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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 11, 2011

Tony Jackson

Q. Just talk about the mindset of the team. You've been through a tough road trip at Miami, lat week's tough game at Michigan State and then this week with Nebraska. Was there a different feeling that some positive things happened in the game with Nebraska, just the final result wasn't what you were looking for? What were some of the thoughts from the players after the game?
TONY JACKSON: Just we took away that we played two and a half quarters and we didn't finish the game. There were some good things that happened, definitely made some plays on offense, and defense we held them, but we just didn't hold them long enough. The Michigan State game, it was tough, and two weeks in a row is definitely tough. We're not used to that around here. But that's just -- we're not used to everything that's going on, and we've just got to keep fighting, keep battling, and just overcome this adversity.

Q. When you guys looked at the film on Sunday and you go back to that final quarter and a half, what went wrong defensively? What were the issues that you guys weren't doing to slow them down offensively?
TONY JACKSON: We actually didn't look at it as a collective group. Some of the seniors got together with some of the younger guys, and we took it upon ourselves to look at it, and from what we saw as players, like I said, we didn't get much of the coaches' input, but we went and discussed some different technical things. But we just didn't settle down. Things got rolling, and we just didn't settle down, we didn't stop them when we needed to stop them, we didn't make the plays when we needed to. That's not just defensively, that's offensively and special teams. When you need a spark in a game when you're down, you need that one big play. Unfortunately they got that one big play, and that's what got them to the end of the game.

Q. You're still missing DeVier Posey but you have all the other suspended players back. Do you feel like finally the boys are back in town so to speak, you've got all your teammates back except for DeVier? Talk about that.
TONY JACKSON: Yeah, it's good to have those guys back, not just for them on the field, but their energy, we definitely need that. Going on the road, we only take 70 guys. That's all you have. So we need that spirit from them. They're going to come with -- Boom, he's a fired-up guy. You should have seen him at practice when he was on scout team with us, he was giving us the best looks that you could ever imagine coming from a guy like that. Having that kind of spirit, that kind of emotion on the road is definitely going to help us out.

Q. You guys are 3 and 3 and your next two opponents are undefeated and nationally ranked. What do you hope to salvage out of this season? Have you rearranged your goals, or what's your hopes now?
TONY JACKSON: You know, we hope to -- we'll take one game at a time like we have from the beginning of the season. You can't start looking to the end or start looking to try to play two games or three games or play this game and get to a bye week and things like that. You have to play one game at a time. We have to focus on Illinois. They're a great group, and they're going to come in, they're undefeated, like you said, and we've got to beat them first. We've got to get after them. Coach is going to put in a game plan.
Our goals are still the same. It's still to take one game at a time and get one game after another.

Q. (No microphone.)
TONY JACKSON: I mean, of course you want to have a guy like that back. I mean, like Coach said, we haven't had him since the first game, so we can't say what the loss is or what it isn't. You know, a loss is a loss. We'd like to have him back. If he could go, we'd definitely have him in there, but if he can't go, we've got to go on without him. We can't just stop because we lost one player or something happened. We've got to keep moving on.

Q. Coach Fickell talked about leadership and how he was impressed by players and their leadership abilities through all this adversity. Can you talk a little bit about who some of those leaders have been? We've heard that DeVier and Boom were leading through summer camp and that type of thing. Any faltering through their extended suggestion suspensions or anything like that? Just identify which players are taking those leadership roles.
TONY JACKSON: I think that's one of the things that he was talking about. He didn't quite mention them, but DeVier is still leading, even with the things -- the trials he has to go through. Same with Boom. Even though on scout team, they're still leading the team, they're still giving input, still talking to younger guys. I think the younger guys have definitely stepped up. It doesn't have to be a senior. You've got guys like Johnny Simon, he's stepped up. Even some of the freshmen, Ryan Shazier, Mike Bennett, just on defense, Braxton, he's definitely stepped up, and guys who don't have major roles. I know it's kind of hard. I don't play as much as the rest of the guys, but I still have to do my role of leading.
Kenny does a great job on scout team, and when he gets in there, he leads the scout team, and whenever he gets a shot, he's going to take that shot. The guys that you really don't see have done a great job of leading this team and kept things positive.

Q. Are guys vocal about it?
TONY JACKSON: No, there's guys that say more things than others. There's not someone who just stands out and says, you know, I'm the leader of this team, kind of taking over. That's not what we have this year. We have -- it's more of a collective group. I've been here for five years, and I've seen different teams. I've been on teams with James Laurinaitis and guys like that, and for the most part, it's lead by example, and that's what we do. You can't talk about it as much as you want to get up here and say I'm the leader or I'm the captain. You've got to go out there and prove it on the football field on Saturday. You can say everything you want to say, but until you prove it out there on Saturday, then that's true leadership.

Q. Being in your senior year here may not have gone exactly how you would have hoped, but can you look back on your career and talk about your time as a Buckeye? Can you talk about do you have any regrets or if you knew this was coming and have you enjoyed your time here?
TONY JACKSON: No, I definitely don't have any regrets. The things that you go through and the adversity that you face is what makes you who you are as a person in life, and Coach Fickell reiterates that, he says, if this is the worst thing you'll go through in life then you'll have a pretty easy life. There's people that go through far more trialing (sic) things that losing football games and having some adversity on a team. This is definitely going to shape me for the rest of my life, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.
I've been in tough times. I've been in games where we thought we should have won and we didn't win, and seeing the faces of those players who you thought that will pull you, but you had no doubt in your mind that we could win that game, and we didn't pull it out. To face this, I would never trade it for anything. This is definitely going to make me a better person for going through this.

Q. What kind of player -- you talked about Kenny Guiton bringing leadership to the scout team. What kind of player is he? And based on what you've seen from him over the last couple years, could you see him stepping in there in a big game in a packed stadium and leading the Ohio State offense against Illinois or against any other team?
TONY JACKSON: Yeah, just because of who he is as a person, I know what kind of emotion he brings. I know if he got the opportunity, he would definitely take it. I think he would do just as good a job as anybody. You know, that's not my decision. I'm not the quarterbacks coach. They want to see who they want in there, and that's on us.
I'm on defense. I'm in the linebacker room. My job is to get those guys going and make sure they're settled down and just bring that aspect and lead the special teams. But I know Kenny would do just as good a job as anybody.

Q. What kind of player is he? When you see him in practice, what does he bring? What do you see out of him as a player?
TONY JACKSON: Kenny plays his role. Whatever the coaches ask him to do, that's what he does. He does it to the best of his ability, whether it's on scout team or whether it's on special teams. Kenny is a great guy, brings a lot of emotion.

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