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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 25, 2011John SimonTHE MODERATOR: We are joined by John Simon. Questions. Q. How much has (indiscernible) enhanced their offense? JOHN SIMON: He's a veteran. Brought composure to their offense. While they're a heavy run team, he brings versatility, can throw the ball effectively as well. It's going to be a big challenge for us to stop them. Q. Are you a fan of night games? JOHN SIMON: Yeah, I mean, really don't matter what time of day it is. We have to make sure we go out there and execute. When we do, everyone does their job, it's a good day for us. Doesn't matter what time. Q. In terms of the atmosphere Saturday night, what are you expecting? JOHN SIMON: It should be pretty crazy. I know our fans will get up for it with a power-ranked team, coming into Columbus. We're looking forward to the challenge. It's going to be a fun night. We're going to have to play well. Q. John, the fact that Wisconsin was the only team to beat you guys last season, what effect, if any, does that have on the attitude of this team going into the game this week? JOHN SIMON: I would say that was last year. They're a new team. We're a new team. We can't really focus on things like that. I would say they're even a better team than they were last year. Like I've been saying, it's going to be a huge challenge for us. Every day we're going to have to work hard and prepare ourselves for Saturday. Q. Assuming Penn State loses another game, you control your destiny. How much of a boost does that give you knowing that you do have that potential to control your destiny? JOHN SIMON: I would say it gave a lot of guys motivation. We have to take it one week at a time. We can't get ahead of ourselves or anything like that. Really one practice at a time, make sure we're continuing to get better every week. If we do that, we should be all right. Q. Is that what you thought when you saw the end of the Michigan State game: Now we control it? JOHN SIMON: We couldn't really worry about what other teams do. We just have to focus on what we can do. Last week we had a great week of practice. Really we were motivated. Got to take it one week at a time. Q. After a team loses, you can say they're going to be fired up by the loss or if they're winning, we can surprise them. The way they lost last week, what was the first thing that popped into your head on how they might come out of that game? JOHN SIMON: I mean, we know they're a great team. They're not going to back down or anything like that. We know we're up for a fight on Saturday. We're looking forward to it. Q. Could you talk a little bit about Montee Ball. JOHN SIMON: Very good runningback. Very versatile. I know he's protected by a tremendous offensive line. When you think they're going to run, they can mix it up with the pass, too, with the great receivers and Russell as their quarterback position. Q. John, Coach Fickell was saying that games are won and lost up front. Wisconsin has a very imposing offensive line. Are you and your defensive line comrades prepared for this task? JOHN SIMON: Yeah. I mean, we definitely know they're a good offensive front. Games are won in the trenches. It's going to start up front with us on the defensive side and with our offensive line on the other side of the ball. We have to make sure we are having a great week. We had a great week last week. If we can continue that into this week, we'll be okay. Q. You play a lot of physical games, teams that like to run the ball. What is it specifically about Wisconsin? You talked about the offensive line being big and strong. They always seem to have this running game. Did you notice something different about them? JOHN SIMON: I would just say it's a combination of everything: the speed, quickness, they're very smart, they know what they're doing, well-disciplined. When you put it all together, they're a very good offense. Q. Back to the Michigan State/Wisconsin game, the tendency for people who haven't played the game think a player or a team or a defense is going to react one way or the other. If that had happened to you, what is the tendency? Do you let something like that carry over into the next week? Do you come back angry, more fired up? JOHN SIMON: You just got to move on, learn from it, watch tape the next day, make the corrections, come out fighting. We know they're a very good offense, defense, a very good team. We're going to have to prepare ourselves because we know they're going to come out and battle us for 60 minutes. If everyone does their job, we should be all right. Q. Is there emotion that carries over from one week to the next? JOHN SIMON: I don't know. I would say they would be fired up, they're going to come after us and we have to be prepared for that. Q. Coach Fickell said he was asleep for the end of that game. Were you awake for it? JOHN SIMON: I was half awake (smiling). It was late. But it was a great game. I couldn't fall asleep. The way it ended made it a classic game. I was happy I stayed up. But both teams fought hard. Unfortunately for Wisconsin, Michigan State came out with the win. Q. Did it wake you up more when you saw the end? What was your reaction immediately in the moment? JOHN SIMON: I don't know if I knew what happened really right away until they started showing the replays. But it was a great play, a lot of heart shown in that play by both sides. Like I said, unfortunately for Wisconsin, Michigan State got the win. Q. If you could design the special uniform you would wear once a year, what would you like to wear if they said John Simon, you can wear whatever you want? JOHN SIMON: I'm not a big uniform guy. Doesn't matter to me. Shows tradition. Puts honor into the year that we're representing and things like that from years past. Good for the university, things like that. We enjoy wearing those uniforms for games like this, especially when it's a night game. Q. With Eddie George being honored at halftime, is that something you as the players notice or something that goes unnoticed by you guys? JOHN SIMON: I didn't know that as of now. He's a great athlete. He made Ohio State what it is today. We're probably going to be in the locker room. It's a great honor to be in his presence and to have him on the field with us. Q. You said you're not sure whether the emotion carries over from week to week. You're coming off your biggest win against Illinois. Is it difficult to maintain that or carry that over over a bye week? JOHN SIMON: We just have to play our game. Bye week, we got a little extra time to focus in on Wisconsin that they didn't have. We just really have to get after it in practice and prepare ourselves. We can't just go out there Saturday and play. It's going to be the practices building up to it, things like that. That's what we have to focus on right now. Q. Do you feel like you got a lot out of the bye week or was it rest and healing? JOHN SIMON: I feel we got a lot of work done. We improved ourselves as a whole. Couple great practices, good film study. I think we took advantage of that bye week. Q. Can you talk about your fellow defensive linemen, what do they each bring to the table? JOHN SIMON: We got a lot of guys up front who are versatile. Hank, you can see him play inside, outside, nose tackle, a bunch of different things, effective everywhere. Garrett can play multiple positions. So can Adam Bellamy, Michael Bennett, everyone. I think we're versatile, very athletic up front. There's a lot of passion in those guys. Being around them every day is something special. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, John. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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