Ohio State head coach Ryan Day on how Devin Brown’s injury affected the team’s offensive scheme: “I felt like (Brown) was going to have nerves early on. I thought we were going to be able to play through it and figure out what that would look like going into the second half. He had a little bit of nerves, but you could see the athleticism. You see him break the pocket, he just missed the throw down the sideline. He missed the screen early on. I feel like he was going to have to play through that a little bit – this is his first start. And then we lose him. We had a lot of things in the game plan designed for his style of play, and we lost him. That was a little bit of a scramble, and we came up short.”
Day on if the loss will propel him to pursue a quarterback through the transfer portal in the offseason: “I’m just fresh off the game, so it’s hard for me to process all of it right now. We have to figure out what’s best for the team moving forward, and that’s in a lot of areas. So we have to take a hard look at that and get that figured out, but everything will be looked at.”
Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz on how his team was able to pull away from Ohio State in the fourth quarter and come away with the victory: “Tonight was a testament to a wilderness brotherhood. A bunch of guys who have fought through adversity their entire careers. We’re not Blue Bloods. We’re a dirty, hard-working brotherhood that loves each other and fights for each other. We scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. We put our first up, we said ‘We’re not giving in. We’re faster, stronger, tougher than you are in the fourth quarter. We have an elite edge. And we’re not going to be denied.’ And now we’re the Cotton Bowl champs.”
Missouri defensive back Jaylon Carlies on if he thought the Cotton Bowl meant more to the Tigers than Ohio State:Most definitely. We’ve been doubted for a long time since I’ve been here. Ohio
State has always been at the top of the ranks for a long time throughout the years in college
football. Mizzou has always been on the down end of SEC play. This means a lot. It’s an
improvement of the staff of where we were supposed to be and where we are now.”
Ohio State wide receiver Xavier Johnson on how Missouri was able to get pressure on the quarterback: “In games when you prepare for a team, especially in bowl games, you see a lot of different things that we don’t necessarily account for and they don’t necessarily show up on film. They were giving us some (different) looks. They were doing a great job bringing in a lot of pressure and pressure from all over the place. It ended up giving us some trouble. We were trying to get some plays up, and the lack of time definitely (was an issue). Every time you don’t have time to throw the ball or something doesn’t have time to develop, it is an issue. But I think that we handled it as well as we could.”
Johnson on his thoughts as he wraps up his six-year career at Ohio State and where he sees the program going in the future: “I’ve given a lot to this program, and a lot has been given to me. So I’m incredibly grateful. That’s why I’m still (wearing my jersey after the game), really. It’s surreal. I don’t want it to end, in a way, but I’m thankful. It’s kind of well-documented throughout the process. There was a lot of doubt, a lot of hard times, a lot of tears, but when I look back over my career, I just really see the faithfulness of the Lord. I pray that I left something behind – a spirit, a love, whatever that may be. I pray as we move forward that the team continues to grow. There are great leaders in that locker room. I’m not really sad. It’s just a tough reality. It’s been my life for six years, and I’ve given everything I had. I’m eternally grateful for the Buckeyes.”
Day on his message to the team after the game: “I just told them that I thought a lot of guys played really hard in this game, and nobody wanted to lose this game. I mean, you saw guys fighting here and there. We got put in a tough spot, and we didn’t respond well enough. We didn’t help (Kienholz) at all, and that’s why we lost the game. It hurts to finish the season like this, with two losses. That’s not good enough at Ohio State, and we all know that.”
