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Justin Fields
Quarterback
On how he would describe the confidence of Ohio State’s team
“I think we’re very confident right now. We came into Lincoln, the crowd was amazing here, they have amazing fans. We had to play against a big crowd and they were loud, at the beginning at least. I think we handled it well, we just came out and jumped on them early and didn’t let up. So I think we did a good job.”
On how it felt to silence the large Nebraska crowd
“It feels great. I think the offense did a great job, O-line did a great job, and the defense definitely did a great job. I think we played well on both sides of the ball.”
On what message Ohio State sent playing in primetime
“They saw what was going on out there. I just felt like our defense did a great job, as I said before. The offense did a tremendous job, the O-line did a tremendous job. And also our coaches with the play calling and everything like that. I think we were clicking on all cylinders today.”
On if he was surprised with the rushing attack efficiency
“Our O-line is great, Coach Studrawa does a great job with those guys. It definitely wasn’t surprising to see. I just think the running backs, J.K. (Dobbins) and Master (Teauge) and Marcus (Crowley) at the end did a great job running the ball down their throats and just being physical with them. It really wasn’t surprising to see for me at least.
Jeff Okudah
Cornerback
On the primetime environment in Nebraska
"I think that Nebraska has one of the craziest environments, like their fans are really loyal because they're a storied football program and I kind of compare these fans to Penn State because they're riding for this team 100 percent and you could see even when we got up, they were still there cheering on first down so, I think when you have a crowd like that, you have to let all of the guys know that we're going into a dogfight. They're gonna be loud, so we had to block the noise."
On the difficulties of looking ahead toward the rest of the season instead of week-to-week
"I don't think it's really that hard because if you look in the past, we've been here before. We're not really in some uncharted levels. We've been 4-0 and 5-0 before so I think the goal now is to have a complete season and don't make any slip ups. If we take it week-by-week and don't look ahead past anybody, I think that we'll be just fine."
On getting his third interception in two weeks
"I think it's crazy, but like I said, I think it's just a testimony to how we've prepared each week. Coach Hafley, he's one of the best coaches that I've ever been around and so, even when I got called up, i just want to thank him because he's made me such a great player."
On leaving behind previous bad losses on the field and focusing on the next game
"I told the defense to leave all self-doubt in the locker room. Just lean on your brother. When it gets hard, just lean on your brother. We knew they were gonna get their plays, so the goal was just to don't let that define the defense, like we've gotta move past that and I think that you saw that when they [Nebraska] were able to move past and drive down the field and get inside the 25, we stayed resilient and I think that spoke on how we got off the field with a turnover."
Jordan Fuller
Safety
On being able to come out of Nebraska with a primetime victory
"I mean, it's great. I still feel like we've got a lot of people doubting us but that's out of our control. All we can do is control how we play on Saturdays and so far, we've done a pretty good job of that. We always work so hard during the week, so I always say that Saturdays are paydays and we definitely collected a check."
On the doubt the team has received over the season
"I still feel like people don't think it's real yet. I mean maybe not. Maybe our fan base doesn't think that, or maybe you guys don't feel that way, but I know that they're people out there that don't believe the hype yet. I think the hype's real, but we've got a long way to go though. We've had some lopsided wins but when you look at the film, there's so many places in areas that you can get better, so we're just gonna try to lock in on those and just try to show those up."
On practicing against Justin Fields and how he helps prepare the defense
"I mean, to have the best dual-threat quarterback in the country in my eyes and practicing against him everyday, there's no better look that you could ask for. I think he's prepared us really well and obviously, we had a couple slip ups during the game, but overall we did a really good job containing him [Adrian Martinez].
On the improvement in the secondary in tonight's game
"I think that through the first few weeks, all the DB's have been in the right spots, but they haven't really gotten the ball off like that, but today we got the ball off a couple times and just took advantage of being in the right place at the right time and just our rush making the quarterback flustered, I think that's what it came down to."
NU Athletic Communications
