Coaches Review The Battle…..

Notre Dame Head Coach Lou Holtz:
(On Ohio State) “Ohio State is an outstanding team and played outstanding today. They are very strong up front. We didn’t tackle great and they made some great catches and great plays. They have a nice offense and made the big plays.”

(On the second half) “In the second half, I thought we played as well as we could have played, but we couldn’t stop their third-down plays. We couldn’t control the line of scrimmage.”

(On the punt return being called back) “When Autry Denson started to run it back, the first thing I did was look downfield for a flag and I didn’t see one. After it was called back, I knew we had no chance to win.

“Before that, I was thinking the whole game that we could win. The better team won today, make no mistake about that.”

(On the lack of big plays) “We just didn’t make the big plays. There were a couple of plays where we could have come away something big, but we didn’t. If we had Derrick Mayes, we probably make some of those plays.”

Ohio State Head Coach John Cooper:
(On the game) “I told our squad that this is a great victory for Ohio State, the players and the fans. It doesn’t get much better. Not many teams can come in here and win against this great Notre Dame football team.”

(On pressure) “We controlled the tempo and put a lot of pressure on Ron Powlus with our defense. That is a credit to him. We had to keep him off-balance. He is an excellent quarterback.”

(On his feelings) “I wasn’t nervous going into the game. Once we started playing, I felt we were as good as them, maybe even a little bit better.”

(On Pepe Pearson’s performance) “We’ve had a lot of great backs at Ohio State. He is one of them. He did a great job. Take away the fumble and he had an excellent game.”

(On team injuries) “I don’t think anyone is limping in the locker room right now.”