difficult to defend as a football player: You look at him in the run game, 13 carries for 104 yards, you say, all right, there is a really athletic, running quarterback. But then, as a passer, he's 14-of-18.

I mean, he is the prototype dual-threat quarterback and he puts a tremendous amount of stress on your defense whenever he has the football, because he can run it like a running back and he throws it very well like a quarterback.

Q. Can you share what you told them after the game and just what their mood is right now?
COACH FLOOD: My message does not change a lot based on the result because we're going to come back in tomorrow, and we're going to evaluate this performance. Everybody in the room is going to be evaluated. And then we're going to make the corrections, and then we're going to put our eyes forward.

Because some of the corrections we need to make are going to apply next week. Some of the corrections that we need to make aren't going to apply next week; they may not apply for two or three weeks.

But next week is going to be a different opponent, different schemes, different matchups, and the clock is already ticking.

Q. What did you see from Jarius Adams?
COACH FLOOD: He's competing. He's competing. You know we've got some young guys out there in the secondary, and all I can ask of them is to come out every day and compete and get better, and I feel like Jarius is doing that. I feel like Isaiah is doing that and I think they have got bright futures.

Q. Patton gets a touchdown at the end, his first of the year. After being on the field a fair amount and contributing to the team, were you happy to see him get into the end zone there?
COACH FLOOD: Certainly happy that the play was executed and that it ended up in the end zone. I don't go into it thinking about whether or not Andre has scored a touchdown or not. If it happens within the scope of the offense, I think that's a good thing.

Andre is a very valuable guy to us. He does a lot of different things. The third down catch he made early in the game last week was huge. Andre is having a good year for us. I don't think there's any significance to the fact that this might have been his first touchdown. I think there will be a lot more in his future. Thank you.

SENIOR RUNNING BACK Paul James

On offense's struggles following the opening drive …
"We just really weren't executing, that's what happened after that first drive. We had some mishaps and execution really just hurt us."

On his message to the team following the loss …
"We've got a game next week, you've got to bounce back. You've got to go in film tomorrow, watch what we did, work off of that, and we're off to Wisconsin."

SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK Chris Laviano

On head coach Kyle Flood's message after the game …
"We've got another game next week. We've got to learn from this film and put it behind us."

On his performance against Ohio State …
"I think I have to capitalize on plays that need to be made. That fade to Leonte I wish I could have had back on the first drive. I'll watch the film and learn from that tonight."

JUNIOR LINEBACKER Steve Longa

On Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliot's performance in the second half …
"We weren't executing. We were getting there, but we weren't finishing. He was breaking a lot of tackles. We had a lack of swarm."

SENIOR LINEBACKER Quentin Gause

On adjusting to Ohio State's talent on offense …
"Once the first play happens, you get used to everything. Once you get the first tackle, you just adjust. I don't think it was a big adjustment or anything, [it was] just me going to play my game and everybody else doing the same thing."

On message to the team following the loss …
"Keep your head up, don't put your head down. I tell them that's not in my blood, I don't ever put my head down during the game or with a score like that. You keep fighting and you don't stop. We've got to move onto next week to Wisconsin now, so we've got to be 1-0. That's what the focus is for this team."

Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer

Opening Statement:
"Very pleased, it all starts with great defense. I really felt our defense has been getting better all year. We had some big plays against us the last couple of weeks but for the most part, we saw this coming and we have a lot of respect for the Rutgers quarterback. He's one of the top efficient passers in the Big Ten and the country and then third downs, the leader in the conference at 50 percent, so I thought our defense played outstanding. The obvious is J.T. Barrett, he came in and played very well, energized us, ran the ball very well. We had a turnover, but we were penalty free on the road. It was a loud stadium. That a lot of discipline, no penalties in that environment. Very pleased. Bye week time. The best thing about going 8-0 is to have a chance to go 9-0. Time to get rested up."

On Ezekiel Elliott going over 100 yards after having 15 yards in the first half:
"That the thing that's happening right now, if we are not very efficient throwing the ball, which we are now. We were 17-of-21 and teams know to stop Zeke. They were doing a good job. They were loading the box. You have to take shots down the field. I should rephrase that, we have to complete shots down the field. Now we're completing them. There's some conflict on the defense, you take away Zeke you are going to see some guys singled out. Miller Braxton & Mike Thomas had some big hits down the field for us."

On J.T. Barrett's performance:
"What I saw, J.T. doesn't surprise me. He's back and that injury, I didn't see it in the spring. Training camp he was getting, better, and better and better. He's still only a true sophomore and I think he's in full swing now, obviously. That was progression throughout practice."

On J.T. Barrett getting more and more comfortable throughout the game:
"Especially throwing the ball. He was really efficient with throwing the ball, checking downs when you are supposed to check a down, taking a shots, being accurate. We had a couple other shots, where they were threatening us to throw it deep and we completed them. That was the key. That had to happen tonight."

On J.T.' Barrett's running ability:
"I think you ask a defensive coach, anytime you've got a guy that can throw and run, that's a problem. You see loaded defenses where the coverages aren't very complicated. That's what J.T. gives us."

On J.T. Barrett starting:
"I think he's a unique guy that was voted captain by our guys as a sophomore. Someone told us, I haven't done the research yet, I don't think that's happened at Ohio State and that tells you the respect he had. He says things to the team right before we go out. He's a really good leader."

On the biggest improvements of the team:
"There's many areas. Defense is where you start. Anytime you hold that offense that has been putting up a lot of points, a lot of yards, a balanced offense and basically pitch a shutout for 59 minutes, that was tremendous effort by our defense. We won the field position battle, but the thing that you're not seeing is the self-destructive stuff, whether it be turnovers, interceptions, or penalties."

On QB J.T. Braxton's progression:
"He had three touches it looks like. I wish he had more. We're doing the best we can with him. I am very pleased with him. I think he can certainly play receiver at the next level. He's that close right now. He has done so much for this program. I'm very pleased on how he's blocking, how he's getting the ball, route running. I'm really excited for him."

Sophomore Quarterback J.T. Barrett

Q: What did this opportunity mean for you tonight taking the field as the starter? Did it mean anything different to you?
A: "Not really, I'm just trying to go out there and do my best to help the team win and just coming from a different angle instead of the red zone the past two weeks."

Q: J.T. I know we talk about the efficiency of the offense how do you think the offense played tonight?
A: "I think we started off pretty slow but I think we got together and started clicking and I think it was good finish today."

Q: What was it like for you with the nerves before today?
A: "There [were] no nerves."

Q: Is that just the way you are?
A: "I feel like I am just confident in our game plan and what I am doing as a quarterback I was nervous last year for the first couple games but now it is not really nervous or jitters or anything like that."

Q: How do you think this team is improving from maybe lets say the Northern Illinois game?
A: "I just think we are getting comfortable, getting an identity on offense and which is definitely we know we want to run the ball, getting the offensive line going and moving the line of scrimmage and then play action pass and just pitch and catch from the quarterback and receiver I think that is what we do on offense and I think we are trying to do what we did last year --- just getting back to what we do well on offense."

Fifth-Year Senior H-B Braxton Miller

Q: The catch that you made - you made an adjustment there on the ball from JT, how do you think he played and just getting yourself in the flow as well?
A: "We played great. [Our] quarterbacks always play great and you know just give it to my teammates. We practiced this throughout the whole week and finally hit it in a game and at first I lost it in the air because I had to slow down and he put his arms up and I lost it completely and then I just got in a good position and just used my senses of catching the ball."

Q: Urban was quick to say you are NFL ready as a receiver now do you think you are getting there?
A: "Absolutely, for sure. After game one I was very comfortable at the receiver position and playing the H-back role and I'm just having fun out there and showing my talents at the receiver position."

Q: What did you see from the offense tonight --- JT's play?
A: "The coaches did a good job game planning the game and we executed and that is really the biggest, important thing. We executed in practice, we executed in the game and we just kept it moving and that was what the flow was throughout the game."

Q: Your two big plays in a row --- what does that do for you personally to deliver a couple plays that kind of sparked things a little bit?
A: "I love it and Coach Meyer knows I love it too. I just want to seize the opportunities that I get and just pray for more and thanking the man upstairs that I have the opportunity to play football again and just give it all to my teammates."