Jim Tressel Good Quotations

What you saw out there was total domination by the defense. After that first play, our defense was in complete control. Obviously, that pleases me. I am not as pleased with our offensive showing. We need to become much more consistent in order to be a good team. We made too many mistakes out there,

Good defenses will wear on you. Our defense just kept coming after them and as the game goes on, good defenses are harder to go against.

I think in this day and age, you've got to be able to attack with a lot of different things. There are so many good guys out there that can throw and catch, and the evolution of football -- there's so many good ideas. Sometimes, things trickle down a little bit from the pros. Now, the pros don't allow their quarterback to get hit quite as much as we do in college football in our spread offenses and so forth, but I just think because people are so well-schooled on defense, you've got to give them more problems. I think if you have that as part of your package, it can give you a chance. Some of the people in our league do it very, very well.

I thought (Haw) did a pretty good job, ... It was good to see him. You can never have enough tailbacks, that's a truism.

I thought we gave great effort against a very good Texas team. Our defense, in particular, played with great emotion. Offensively, we have to do a better job in the red zone. That was a concern after the Miami game and it is still a concern. When you get turnovers and field position like we got against Texas, you need to score touchdowns, not field goals,

I thought Troy did some real good things today. We'll go back and watch the film and I'm sure there will be lots of things that we say we need to do a little bit better, and maybe a ball or two we'd like to take a little off of or maybe not make that throw. But I think every time you're out there making decisions, you learn a little bit more, and I thought Troy progressed.

I think we learned some things about ourselves today. We saw some good things and we saw some things we need to work on. We didn't play a lot of our veterans because we know what they can do. It was nice to see some of our younger players step up and make plays. I thought we really played hard, but that didn't surprise me. Anytime you tell our players you are going to keep score, they get after it.

I think it's very exciting. It gives college football a great jump-start into the '05 season. We have the good fortune that a lot of people know who we are and who the Longhorns are.

I think Ted is a guy who believes he can find a way to hit the home run, and he's hit home runs many times, ... He didn't Saturday, but sometimes that's the risk you take, cutting back. I don't know that I would call that hesitancy. For him, it's almost like he's trying to make a big play. To me, hesitancy is you go up and you stop. He doesn't stop. He tries to sidestep and I think we've all seen that work. We've also seen that not work, but that's a result of good coverage.

I saw him (Monday). Moving over to Dodd Hall is a good sign. He?s making progress and taking the next step in his road back.

My thoughts are, I hope our thoughts are on what's going on right this second. If you peek down the road - and I've said it a million times - you're not going to do as well today. We always say, 'You're as good as your work's deserved.' At the end of the year, whatever we deserve to be, we will be.

I think remembrance of how good you better be because you have to play a lot better than the last time you played them. If revenge becomes a factor, I'm afraid you lose sight of what it is that you're trying to square away. It's our performance that we need to square away, but all of us have lived with our lack of performance that day.

I think he could be a real good one.

That was probably the backbreaker -- 24-10 is a two-score game. There is always pretty good hope even if you haven't been moving the ball. 31-10 and you haven't been moving it -- that probably took a little steam out of them.

That was probably the backbreaker -- 24-10 is a two-score game, ... There is always pretty good hope even if you haven't been moving the ball. 31-10 and you haven't been moving it -- that probably took a little steam out of them.

My biggest worry is they look awful good across the board.

We got behind the count and it allowed them to pin their ears back. They did a good job with that.

Well, we got behind in the count and allowed them to pin their ears back and they did a good job with that. When you're behind the count against a veteran secondary and a veteran front, you give them a better chance.

We can sneak Bobby in there. He's a good tight end. He's quick, he's physical. He knows how to block. He's smart. I heard someone say yesterday in a staff meeting that if he wanted to, he would know the play book in a half-hour. That's just the kind of football player he is.

Troy did some realy good things, ... We'll go back and watch the film. I'm sure there will be lots of things that we need to do a little bit better. But I think every time you're out there making decisions, you learn a little bit more. Troy progressed and that's what we hoped for.

We believe if he continues to improve and work hard, he can be a very, very good player for us.

Both sides of the ball did some good things. Now we've got to get better before next week.

Both Troy and Justin had good work today. ... They shared the reps and they'll probably share the game. Exactly who will play the first play and who will play the twelfth play, I'm not sure, but I think they both deserve to play in a big game like this and they will.

What was impressive about Chris (in the spring game) is that he looked like he did all spring -- comfortable, patient, a big guy with the ability to accelerate. But he knows we have other good backs and he's going to have to compete.

We felt going into the Big Ten season if we could evolve to the fact where we always had a 100-yard back, then we could probably spread the ball around enough to have a good offense. We're starting to get consistent with that.

We feel very good about where he is and how he's being cared for and his attitude.

We feel like we've got some guys, we'd like to get the ball in their hands. Plus, we also think that if you can prove that you can do a good job throwing it, there aren't quite as many people in the box when you are trying to run it. Then I think when you add the quarterbacks into the run package, that's another bit of pressure you can put on the opposing defenses. So you'd like to be able to do it all, and I think that's why you see so many people doing it, and specifically the guys that we've got that are capable of making things happen when we deploy that way.

Brady Quinn is a very good Ohio kid who got away.

There's great speed out there on both sides. I feel good about the speed of our football team, and I see the speed of their football team on the video. Yeah, it's a match-up from that standpoint and I think it will be fun to watch because I like the way both teams play. I think it will be a fast game. I think there's no question about it.

There's kind of atypical rational if you will, ... It wasn't just about football. We were taking care of consequences that you have to face when you don't do things exactly right, and I thought we took care of that teaching moment and did what we had to do for the good of the individual. You just have to press forward and do whatever you can with the circumstances you have, so no, I don't have any regrets on how we handled it.

Is it a tough place to play? I don't know what that means, exactly. It gets loud, but so do a lot of places. It's tough because they're a good team. But it's a fun place.

There will be some days where we are prolific or, whatever, and then there are other days where we do just what we have to do to win and feel good about that, ... And there's going to be days where, you know what, we didn't do our part. I know that's the way Troy feels.

Antonio showed a lot of burst. I thought this was a good step for him.

Antonio Pittman had an excellent spring and he's followed it up thus far with a very good fall. Erik Haw looks a little bit better right now than he did in the spring; maybe he's letting loose a little bit, maybe he was a little nervous. Maurice Wells is looking great.

This is a tough defensive football team that he's going to face in a tough environment, and it's a great challenge for him and a great challenge for the guys that will be on the field at the same time with him, and we certainly hope that he can continue to be efficient, make good decisions and so forth, but that's what Saturday is for -- to find that out,

They're good (defensively). Historically they've been good. I think most of us in the Big Ten recognize that. They're good and they've seen everything. They're experienced and they're good players.

For his first time out, I thought Troy did some good things, ... I am sure there are some plays he would like to have back, but the only way to get better is to get in there and play as many snaps as possible.

I'm not sure San Diego State was as good as the last two offenses we've played.

I guess that says something about how much attention should be paid to recruiting rankings. What's made A.J. so special is that he doesn't really pay attention to what anyone says about him, whether it's good or bad. He just goes about his business and works hard and tries to get better every day, and that's why you see the results from him over time that have made him one of the best to ever play here.

I don't know if I'd use the word 'sandlot' (about Ginn), ... or maybe it's a good word. It's just, you know, fun. Every play can be a touchdown.

These kids are competitive; I thought the hitting and enthusiasm (on defense) was good. But real confidence happens over time. Perhaps we made a small step in that regard. These kids want to be good and uphold the tradition of excellent Ohio State defense.

And, of course, the quarterback has to make plays. That's a major task. The second major task - and maybe more important than the first one I discussed - is they (the quarterbacks) have obviously got to make good decisions.