EUGENE, Oregon — Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles addressed the media after the team’s 32-31 loss to Oregon on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.
It wasn’t his defense’s finest night, as the Ducks marched up and down the field for four quarters through the night.
Here’s what Knowles had to say:
- “We’ve got to do a better job coaching. That’s it. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t make enough plays, I didn’t think we were outstanding in any area. Felt like we were always behind. It was uncharacteristic. We’ve got to learn from it. We’ve got to practice better, we’ve got to coach better.”
- On why and how Ohio State allowed so many big plays: “We didn’t execute. Coach speak, but we didn’t execute. When you play a better opponent, you’ve got to raise your level of our game. I just felt like our guys, we just need to coach them better. We need to get them in better positions and focus on the details and make sure this loss doesn’t beat us twice.”
- On not getting after Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 341 yards: “He does a good job of stepping up in the pocket. We knew that. He’s a really good quarterback. What we had didn’t work. We certainly need to evaluate that whole process and plan.”
- “Players that we have are always going to play to the level of their training. It comes back to me and coaching. We’ve got to find a way to ramp up that competition and simulate those situations in a better way.”
- On the message to cornerback Denzel Burke, who didn’t have a good night in the secondary: “I would just tell him he’s a great player, that we love him, and he knows and they all know all the bad plays go on me. He, me, the whole defense, we need to learn from it. And we’re going to get more chances. We’ve got to find a way to get better.”
