In four days, the Buckeyes will take the field with a title on the line.
To preview the upcoming Big Ten championship game versus Northwestern, a quartet of Ohio State players – Baron Browning, Jeremy Ruckert, Wyatt Davis and Shaun Wade – met with the media on Tuesday afternoon.
A bullet-point rundown of what they each had to say (with video on the way):
Baron Browning
- Asked about coaches who don't think the Buckeyes have played enough games: "I feel like everybody has their own opinion." Says their focus isn't on that but rather the upcoming game.
- On what he likes about his own team right now: "I just like our mindset. We've just been competing." Says they've done a lot of scrimmaging.
- Browning says moving to Sam was different because of the keys he was supposed to read. He thinks the biggest challenge was learning how to set the edge and using his hands on the outside. He says he leaned heavily on Greg Mattison on in the transition of positions. "I love going to work every day with coach Mattison."
- He says this year taught him to appreciate and cherish every game.
- On Pete Werner: "He means a lot. That's my brother." Says they used to stay in the same apartment building and joke around a bunch.
- How much it hurt to not have a final home game: "It wouldn't sit well with anybody, but that's life." He says it took a day or two but he had to shift his mindset to Northwestern.
- On Justin Fields: "I love competing against him. I love being around him."
- Browning says the No. 1 thing in his recruiting process was to get developed both on and off the field. "I knew exactly what I was looking for, and I got that and some at Ohio State."
- He says it was "killing" Tuf Borland not to be out on the field against Michigan State. "He's the foundation of our unit."
Jeremy Ruckert
- Ruckert says the tight ends do whatever the coaches to do. He thinks it goes back to the spring and summer where the unit made it clear they'd do whatever was required of them.
- If his one-handed Big Ten championship game catch last year gave him a new perspective on what he can do as a receiver: "I'm very confident in my abilities, so I feel like I've always been capable of doing that."
- He thought it was huge for the veteran tight ends to help the young offensive linemen against Michigan State.
- He says if he didn't have Luke Farrell as a teammate, he wouldn't be playing as much and would be a one-dimensional player. "He's one of the most unselfish guys I've ever been around."
- On if six games would be enough for a CFP bid: "We haven't really been focusing on that." He says they hear all the noise, but their only motivation is to put the best game on the field and allow them to make a decision off of it.
- Ruckert says they know how big of a deal it is to bring home the Big Ten championship. "That's the biggest most important thing we do as Buckeyes: Win championships."
Wyatt Davis
- Davis on his health: "I'm all ready to go for this week's game and feeling a lot better. On the bright side, (the canceled game) definitely did help my knee get back on track."
- By having practice early this morning." He says he found out right after practice, "so this is all pretty fresh for me." Mentions he's blessed to have Greg Studrawa coaching him.
- On getting the final home game canceled: "It was really tough, especially when we found out early in the week like that." Not being able to walk into Ohio Stadium one last time was painful. He says all the focus is on Northwestern now.
- "Going into this Big Ten championship, it doesn't feel like a normal Big Ten championship."
- He says Ryan Day has preached regrouping and hitting the reset button. "I think you have to be like that, especially with how these circumstances are." He thinks this year has taught the team to be more appreciative of the game and life itself.
- Davis says this game is "huge" and a stepping stone to the ultimate goal.
- He thinks Nicholas Petit-Frere has been the best offensive lineman on the team this season.
Shaun Wade
- If he's glad he changed his mind about opting out: "I'm glad I came back. I came back at the beginning of the year, so why not finish what I started?"
- Wade says Northwestern likes to stay on track and avoid negative plays. "They're a good team. Really looking forward to playing them."
- "This program was built on winning, and that's what I believe in." Says he won four state titles in high school and is now trying to win four straight Big Ten titles.
- He says he has a lot of room to get better, and that'll always be the case. Thinks there's been improvement over the past few weeks within the position group.
- On this season: "It's stressful. It's hard. But at the end of the day we're grown men and are growing up."
- "I was mad. I was mad that they kind of backed out. But at the end of the day, it is COVID." Says they had to make their "grown-man decision." He also says players' health is the most important thing this year so he understood why Michigan couldn't play.
- Wade on the Ohio State-Northwestern Big Ten title game: "Like I've been telling a lot of my teammates, we've got to blow them out." He mentions the Buckeyes need to "show the world what we can do."
