|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
TOSTITOS BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: OHIO STATE v FLORIDAJanuary 4, 2007David PattersonQuinn PitcockAntonio SmithPHOENIX, ARIZONA Q. What are your impressions of Florida's offensive line? Does anyone stand out? Do you think you will be able to get pressure on Chris Leak and Tim Tebow? QUINN PITCOCK: As a whole, they work so well together. There is not one person that really stands out. I think they understand it is a team effort. They can pass off any blitz or anything like that. As a defensive line, it is going to be a challenge, you know. There is a reason why they are playing national championship game just like we are, too. So, I mean, it starts up front. It will be a challenge between the big uglies up front (laughter). Q. Quinn, your brother won that state title -- your little brother wins a state title, scores a touchdown in the game. What does that mean to you? He has been looking up to the big brother who is a superstar at Ohio State, number one team in the country? What did it mean for you for him to have a big game and win that title and maybe expound on your relationship? QUINN PITCOCK: It is exciting. At first, I actually called him, left a voice mail. I gave him a hard time. Then I called him right back and felt bad because I was so proud of him. I was jealous at first. It is exciting because now at times I will see random people on the street that just start talking to me, they don't want to talk about me, they want to talk about my brother and his state championship game and his touchdown. It is very exciting for myself and the family. I know he is coming in today to watch me this week. So it is just a great time that he's doing so well right now. Q. For Quinn and David, can you guys just talk about Chris Leak and how you have to contain him? DAVID PATTERSON: Well, Chris Leak is a great quarterback. He can throw well on the run. He really gets the ball to the playmakers and a position to make plays. He throws a beautiful ball. He has one of the most tight spirals I have ever seen. He does a lot of things well. He can stand up in the pocket and deliver the football. If he needs to take it down and get some yards, he can do that also. We just have to be very conscious of him because he is a great quarterback with a lot of different skills. QUINN PITCOCK: Leak, again, I think he is a great quarterback. He gets the job done. If the O line gives him time, he is going to find a receiver. He is going to throw that tight spiral. If he needs to get away, he will get out. He's not considered a running quarterback. I have seen him run and make some plays. He is just all around a great leader on the team. If he has a good day, the team will have a good day. Q. Quinn and David, after losing so many starters from last year's defense, you guys are statistically superior in most categories this year. Why? QUINN PITCOCK: I mean, I think it comes down to it is going to be a team defensive effort, you know. All 11 guys. Last year considering everybody talked about so many top draft picks and NFL guys, you still need 11 guys working together, and I think they sometimes got in trouble trying to make a big play to impress people for the NFL. We got guys who are just trying to make the starting lineup. The team effort, us working together, is really what has become a better team. DAVID PATTERSON: Well, after last year, we looked at our team and we looked at our season that our defense had and we saw that there were a lot of things that we could improve on. We saw that we were near the end of the line as far as turnovers, and we knew that was a big thing that our defense could do to improve. Going into spring ball and going into fall camp, we really stressed turnovers and getting the ball out, causing fumbles again, interceptions, putting pressure on the quarterback, forcing them to make bad decisions. We have some of the great defensive backs like this guy sitting next to me, Antonio Smith, that we're getting our hands all over the ball when it was in the air and just helped us improve on that. Q. David, with so much time between games, have you had a chance to play this game in your mind and what does it look like? DAVID PATTERSON: Well, I have. I have thought about it. But most of the time when I think about a game, it doesn't turn out that way because I think about myself getting the pick and taking it 108 yards to the house (smiling). I don't think that's going to happen unless I get some serious blocking. I think it is going to be a physical game. I think it is going to be a great game. I think the fans will enjoy watching because you got two great teams that are going to go at it and play hard. Q. Antonio, you have to prepare for two quarterbacks essentially with Tebow and Leak who kind of do different things. Does that make it a particular challenge for you guys in the defensive back field? ANTONIO SMITH: I wouldn't say a challenge. Our coaching staff has done a great job preparing us and they -- both quarterbacks do different things. They both can run the ball exceptionally well as well as throw the ball. Each of them does it a little bit differently. So we have been doing a great job preparing for each one of them and what they do great and what they don't do so well. Our coaching staff has done a great job preparing us for this game and getting ready to play. Q. Antonio, can you describe your injury and how it happened in practice and how you feel now and what it is going to take to play Monday? ANTONIO SMITH: I had a shoulder injury in practice. I fell on it awkwardly. Never a concern of playing, and just getting it better each and every day and it is doing well and getting ready for the game. Q. Well, it is about the seniors playing in their last game in a Buckeye uniform. What does that mean to you guys? ANTONIO SMITH: Well, for me it quite hasn't hit me yet. I am sure after the game and after we get back to Ohio and Columbus and don't have to go to those meetings anymore or put on a scarlet uniform, that's when it will hit me and affect me the most. For me, it has just been a great experience for me, all five years. And I am just happy and honored -- it is an honor to be part of this university and this team and play in such a great game. DAVID PATTERSON: Well, I feel like it is kind of bittersweet just because we do have a chance to play in a national championship for our last game. But after that, I am no longer a part of this great team I have been a part of for four years now. I am no longer going to be in that locker room with those guys and joking around and having fun and just being around the guys that I've grown close to and just spent so much time with over the years. When you come to college, you leave your family at home and you get a new family with Ohio State. We spend so much time with each other and it is going to be a weird thing not being around these guys as much. QUINN PITCOCK: I think for myself, I have talked a lot to past players and they say you will never realize how much you will miss them until you are gone. And I keep every day trying to realize how important this game is and how important these two guys are. I am going to miss them. And I think just like Yow said, I probably won't know until I won't have to be at the team meeting after the game. No responsibility with the team after that is when I think it is going to hit me that I am not -- I am a part of the Buckeye family but not on the current roster which is going to be difficult. Q. For all three players, Coach Tressel going back to his days at Youngstown State and won four national championships. What makes him such a good big-game coach? QUINN PITCOCK: I think him being such a good big-game coach is -- he plays very passive. But at the time he needs to be aggressive, he does. You have to take that approach into big games, knowing when to take the chance and not always sitting back and let the game control its own destiny like in regular season games. DAVID PATTERSON: Preparation I think is a key for that. I think Coach Tressel does a great job in preparing in each game. He is best at drawing up schemes. Since I have been here, there is only maybe one game we haven't been in a position to win it at the end. We have lost games. But every game we lost except for one we have been in a position to win it. He is great at managing games and decision-making and managing the clock and calling the right plays when they need to be called. ANTONIO SMITH: Again, just what Quinn and Dave said. First it is composure and his approach to each and every game, also his preparation in his coaching staff and his ability to prepare us and get us ready. We have been doing a great job, our time off preparing for Florida. Our coaching staff has done a great job in preparing us and getting us ready. Just ready to play. Q. For David and Antonio, Florida is known for their playmakers and receiver. Have you guys gone against a group of receivers like this and what's your overall impression of how tough it is to face these guys? ANTONIO SMITH: We go against great receivers each and every day in practice. We are a team and our team in practice goes number one offense against number one defense every day. And I think that gives us an advantage and gives us an edge. We are facing one of the best offenses in the country and some of the best receivers in the country. And going against them each and every day in practice definitely helps us out and prepares us for Florida and anything we may face. DAVID PATTERSON: Yeah. Just to hit on what Antonio said, at practice, that's when we really got to look. You guys can mark this down in your books right now. There is a guy named Ray Small. He will be the next great one at Ohio State. He gives us a tremendous look every day. He plays Percy Harvin for us. He can do that cutting that Percy Harvin does. He can catch the ball. He can line up in the I formation, line up in the shotgun, take the snap and do a lot of different things well. When you are getting that look every day at practice, you can't help but get better. Q. Quinn, follow up with what Dave said, would it be a dream for you to return a touchdown against the Gators in this game or would it be a nightmare the fact you had to run 108 yards? QUINN PITCOCK: I would run 108 yards all day long. I mean, I know for both of us in any D line, I mean, that's -- you always lay in bed thinking about getting the interception or fumble or pick for a touchdown. I mean, I had an interception, two, three years ago and after that catch, I had tunnel vision and it broke real quick. I got hit from behind. I can't remember the play it happened so quick. So, I mean, it has always been a dream to take one back. We have one more chance and most likely won't happen, but you are always still dreaming for it the one time. Q. For any of you, DeShawn Wynn from Cincinnati, did you play against him in high school or know of him in high school or anyone in your defense? DAVID PATTERSON: He was my host when on my visit to Florida. He was a pretty cool guy. QUINN PITCOCK: I mean, I have met him before. No real close relationship with him. Q. Quinn, back to your family. Is that your grandmother here and can you talk a little bit about that and is she a big fan? What's it mean for you to have her here? QUINN PITCOCK: Yes. My grandma, Catherine Kitty-Church (phonetic), is here. She actually lives right next door here. She is my number one fan out here in the west. I mean, she now gets the DirecTV, watches all my games for the past couple years. It has been a blessing that I have been able to come out here to the Fiesta Bowl to see her pretty much every year. It is difficult with my schedule to come out west and, you know. She is proud of me no matter what I do. I am glad to see her because I grew up with her. She used to live in Cincinnati and I saw her all the time. Now I get to see her almost as much, once a year which is a lot compared to some people seeing their family. Just blessed to see her and I know she is blessed and happy to see me. It is a great time for us and our family. Q. For all three players, guys, what do you think the public perception is of Coach Tressel outside Ohio? And what's the team's perception? ANTONIO SMITH: Outside Ohio, I mean, he is an idol, I guess you could say. People are talking about his trend and fashion and his sweater vests and a lot of people look up to him as one of the greatest coaches in college football. Our team, you know, we just have a lot of respect for Coach Tressel and what he does for us as players. We go in, come into Ohio State as young, teenage adults, 18 years old, 19 years old. He really instills values in us and we come out as men. DAVID PATTERSON: Well, when Coach Tressel first came to Ohio State, I don't think that many people around the country knew who he was. He was a very successful coach at Youngstown State, which is Division IAA or Division II school. I think now people all over the country as well as the world know who Jim Tressel is because he has come to Ohio State and he has done very well. He is a class act. You just can't help but respect him. QUINN PITCOCK: In Ohio, I think a lot of people say, you know, "in Tressel we trust." He is considered as God. I mean, outside of Ohio, I think everybody does have a lot of respect for him as a coach and as a mentor. I think I have sat down and talked to him before. He said he went to school for education and he is here to educate young men first and then to coach football. So he is a father figure and mentor to us first and then a coach. Q. The one thing about you guys that we can tell, you guys got off the bus at the team hotel. Quinn's hair is this big. Antonio, obviously great 'do. A lot of the guys have personality on the defense. Laurinaitis with his dad. There is so much character on the defense. Quinn, talk about your hairstyle and how you manage all that. And secondly about that personality, does that fuel you as a defense? Does that fuel your energy, pride in each other, the way you guys can have it -- you are kind of warriors but you are also kind of clowns in a way, you can do both roles? QUINN PITCOCK: I picked my hair out the other day. It was an afro. I don't know, it was a good size, very big. I do that to see people's reactions. We kind of get under Coach Heacock's skin. We get stressed out. I think everybody has to find their little dumb, stupid little thing that's just kind of funny to us and kind of keeps us going and keeps us sane. It is all for fun. ANTONIO SMITH: I would say the different personalities in our defense, it makes it fun and unique. We can all come together and play together as a unit and play together as a team and have the success that we've had, that's what really brings joy to each and every one of us. We can all bring our personalities together and put that together and make a great defense or make a great team. It really means a lot. Q. This one is for David and Quinn. Guys, a lot has been made of Antonio's sort of journey from walk-on to scholarship player. What are your perceptions of his accomplishments and what has it meant to you to watch him do it? DAVID PATTERSON: It has really meant a lot to me because Antonio, we call him Yow. He is just a great person. He comes from a great background. His grandmother is a tremendous lady. Coach Tressel always talks about you get what you deserve. You will never find someone that works harder than Antonio Smith. He is a man of God. He loves the Lord and he is someone the team can look up to. He carries himself in a great way, with a lot of class. You can't help but respect this guy also. QUINN PITCOCK: I love this guy. I came in with him to camp. He is a hard worker. We took classes together. We have been on the scout team together. We have been together since day one. He has always been a hard worker. He is going to get a degree for mechanical engineering. Stayed all these years and earned a scholarship. Everybody knows the stories. He is just the true, humble guy who does the job and doesn't need all the media or all the attention. He is just proud of himself. He just needs his grandma, a pat on the back and he is happy with that. He is going to have a bright future ahead of him. ANTONIO SMITH: Thanks, guys (smiling). Q. Antonio, one of the wide receivers, Jemalle Cornelius, looked forward to man-to-man coverage and viewed it as a challenge. As a cornerback, do you feel the same way? ANTONIO SMITH: It will be a challenge and a fun time playing Florida. We have been preparing well, extremely hard in practice and focusing and doing the things that we need to do to get ourselves ready. I don't look at it as a one-on-one battle. Again our defense has been playing extremely well together this season. That's one advantage, we have been playing all season and doing a pretty good job at that. Again, if our defense and each player on our defense can focus on his responsibility on each and every play, we should be successful. Q. You guys, I think, are all Ohio guys, if I am not mistaken. Was there ever any question where you would go to college and what about Ohio State is so attractive? ANTONIO SMITH: For me, college decision is a long process. For me, it probably was a little different than these guys, Dave and Quinn. More academics was my main focus and had some scholarships from other schools. Once I decided and once I knew what type of engineering program Ohio State had to offer and growing up from right there in Columbus, being a hometown guy, it was a great fit for me and I wouldn't have it any other way. DAVID PATTERSON: Well, I have always wanted to come to Ohio State growing up, watching Eddie George, Terry Glenn, Orlando Pace and those guys and being from Ohio, you dream of coming to Ohio State, you know. It is very rare that you get that opportunity because there is only a select few, the best of the best can come to Ohio State. I took my official visits around to different schools, but the whole time I knew that I was going to be a Buckeye. QUINN PITCOCK: Myself growing up, you know, I didn't really watch much football as some may know. It was all a new experience for me in general. I just kind of took visits to the best programs and at the end of the day, I just felt comfortable with Coach Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was close to home. It just really fit my personality, my family and I am happy with my decision. Yeah. Q. Antonio, how tough is it to manage your school work, having such a tough major with being a successful major college football player? ANTONIO SMITH: It is definitely a challenge. It is the choice I made. It is hard to juggle both academics and athletics. Again, I wouldn't compromise either one for the other and, you know, going to mechanical engineering, definitely a tough responsibility and focusing in those classes and competing with those guys, it doesn't quite have the obligations and responsibilities that I do outside of class. It is a challenge and I am up for the challenge. I love challenges and, you know, when it is all said and done, I can be successful in both areas. It definitely brings a smile on my face. Q. Quinn, who is -- how has the Princess game room changed and who is leading the league over there? QUINN PITCOCK: I haven't actually been there much. I kind of realized that yesterday that Joe and I have not played Connect Four. I have not played a single game of Connect Four. I notice there are a lot of spades games going on. A lot of people playing pool. I haven't been over there. I have been taking my naps and watching film. Plus, I don't like being in there because I am always eating chips and dip so I try to stay away (smiling). THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|