Everything Ohio State Said After the 52-24 Loss to Alabama in the National Championship Game

Ohio State coach Ryan Day called it a "tough night" as Alabama won the national championship, 52-24

Here's everything Ohio State had to say Monday night:

Coach Ryan Day 

Tough night. Tough night. I'm proud of our team, proud of the seniors, proud of the year that we've had. But it was a tough night.

A lot to unravel there, but when you look a team in the eye in the locker room after the long season we've been through, it's hard to start focusing on one or two plays or whatever it was because they've been through so much. I'm proud of the legacy that the seniors have left behind. But you've got to give credit to Alabama. Certainly a very good team, and they played really well tonight.

Coach, I want to ask you about the game difference. You guys played seven games versus their 12 games in the season. Do you think those extra games allowed them more time to get comfortable with each other versus your seven games? You guys still working on some stuff maybe?

I think this season has been crazy, disruptive, all of the above. I think some games being canceled, not being canceled, that's what it was. You know what I tried not to do and what we tried not to do was focusing on those things, have built-in excuses. We just kept pushing forward. Not having guys available and then like you said getting into a rhythm.

I thought going into the semifinal game against Clemson we hadn't played our best game yet, and we needed to play our best game tonight against Alabama, and we didn't.

I know this just ended half an hour ago, but I wonder, where do you go from here? This year was so long. You guys worked so hard. I can't imagine that you want to just go straight back into off-season workouts. What's the next step now?

Yeah, we need a break. We need to get away. The kids are -- guys are missing their families, and we all just need a break.

We've already started to put together the schedule for the spring, but we all need to get away for a while. This has been a long, long road. Guys miss their families, and they deserve time to be with them.

We'll unwind for a little while, have an opportunity to reflect on what the season has been, and then get back into it. But you're right, you can't just go back into work here. You need some time to rest and reflect.

Ryan, you've done this a lot of times, game-planned for a game, but what's it like looking at film and tendencies and everything else against Alabama and then actually facing them, facing all that firepower? What's it like to deal with it?

Well, they're very good schematically, and they have really good personnel. And so it's one thing to have a good play, it's another thing to execute it. We didn't do that well enough on either side of the ball tonight.

Coach, second half why do you think the game slipped away from you guys?

I don't think there's one thing. I think it's several things. We didn't finish a couple of those drives, didn't get the 4th down conversion, two of them, and they continued to make big plays. They got up, I think, four scores on us, and we couldn't quite keep up. It was just a combination of things.

I thought there was a point there where if we had got a stop and got into the end zone, that we had an opportunity to get back in within a couple scores, maybe get it down to 10, but that didn't happen. I just think it's a combination of things.

I know that just minutes after his last game or presumably his last game, it's tough to take stock of what Justin Fields meant for this program, but your thoughts in a net shell if this is it for him, 20-2 I believe as a starter, and just the courage and everything he showed and leadership he brought to your program, really kind of bridged the gap for you getting this program and your part of it started.

Yeah, I mean, Justin has been unbelievable. He's as competitively tough a player as I've been around. For him to go out there and play today really shows his toughness and how much he loves his brothers; he still took some shots on that hip. He was not 100 percent tonight. He was working through it and made some really good throws, made some gutsy plays, kept us in the game there for a while, but he's an unbelievable player, and I'm going to miss him.

You knew that with their explosiveness and their balance that I guess you were kind of in a damned if you do, damned if you don't feeling on defense, but what was the approach? And as far as how to play the mix of linebackers, mix of defensive backs, what was the choice there and why do you think they were able to exploit it so well?

Well, you know, we wanted to make sure we didn't change what we do, just fundamentally, but we also had to have some change-ups because if you just sit there, they're going to pick you apart.

But again, I think it goes back to it's one thing to have some ideas, it's another thing to execute them. We didn't do that well enough. There was just obviously way too many big plays, and then on offense we couldn't go score for score with them, and then the game gets out of hand.

Our guys competed. They played all the way to the end. I wouldn't have any other group with me. They're a special group of men. But to go back to your question, yeah, we had some things that we did that we wanted to change it up. We also wanted to make sure we were doing the same things that got us to this point, but clearly it wasn't good enough.

It's one thing to see a guy on tape, another to see him live. Can you just comment on DeVonta Smith? Have you seen anything quite like that? Is he one of the best you've seen? And the pressure of having to score every time as an offensive coach, can you speak to that?

Yeah, no, it's -- that part is tough, and then I think that there's a feeling of if you don't score, you're going to get down and then, like you said, the pressure mounts. We got that turnover early, that kind of got us going a little bit.

But yeah, I mean, I don't know if I've seen one better than that. He just seemed to create a lot of separation. He's obviously very fast. He plays stronger than he looks. He's not a very big guy, but his play strength is significant. He just eats up ground down the field once he gets those strides going. Tremendous ball skills, Heisman Trophy winner and well deserved. He's a great player.

You said you didn't want to change your defensive plan coming into this game, this vision, the structure of this defense is something you said you wanted to keep in place. Do you think you need to change it? Is it too rigid when you get on the field with a team that has this kind of talent, a team that you're going to see every year moving forward once you get to this kind of stage?

Well, like I said, we did do some different things. We changed up some of the looks and played some two high, which is not something we typically do a lot of. Pressured some more the last couple games. So I thought we did mix it up a decent amount.

But again, it's another thing to actually execute it. You know, when you're playing against elite players, and this is probably one of the better offenses in college football in a long time, the margin for error is tiny.

I think it's probably more the execution. I thought at least in the first half we did a decent job against the run game, which was a huge emphasis point was we had to stop the run, and they're very well balanced, so that's a challenge when you go against a team like this. But clearly we didn't hold up well enough in the pass game.

I'm assuming Trey Sermon was a huge part of the offensive game plan. How much of a blow was that to lose him? And could you also address the decision to kick the field goal when it was 4th and goal from the 6, I think?

Yeah, sure. To lose Trey on the first play of the game is one of those things, whenever you think what's going to happen in the game it's probably not going to happen that way, to lose Trey in the first play of the game. We certainly missed Tommy Togiai in the game and a few others. But you've got to overcome it. Like I told the guys, nobody feels sorry for you, so you've just got to keep pushing forward. It's kind of been the theme of the season.

Well, I think if it was 4th and 1, 4th and 2, 4th and 3, I think you'd probably go for it. But I think it was either on the 5 or the 6, and I think that the percentages there are very low conversion rate. I just said, let's just take the three points and move on.

Looking back on the season, what is the difficulty about the season? I know with the coronavirus, but was that the difficult part of the season, to keep everybody together?

Yeah, yeah. There was a lot that went into that. This is probably an hour answer to that whole thing. But yeah, it's been a lot with these guys: Having no fans, having no season, having games canceled, it was a challenge.

But wouldn't have it any other way. What these guys have learned and what our coaching staff has learned and this whole program has learned about what our culture is all about, very, very proud of that. For the guys who were in the locker room who are going to be coming back, they have something to motivate them in the off-season, that feeling of coming off the field. We felt that way coming off the field last year against Clemson, now we feel that way coming off the field against Alabama. We're going to use that as a motivation in the off-season.

How would you reflect on Ohio State football in your opinion in 2020?

Yeah, I mean, I thought that the culture of our program, the leadership of our program, the way that our kids fought for a season and then came back, dealt with all the adversity along the way of games being canceled, guys being out, for some programs there was a lot of guys out early and they kind of got them back and were able to get in a rhythm. It was very, very difficult for us to do that. The offensive line was out for an extended period of time, and in this game we had the defensive line, we had wide receivers during the Big Ten Championship game.

So for us to continually work through all of that and get to this moment right here was an unbelievable success. The goal of the game was not to get here, the goal was to win the game.

But all that being said, I couldn't be prouder of our culture, what our kids are made of and where the program is headed.

As you look back tonight, there were a few times where y'all almost made it look easy going down the field and then others were herky-jerky. I wonder as you reflect back what was it Alabama was doing defensively, rolling the dice, et cetera, that gave you the most problems? And could you give us an update on Wyatt Davis?

Yeah, Wyatt, just talked to him. He kind of reinjured that knee. He's sore right now. I'm not sure what the diagnosis is. We'll have to check with our doctors. But he's sore. He's certainly in pain.

Yeah, you know, on offense, the thing for us was I felt like when we got the first 1st down, we kind of got going and we get in a rhythm and tempo. When we couldn't get those first 1st downs, I think we had a couple of three-and-outs in the first half, that hurt us. And then I think we had a couple in the second half, as well.

And one of the challenges is that we like to go tempo, but when you go tempo, when you go fast, you put the defense back on the field, and when you go against an offense like this, that's kind of in the back of your mind.

So it was kind of hard for us to get into a rhythm. It was hard for us to get into that kind of tempo. We got a couple 1st downs and we did a nice job there, but there was also the other side of the ball and we had to kind of balance that out. At the end of the day, if we just did a little bit better job executing to get the first couple 1st downs and get into a little bit of rhythm of the drive, we would have done better.

Quarterback Justin Fields

Ryan said you were not 100 percent tonight; how do you think your injury affected things overall and how did you feel playing the game?

At the end of the day I'm glad I was able to play, and we didn't get the job done. But of course I could have been healthier, but I was healthy enough. I was able to be out there.

Just wanted to ask you, in regards to preparation for this game, were you able to practice the last several days somewhat unbridled, or was there a limitation on what you could do this past week leading up to it? And besides that, just perhaps if you could just reflect on what this two years at Ohio State has meant for you.

I wasn't able to practice towards the beginning of the week last week. I kind of struggled.

But the last few years have been great. I've made a lot of friendships and made a lot of brothers. We definitely wanted a different outcome, but I'm definitely going to miss everybody.

It seemed like they ratcheted up the pressure, even in the first half, disrupting you a little bit. What did you feel like they were doing that was most effective and made it difficult for you guys to operate?

I feel like they did a good job executing on defense. Of course they have great players, great athletes and they have a great defensive coordinator, so they did a good job doing that.

How much do you think it impacted you guys and what you wanted to do offensively when Trey went out?

Of course, yeah, of course Trey going out, of course he was hot these last few weeks, but we have the mentality of competitive excellence, and when one man goes down, we have to bring up the next man.

But we would've liked to have Trey out there. He's a baller, he's a warrior, but he wasn't able to play with us. But with or without him we've still got to execute.

As you were making your way off the field there, it seemed like you were stopping and talking with a lot of people. I'm curious what your message was particularly for some of the young guys that you had a moment with, who have to take this loss and find a way to use it going into next year?

I mean, yeah, I was just telling the young guys that they have a lot more years left, and I was just telling them to remember what this feels like, never let it happen to them again. Of course they were down. They have time left, so I encouraged them to get back to work as quickly as possible and just remember this feeling of walking off the field with a loss. I just told them to remember the feeling.

How did you -- I know you touched on it earlier, but how did you feel coming into this game? You talked about how well their defense had been playing, and what did you see overall from their defense as the game progressed on?

How did I feel coming into the game and what did I see overall from their defense?

Yes.

I felt pretty good coming into the game. We had a good game plan planned out, but they executed better than we did. Of course Bama is a great team, you have to give them their respect, and yeah, we've just got to be better.

A tough loss for the team today; how will this motivate you in the off-season?

It's going to motivate me a lot. We didn't get the turnout that we wanted to, didn't get the result that we wanted. But that's just going to make us work harder. This team deals with adversity very well. We've been through a lot of adversity this past year. We're just going to use it to get back and just work our butts off.

Tight End Jeremy Ruckert

I guess the obvious question to start with is, the tight ends were so involved in the first half against Clemson. You guys went to a couple of throws to you guys early but didn't continue with that. How much of a talk about using you guys in the passing game was there, and what did you make of the game plan going forward?

I mean, they were a great defense and everything, and we were able to make some plays early. But we were just trying to control what we could control. And we didn't want to force anything and just try to get into a rhythm here and there. We kept getting a couple guys going down. We tried to get in a rhythm.

And going against a great team and a great defense like that you have to try to take what they give you and not force anything.

So, like I've always said, if the ball comes my way I'll do everything I can to make the play. But if it doesn't I'll do whatever I can to help my team. And whatever my assignment is I'll do it as hard as I can and as long as I can.

Now that you've had two years to play with Justin and presumably that time has come to an end, what can you say about him and what you've seen from him in the last two years?

I mean, our relationship goes back to high school. We went to a bunch of camps together. And I've always seen him around. Other than as a football player, you can tell just how much of a competitor he is and how truly great he is. He always puts us in a great position.

And he's one of the toughest players I've ever been around. One of my toughest teammates I've ever seen. He showed that last game and coming back this game, behind the scenes, just 24/7 in our training room, getting his body right and doing everything he can to make sure he's out here.

And I feel he didn't even give it away that he was hurt at all. Looked like he was standing in there strong and doing whatever he could to help us win. Great person, unbelievable football player and I'm excited to watch his future.

How much did losing Trey Sermon on that opening drive change and impact some of the stuff you guys wanted to do offensively?

It's definitely a huge loss, especially how productive he's been these last couple of weeks. We've been relying on him in the run game. But we're very confident in the guys we have going forward and who we had in the game. Feel like we were moving the ball pretty well. Rushed pretty good in the first half. Losing him was definitely detrimental.

But you can't put much thought about that into the game while you're in the moment. You gotta control what you can control, like I said before. And I think we tried to do that on offense. And our defense played as hard as they could. And we respect those guys so much, love all those guys, especially the older guys. Tough to see it end like this, but you just gotta control what you can control.

You obviously are very involved in the blocking game. Alabama's defensive line maybe a little bit unheralded comparing with some of the past. But clearly got to you guys some. What did they do well in this game?

I mean, they're just -- you play against Alabama you're going against the best players in the country. And they're very talented, very fundamentally sound. Obviously they're going to get after us a couple times. I feel we just try to manage that and be on the attacking end and not try to receive it, be more proactive than reactive.

And they got after us a couple times. And I feel like it might have changed a couple big moments in the game if we could have stayed on the block a little bit longer or gotten him a few extra seconds to scan down the field.

We left it all out there, I could tell, our whole offensive line and defense, and everybody on the team. We just left it all out there. The score may not have shown it, but I'm just so proud of how far we've come, especially in this season, how everything that's happened. Can't be anything but just so proud of our guys how, far we've come throughout this whole year.

What were they doing in the secondary to kind of limit you guys in the passing attack today? Did they do anything to limit you guys in the passing attack today?

I mean, nothing comes to mind. They just played really strong. They're very sound. They get their plays in early. And they just played really good. And wish it could have turned out different, but I didn't notice anything.

I just feel like we got off rhythm a little bit and couldn't get first down. I don't know how much that had to do with the secondary or anything, but much respect to those guys for coming to play.

You took the big hit in the first half. Just what did you feel after that? You obviously came back in the game but how were you feeling and how are you feeling still?

It hurts, but my dad would have got after me pretty bad if I didn't get right back up. So just thinking don't want to end like that. Don't want the season to end like that get; back in the game and try to help, do anything I can.

Defensive back Shaun Wade

The way Alabama was able to consistently get the ball out in space and break things off in the first half against especially DeVonta Smith, looking back on it, why do you think that was so open for them just continuously through the first half?

Really they just gave him the ball in open space and he made plays. He's a great player and they had a great scheme. They just made plays. I heard Justin say the same thing. They just came and outplayed us today.

When you look back now at all the challenges and your decision to come back, you didn't get what you most wanted which was this National Championship. Was it still worth it for you? Look back on this last year for us.

Oh, yeah, definitely it was worth it. I see myself growing as a man and as a team, and all the young guys growing as men, all the things that we went through, the adversity. I'm happy I came back, and I'm just glad we got here. I'm upset we didn't get the win but I'm definitely happy I came back and accomplished some big things with this team. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of everybody.

Would you give your recruiting pitch to all those listening? And then about the time difference, you guys played your seven games versus their 12 games. Do you feel there was a difference in either team being up to peak performance tonight?

You could say that, but at the end of the day we both were in the same predicament, both at the National Championship, so we both have got to play our best games. Yeah, they played more games, they had more experience, a little bit more chemistry, you could say that, but at the end of the day we both made the National Championship, so that's not an excuse. That's nothing. At the end of the day they just outplayed us today.

And you said a recruiting pitch?

Yeah, recruiting pitch for those listening.

Yeah, we've got a great program here. The brotherhood is very, very strong. We went through a lot of adversity with the season getting canceled to the season coming back, to games getting canceled and not playing enough games and everything. We went through a lot of adversity, and it just shows how much we fight. Even today just not giving up, everyone just kept on playing, kept on playing and kept on fighting.

At the end of the day for all the people that's looking at Ohio State, just really look clearly, and it's a great program.

You touched on it a minute ago. Obviously this is a very interesting season. What do you and the team want to -- what do you personally and what do you want the team to be remembered for in this 2020 season?

Just all the adversity and how much we fought at the end of the day. The season was canceled, so everybody was down and we went through a whole September where we just didn't know, and ended up having season, then we had camp during school and no one has ever done it where you have camp during school, and it's just crazy how much we just kept staying focused and just kept on fighting every day.

After that we had Big Tens and we didn't have enough games and everybody was doubting us. We just kept on fighting. I'm very, very proud of this team. I'm happy we got the season back and the Big Ten commissioner let us have a season and just very proud. I'm really looking forward to next year with all the guys that's going to be doing things, Cam Brown, Sevyn Banks, Josh Proctor, whoever is going to play in that secondary. I'm very proud of them and just really looking forward to their season next year.

I know the game just ended a half hour ago, and if you're not ready to make a declaration or whatever, it seems pretty obvious that you came back for one more year, but is this definitively your last game at Ohio State or do you still want more time to consider it before the deadline a week from now?

I really can't say. You know, I do want to come back and everything. I've got to talk to my parents. It is upsetting that we got here and we just didn't accomplish the goal, and that's just been my goal, winning a National Championship and just winning big games like this. I'll just go back with my parents, go talk to them and just go from there.

Wide receiver Chris Olave

I think this might be the first game that both you and Garrett were under 100 yards receiving. Was the secondary doing anything maybe that you hadn't seen before to take you guys away? Or how did they make things difficult for you guys?

They played a good game. Had some really good defense. Really good team over there, but they just played better ball than us today. And they came out with the win.

Similar question, but the feelings now, obviously, you guys came in with high expectations with the way this year went and everything. To not have the offensive production you wanted, what's going on in your head right now?

It was tough. I mean, we have high standards for ourselves, high standards for each other. We worked so hard in all the season to get to this point.

And we didn't play our best game today. It's tough. And it's a down moment, but just gotta soak it in and bounce back.

To be with Justin for the last two years and to see him fight for you guys to get a season back and everything he did in the offseason, then to come out and play the way he did all year, what can you say about him, just getting to know him the last couple of years and playing with him the last two years?

He's a warrior. I mean, that's a guy you always want on your team. He's a leader on and off the field. And people look up to him. And the season he had this year, the growth he had from last year, it's huge. And I've got all love and all respect for him. Can't wait to see him do big things.

Trey was very important to what you guys wanted to do in the Sugar Bowl, and how it opened up some things for you down the field and Garrett. Losing him on that first drive as a receiver, a vertical threat, how much of a detriment was that to you guys?

I mean, you see what he did the last two games. When we needed him the most, he gave us his best. And to see him go down in that first drive, it was tough for us. He's been going uphill ever since that Big Ten championship, and I wanted to see him do good in this game. And losing him was huge. And I think we felt that.

What was it like, I guess, for the last two years to kind of grow alongside of Justin? I think several times last year we asked you guys about getting some things synced up and particularly the deep ball, but this year it just seemed like whenever you guys were on the field together you were in so sync. How did you kind of foster that over the last year to get to where you are this year?

Last year, we were just out there trying to ball. But this year we kind of locked in. And he knew my body language. I know his body language whenever he was going to throw the ball to me. He knows when I'm going to break off a route or all that.

And going into this year I kind of wanted to read coverages and take my game to another level and know where to break my routes off and attack leverages and just try to be the best in the country. And we had a tough year, but we wanted to come out with this win, and it's tough but we made it and we're thankful.

Where do you think you made the biggest, I guess, stride this year as -- not just as a team but an individual? You said you wanted to read defenses. We talked to you, obviously you wanted to get past the Clemson hurdle. What do you think you did this season than what you did the season before with Justin?

Individually, I feel like I'm faster. I put a little muscle on. And last year I was playing at around 180, 175. But this year I played at 185, 186. I felt way better out there, especially strength-wise, getting off press and getting into my routes more efficiently. And I felt like I had a good year and just gotta keep building.

I know you probably didn't necessarily want to see a bunch of young guys on the field at the end because of the result, but seeing those freshmen receivers get out there and experience this game, what could that mean for them going forward? And what did you see from them when they were in the game there for a little bit?

That's huge. I mean, I've got all love for the guys. And our unit is so close. We competed every day in the offseason, trying to make each other better, and to see them out there in their freshman year playing in a National Championship is huge.

And I know they're not going to forget this feeling. I saw the looks on their faces. And I hope they bounce back and I hope they work harder than ever in this next postseason.

Defensive end Jonathon Cooper

I saw and you Thayer up there at the end of the Game, kind of the two last guys to leave the field. What was going through your head at the moment and what were you talking about?You know, I don't -- not much. Just how bad to hurt to see all that.But I think I was just telling him, get there next year. You know, keep working hard, keep going. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for him.That was basically the conversation. Just talking about how much we care and love each other.Can you just describe what it's like facing an offense like that and how did you guys feel in practice with your preparation for this game?Yeah, well, a lot of credit to Alabama. They're a great team. We knew that coming in. They're coached very well and they have good players.We felt like we did a good job preparing all week. It's not much I can say honestly. You guys saw the game. They're a good team. I feel like we didn't execute and didn't tackle as well as we should have, as a whole defense.Just had to be better. Unfortunately, we were not. They took advantage of that.Just not having Tyreke, Tommy for a game like this, obviously you guys have been doing next-man-up all season. How did that affect you guys?Well, Tommy and Tyreke are great players, but I have to give a lot of credit to the guys that stepped in their place. Jerron Cage and Tyler Friday, Javonte, and Zach and Antwuan Jackson and Taron Vincent are all on the on the inside. They definitely stepped up to play.I'm very proud of them. Even with us missing a guy like Tommy and Tyreke, they stepped up and played really well in my opinion. I'm really excited to see what they all do next year.When you guys were prepping for this, did you think more, Let's try to stop the run and maybe make them one dimensional, or with how dynamic they were in the pass game, were you talking more about we got to get pressure and slow down the passing game? I know you want to do both, but offense feels like you said maybe we want to stop one or the other first.Right. I feel like the goal of any game is to stop the run, get to the pass. I feel like we were doing a pretty good job of that in the first half, and we just need to slow them down in the passing game and we never really caught on or could do that.Alabama was being as well coached as they are with good players, they took advantage of that. Like I said earlier, the defense just needed to execute better, figure everything out. I know we'll definitely look back and figure out what we needed to do better.But you got to give credit to Alabama.You had to know obviously that Alabama is so talented with the guys they have. Was it different facing them live and just how good are they?Well, I feel like our scout team is really good. They did give us good looks all week, and we go against amazing players every single day in practice with our offense.Guys like Olave and Garrett and J-Mo and all those wide receivers. I don't know, like I said, I feel like they're a great team. I also feel like we were a great team. It's not like we haven't seen great athletes before. We practice against them every single day.We just needed to execute better.Cooper, I wanted to ask you about the difference between playing seven games and 12 games. Do you feel you had enough time get in the rhythm going into this game, the championship game here versus the 12 games they played? Maybe they were a bit more cohesive. Did you feel that, did you feel that on the field tonight?To be honest, no. I feel like we had a good game plan. Like I said before, I just feel like we needed to execute better. I don't think the difference in 7 or 12 games made too much of a difference.I just feel like we needed to be better in this game, ask unfortunately we weren't.I know you've talked a lot good brotherhood of this team and how that got this team here. I know that you won't be back next year. How do you think the other guys who are going to be back are going to respond to this?I feel like they're going to respond the same way that they felt last year with the Clemson loss, honestly. Yeah, I'm sad that I won't be a part of this group next year, because, I mean, it's a bunch of great guys who truly love each other, man.But I'm excited to watch and see what they do next year. I feel like this is just going to fuel and motivate them to greater heights and achieve more. I feel like they got a taste of it, and now they just need to go finish it.Obviously you guys are disappointed right now. You wanted to win a national title. When you think about how this season went, what did you accomplish this season and how will you look back on it?First off, I just want to say I'm so proud of my guys and my team. I'm so proud of those guys. They're truly special, and I know we didn't win this game and all that, but they're champions in my heart honestly.I'm so proud of my guys. I couldn't be prouder. I give all my thanks to them for letting me play with them, have an opportunity to do this stuff with them. You know, I'm just trying to keep my head held high for them. They deserve it for everything that they've done.

Linebacker Tuf Borland

There was a play where Devonta Smith got matched up with you one on one and scored a touchdown. From your vantage point, what happened on this play?

Just three deep down. We know one of the issues is protecting the seams, so kind of just happened. He's a Heisman Trophy winner, so give him credit. He's a good player.

So, yeah. I'll work to get it fixed.

How much of an effect do you think it had that you didn't have Tommy or Tyreke for this game? And related to that, you needed to get pressure on Mac Jones and you guys aren't able to do that consistently. How big a factor was that in the game. And how disappointing is it you weren't able to do that?

Yeah, I mean, Tommy and Tyreke are unbelievable players. They showed that ten days ago whenever it was when we played Clemson. Unbelievable players. At a place like Ohio State we always approach next man up, and that's what the case was. Especially in the COVID environment season, everyone has to be ready.

Yeah, I mean, credit to Alabama. They have great players. They played really hard. They played well.

I know you guys want to win a national title, but how would you explain what you guys did accomplish this year and when you look back on this season what you'll think of it?

I mean, this season is just so unique. You know, in August we didn't even have a season, so I think being here is a great accomplishment. Obviously.

We're all competitors. We all would love to have won a National Championship and that's why we're here. We were here to compete for and ultimately win a National Championship.

But no one is hanging their heads. We're going to learn from this experience, and I think the guys that come back next year will grow from it and be better from it.

I would like to know about the amount of games and the difference -- you guys played 7 versus their 12 games. Do you feel 7 was enough time to get in sync, in unison for this big game here versus their 12 games, which may have gave them an advantage and being more in sync tonight?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I don't know how much that plays a role. Some would say that we would be fresher moving into this game and that would be an advantage.

But, I mean, the nonconference games do give you a chance to kind of get your feet under you, and obviously this year we didn't have that. We didn't have that opportunity. We hit the ground running, so we felt that pressure every week to make those six, seven games count.

Yeah.

As you look back on facing this offense, Alabama, do you think it's almost -- this is a trend where offense is heading in college football, or sort of aberration of a great bunch of athletes being on the same team at the same time?

Yeah, I mean, you got to give Alabama a lot of credit. They have great players and great scheme and they execute it really well. They played extremely hard and that's the result that you see. That's why the scoreboard was the way that it was.

So, yeah, I mean, I don't know if there is a trend. Obviously offenses these days are spread them out, throw it all over the place, extremely explosive.

But they're unique. What makes them unique is the caliber of players that they have.

Hey, Tuf, you being a guy that played a lot of football here, as you reflect on your five years here, where do you feel like you'll leave this program better than when you came in?

I don't know. I mean, there is so much to reflect on. Obviously my first like remembrance of it as a freshman was losing in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Coming back here and five years later get a shot to play for the National Championship was an unbelievable experience. I'm so thankful to be a part of this program with the coaches, the players. Everyone is so elite at what they do, whether it be coaching or playing.

But the thing that's going to stay with me is the caliber of people we have here and the relationships I've built. So I'm just so thankful to everyone for this last five years.

Obviously this is a rare collection of talent that Alabama has. People might watch this game and think there is a sizable gap between Alabama and everyone else, including Ohio State. What would you say to that?

I'm sorry, I couldn't hear the question.

Yeah. People would watch this game and think there is a different level between Alabama and everybody else in terms of talent, including Ohio State. As good as you guys have been, what would you say to that in terms of how big the gap is between Alabama and everyone else?

I mean, Alabama has great players. Give them all the credit. They executed better tonight. But to say that they're more talented than this Ohio State team, I don't know. Hard disagree with that. Top to bottom we feel like we have a talented team, guys that can compete with anyone in the country, and, again, just credit to Alabama. They had a great night. They executed well.

So, yeah.

Tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere

Obviously tough game. They were able to get pressure on Justin more than most teams have. Was it something they did in terms scheme, or was it just, Hey, that's a really good team?

So I think there was a lot of pressure. They were always a talented team. We already knew this coming in. They have a bunch of great guys on the defensive line and linebacker corps and everyone they have on defense.

They have a really talented roster there and the coaching staff as well. You know, they're one of the top teams in the nation. It was two top teams going at it tonight, so just a little mixture of talented players.

They had some schemes here and there, but I think we were doing some things right on the field, you know.

Obviously you guys were fueled so much this year by what happened last year against Clemson. Do you think there will be a similar response to what happened tonight?

Yeah, you know, we try to use everything we can to play with a chip on our shoulder and fuel us for the next season. After that loss against Clemson we really left the field with bitter taste in our mouth saying we left a lot of stuff on the field that could have brought us to the championship game like we did this year.

So when we went out to go play against Clemson, we remember those feelings. We had a lot of those emotions playing that game, but we knew to keep our poise and calm and do the job we needed to do.

Same thing here. This is just another building block on our team to make us stronger, not only as team, as a group we have coming back, but also for future Buckeyes.

Obviously you guys have a lot of guys like yourself who could potentially have a decision to make heading off to the next level. When you look at this Bama team with guys like, Leatherwood, Najee, DeVonta, all those guys that decided to come back after a disappointing end last year, how do you think you and the leaders of this team can come together to find maybe something special to bring more guys back next year?

You know, everyone is going to make their decisions that are best for them in their careers. If you really want to know what it takes to bring guys back, look at what we did this year when we had COVID cancel our season. We had a lot of things happening with a lot of people not being able to play, not knowing if we're going to play.

And while guys you were, once they heard we were playing ball again, everyone came back like it was nothing.

So just that's what we are. This is a brotherhood, and we are always going to support our brothers no matter what decision they make.

As you can see this year, we had a lot of guys that came back after our season got canceled and they just wanted Thornberry a part of brotherhood and play their hardest. That's what we try to do all season long in this game.

What happens is whatever happens.

Everybody knew how explosive this Bama offense was. I don't know if you guys talk about it as a team or just thought it in your head, but coming in as an offense, how many points did you think you guys had to score to hang with them? You know what you mean? What does that feel like? Did you feel that in the game of every time you go on the field you kind of got to put points on the board because you how explosive they are when they get out there?

Well, I mean, you know, they're an explosive team, like you said, and they're a talented team over all, especially on offense.

For us, how many points we thought we needed to score? We thought we needed to score one more than them. We just wanted to win the game. We didn't really focus on how many points they put up on the board, how many points we put up on the board. We just said, We got to score one more than them. We didn't do that tonight.

You know, we just came in with the mindset of every time we touch the ball we're trying to find a way to put it in the end zone or put points on the board. We just had belief in our defense and us as a team about everything we needed to do.

We didn't really think about their offense. We just focused on us because it's about us. It's not about other teams. It's what we can do as a team.

Did you see Trey go down on that first drive, and how did that change some things for you offensively?

Can you say that question again? I'm sorry.

When you lost Trey Sermon on the opening drive, how did it change what you wanted to do tonight on offense?

You know, it was tough losing Trey. He's a brother to us. When we heard -- when I heard that he was out after that first drive, it was really heart breaking for us, not only as an offensive line, but as an offense and as a team in general.

But we didn't change anything. Still had the same game plan. We all trained hard through all the players and depth chart, so if someone went down, we knew someone needed to come up. It's not like we only played with Trey. We made sure everyone was accounted for and everyone was able to play and do their job.