Presser Bullets: C.J. Stroud, Ryan Day, TreVeyon Henderson React to Ohio States Win Over Tulsa | Eleven Warri – Eleven Warriors

A plethora of Buckeyes met with media members after the game to discuss the performance, starting with redshirt quarterback C.J. Stroud, head coach Ryan Day, record-setting running back TreVeyon Henderson and a number of other players on offense and defense.

Here’s a bullet-point breakdown of everything that was said at the post-game press conference.

QB C.J. Stroud

• “Winning isn’t easy, but Tulsa, we knew they were a good team coming in.” Stroud said the Buckeye offense “got greedy” against the Golden Hurricane defense.
• Stroud says he does
• “Definitely not 100 percent, but who is 100 percent at this time.” Stroud says he was “healthy enough to play.”
• Stroud says he does what the coaches tell him in terms of his reads. Says he needs to look at the film, but thinks he did well in that regard.
• “We already knew he was special … showed the whole nation today.” Stroud on Henderson.
• Stroud says Tulsa’s 3-3-5 defense was tricky, but the Buckeye offense “definitely should’ve been better.”
• “Every game’s a learning aspect for me. I’m only 19 playing as a redshirt freshman … I don’t worry about the negativity, I focus on the positive. And I feel like I’m a great player.”
• Stroud says he thanks God for being allowed to play today given his apparent shoulder injury. Stroud says he likes to think he’s a “tough guy.”
• On what the perfect balance of the offense would look like, Stroud says he has to do his job better, and that the Buckeyes would be the “best offense in the country” if they could strike the perfect balance.

Ryan Day

• Day says it was great to see the defense get the sack late and the Martinez interception. Says there are still things to improve on as well, though.
• Day says Matt Barnes called the game defensively. “I thought we stopped the run better and I thought we did mix up some of the looks … I thought we changed some things up structurally.” Day says mid-game adjustments were done “much better.” 
• Day says when Henderson gets to the second level, he gives the Buckeye offense the chance to hit home runs.
• “We need to stop with the penalties.” Day cites the high volume of “young guys” the Buckeyes are playing right now.
• On Sevyn Banks: “He’s practicing much better … we’ll evaluate the film and go from there.”
• “I’d like to see a little bit more of a pass rush … we gotta do a better job of making the quarterback uncomfortable.”
• Miyan Williams missed a practice this week because he “wasn’t feeling well,” and Day says he was riding the hot hand in Henderson today.
• Day says he’s usually not in defensive meetings, but has been this week.
• On remaining patient with Stroud, Day says “he did miss a couple, for sure.” Day says the Chris Olave drop in the second half was regrettable. “He’s learning, he’s growing, it’s his third start.”
• Is Matt Barnes calling the defense a permanent move? “That’s kind of the way I see it going forward right now.” Day says Larry Johnson is very involved as well.
• Day says Kerry Coombs “is a professional” when it comes to the decision to let Barnes call the defense.
• Day says he feels “like I always do, relieved” after the win.
• Day says today was a step in the right direction, but isn’t sure how far a step it was. “Hopefully we can peak as we enter conference play.” 
• “I thought they showed toughness today … overall, pretty good.” Day on the defense.
• On Henderson: “Each running back is different, but he’s a guy that can hit home runs. That’s special.”
• Day says he hopes to get Zach Harrison back in practice next week.
• Thayer Munford’s injury “doesn’t look long term,” Day says.
• “It is exciting when you see a guy like Cam Martinez return a touchdown,” Day also cites Denzel Burke when discussing the Buckeyes’ freshmen on defense. Says the future is “really, really bright.”

SAF Ronnie Hickman, DB Cameron Martinez, CB Cam Brown

• Martinez says he had “all the confidence in the world” that he could make the big play at the end. Says he did “whatever the coaches wanted me to do,” and that the Buckeyes had a lot of success.
• Brown on giving up more than 400 yards in the passing game, says the Buckeyes will have to tighten some things up after watching film.
• Brown said the team “tuned a lot of outside noise out” after criticism following last week’s loss. 
• What was different with Coombs in the box? Hickman says “not really … I wouldn’t say it was that much of a change.”
• Hickman on playing two deep safeties: “Myself, Bryson and the other safeties did a good job, but we have to do better.”
• Martinez says a lot of young guys making plays is “something that we always talk about.” Martinez says the coaching staff told him to stay ready, and that he “had a blast” playing today.
• Brown says he first started feeling comfortable in his role during his sophomore role. Martinez says Brown was his “mentor and role model” coming into this season.
• Brown says he “never feels satisfied” and is looking forward to being tested downfield even more as the season progresses.

RB TreVeyon Henderson, LT Nicholas Petit-Frere

• Henderson on if he thought this type of performance would be possible this early: “I wasn’t expecting something like this.” However, Henderson says he reached one of his goals that he had written down before the season today.
• Petit-Frere says Henderson is “probably one of the best players we have here.”
• Henderson: “We all worked hard this week but I wasn’t expecting to get a lot of carries. I ended up getting a lot of carries.”
• Henderson says he’s never met Archie Griffin, but he’s watched a lot of film on him. “I’ve watched a lot of the past Ohio State players.”
• “Losing Thayer is a big loss” Petit-Frere says “things like this happen,” and that Matt Jones did a great job filling in.
• Henderson says he didn’t know he would start today until right before the game today.
• Henderson says he felt like his knee “almost snapped” when the Tulsa nose tackle came down on it in the second half. “If he would’ve stayed on there a little bit longer, my knee probably would’ve been through.”
• One of Henderson’s goals is breaking the single-season freshman rushing record at Ohio State, he says.
• Henderson: “I’m excited right now, but at the same time I gotta keep this going. This can’t be a one-time thing.”
• Petit-Frere says Dawand Jones was “competing his butt off,” and says the offensive line’s performance confirmed how hungry the team was coming off of the loss.
• Henderson says when he looks into the eyes of the older players on the team, “I can see how bad they want it.”
• Petit-Frere says Henderson is “probably one of the hardest workers we have.” Says it’s “nice to see all of his work and all of his efforts being able to be paid out.”
• Henderson says his ability to hit home runs is “all just natural,” and says his best move of the game was probably pulling his knee out of the pile.