Cameron Heyward, freshman defensive end
On the Ohio State freshmen
“We were all cheering for each other. We are all here for one another and willing to help each other out. It is very exciting for all of us and exciting to be here.”

On the Ohio State traditions
“Walking onto the field in the beginning was really amazing. It was really cool to see how important the traditions are here. It shows how much the people love Ohio State.”

Anderson Russell, sophomore free safety
On his near interception
“I really wanted that one back. I hope I’m given another opportunity. Next time I’ll get it. My teammates will not let me live that one down.”

On playing in the first game of the season
“It really felt good to hit someone else that wasn’t in scarlet and gray. We were starting to get sick of playing each other.”

Brandon Saine, freshman running back
On his first carry
“I saw the hole and just went for it. It was amazing. I was trying to be cool, trying not to jump around and get too caught up in a crazy situation.”

On his playing time today
“I thought I would play today, but I did not know for sure. I go with the first string sometimes in practice so I thought I would get in at some point. I just didn’t know when.”

Alex Boone, junior offensive tackle
On Youngstown State
“They are a good team. They came out fighting hard and they gave us a challenge.”

On the performance of the OSU freshmen
“The freshmen did well. They played hard and they played tough. They have a good feeling for what college football is like.”

On the running game
“It was good, but it could have been a lot better. Youngstown State came out with some things that surprised us a little bit.”

Chris Wells, sophomore running back
On his performance
“I think I may have been a little hesitant in the first half, but by the second half I was back up to game speed. I still have to be more confident in live action football, but that will come in time.”

Todd Boeckman, junior quarterback
On his performance vs. Youngstown State
“I think I made some good passes and then I made some bad passes. I’ve been waiting four years for this opportunity and now that I have a shot at leading this team, I wanted to take advantage of it. Troy (Smith) did some great things here but now we have new guys and a new team and we want to surprise some people.”

On waiting four years to play
“It was definitely worth the wait. I’ve been waiting for this moment since I got to Ohio State and when I woke up this morning, I realized what I now had to do.”

Vernon Gholston, junior defensive end
On what the defense did well
“We did the fundamental things right today. We stopped the run, we didn’t give up too many big plays and we forced them into some mistakes. There are definitely some aspects we can improve on, but overall I think we did what we had to do to win the game.”

On the loss of Lawrence Wilson
“He’s a high energy guy, someone who can really fly off the ball. He’s a great leader and an experienced guy and we’ll definitely miss him. Right now though, we can’t make excuses and we have to prepare for next week.”

Brian Robiskie, junior wide receiver
On the performance of Todd Boeckman
“Todd did a great job today. He went through his reads well and found the open guy a lot. The biggest thing was we didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes, which is what we’ve always emphasized.”

Youngstown State Postgame Quotes

Jon Heacock, Youngstown State head coach
On the game
“This was a huge game for us. We made them battle and we hung around in the first half, but some plays just didn’t go our way. You have to give credit to Ohio State for that.”

On Ohio State’s running game
“We came into this game and we just wanted to take something away (from Ohio State). When you do that you leave players like (Brian) Hartline and (Brian) Robiskie open and they are very talented.”

On Youngstown State’s performance
“I am very proud of our guys. They came into the toughest place we might ever play in and made them (Ohio State) battle.”

Jeremiah Wright, senior linebacker
On the confidence of the defense
“We came out feeling pretty good. We knew what we needed to do and stopped them at the goal line. We stood up and did what we needed to do and it took them a few times to get in.”

On Buckeye Brian Robiskie
“We just zoned off on him and didn’t run much man. Their quarterback just put it in the spot when we weren’t there.”

On playing at Ohio State
“There were a lot of ‘Ahhhs’ and ‘Wows’ at first. We just had to bring the team down and told them they are men just like you. Just go out, hit them and play hard.”

On being back out on the football field
“It was long awaited. It felt great and I ran around like crazy at first. It felt real good.”

On feelings prior to playing Ohio State
“We didn’t look at the stats or past teams that played here. We knew we were playing Ohio State and came in and knew we had to play.”

Tom Zetts, senior quarterback
On the game
“This was fun. This is a game I will remember for a while. After last year playing at Penn State I thought our guys were focused and played good ball.”

On Youngstown State’s running game
“We did a good job. We got in our holes and banged heads with them. In some cases we got pushed back, but we knocked them back a few times as well. I was happy to see that.”

On Ohio State’s defense
“I was happy we were able to put together two scoring drives. Against a defense that is as good as this one, you have to happy with that.”