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BATTLEFROG FIESTA BOWL: NOTRE DAME VS OHIO STATE

December 28, 2015

Raekwon McMillan

Glendale, Arizona

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. The linebacker corps, good trios in the past. Where do you think the three of you this season have played compared to the previous ones? How good a trio do you think you all have been this year?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: You know, we've been solid. We didn't finish out the way we were supposed to. I think every one of us had a good season. Every one of us has made our mistakes, just like every other trio that came through Ohio State.

If you want me to rank how high we are, I really don't know. You got to ask Coach Fickell about that. He's coached every last one of us.

To what I think, I think we did a pretty good job.

Q. This is a team that makes big plays, 70 yards here and there. How big a difference are those momentum-changing kind of big plays to a defense, and how big a concern is it for you as you prepare to eliminate those as much as possible?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: It's not just good for the defense, it's good for the whole team when they have those big-momentum plays. They make those big plays, you're talking about a game-changing series.

We just got to prevent that from happening. Our DBs do a good job of doing what they got to do to prevent that from happening. We all work together from stopping those big plays. We'll see what happens Friday.

Q. The goal was to get back to the playoffs. Once you realized that was out, how tough was that to swallow?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: I mean, we kind of knew right after the Michigan State game that our chances were slim. I mean, it was a tough night, tough week. But we had to step up and get ready for the next game. If we let our heads down from the last week, I think we would have went to Ann Arbor and lost that game.

It's just a moving-forward process we had to go through.

Q. You went into that game with a rival knowing you still had a shot but had to play well. Obviously it didn't work out. You had lofty goals, defending national champs. Do you play in your mind what could have been?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: Yeah, we just see Michigan State, see that could have been us. We seen the Big Ten championship game, seen that could have been us also.

I didn't watch any of the games. I didn't watch any of the Big Ten championship, but Clemson. It's hard to see other teams in the game that you know you could have been there.

Q. Playing for pride, bragging rights, the seniors, is that enough now?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: Playing for us to finish out the season the right way. We went to Ann Arbor. But finishing it off for the seniors, Josh, some of the guys leaving early, you just want to finish it off the right way.

Q. Do you feel, as you look at the college landscape, we saw what you did in Ann Arbor, is this Buckeye team as good as anyone in the country? Does that make an argument maybe it ought to be an eight-team playoff?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: When you're on the outside looking in, you always say, Yeah, it should have been an eight-team playoff, because we would have been in. But I don't see anything wrong with the playoff system. I think it's a great playoff system. It's moved on from the BCS.

From here moving on, every team that's out of the four-team playoffs is going to be like, Yeah, it should be this or that.

Q. How does Tommy not playing, knowing Adolphus is not playing already, how does having neither one of those guys on the interior, how does it in any way affect the plan, the way that you all may try to play defense knowing those two guys won't be there?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: You know, those are two seniors that we're going to miss a lot, even next year. I think it's just a chance for a guy like Mike Hill and Donovan Munger to step up and really take advantage of the situation and get ready for next season, finish out this season strong.

Everybody on defense has confidence in those guys. We just have to see what they do under the lights.

Q. What kind of season has Sam had as a freshman, a guy that played safety in high school, to give you that flexibility?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: It really goes to show what kind of guy Joey is, unselfish. We have unselfish guys all across the line. If we ask Sam to go do this or that, I think anybody would do it. But what Sam has done over the past two years, gained 30, 40 pounds, really became a force in the defensive-end position, coming from a safety in high school, a skinny guy, a guy not interested in football, now being a freshman All-American.

Q. What do you see in Notre Dame's offense, dual threat, can run and throw, what kind of problems does that pose for the defense?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: He's a real good game manager. He doesn't turn the ball over a lot. Gets out of bounds, lies on the ground, tangible things that quarterbacks have.

He does a good job of managing the offense, letting the offensive line take advantage of the line of scrimmage when they have a chance to.

Q. You have done a good job of affecting the quarterback. As you look at this guy, can you get to him? Can you get pressure on this kid?
RAEKWON McMILLAN: Yeah, I feel like we can get pressure on any quarterback in the nation. Once you hit him a couple times, then it's a mind game with them. You might not even be pressuring him or touching him, but if he sees you flashing across his face, that's getting in his comfort zone.

He's a quarterback at the end of the day and they don't want to be touched. We see a lot of things that we can do. We'll see what happens Friday.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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