Paul Chryst reflected on what went wrong with Wisconsin following the Badgers' 52-21 defeat at the hands of Ohio State on Saturday night, but made sure to offer praise to the Buckeyes before detailing his own team's shortcomings.
"First of all, credit to Ohio State. It's a really good football team, a lot of respect for Ryan [Day] and what they do," began Chryst. "We got beat. We didn't get off to a good start, take the first drive down, Graham [Mertz] and [Chimere Dike] were just off."
Chryst's themes of the press conference revolved around Wisconsin's slow overall start to the game and inability to capitalize on the few opportunities the Buckeyes gave to them. In reference to C.J. Stroud's first interception of the season, Chryst noted he, "thought there was an opportunity for us to make a play off the pick and give them bad field position, and there were enough points in that game where we didn't respond on the field the way we had to."
"There were times when it was hard getting things going offensively, then we had a couple penalties that set us back and a couple opportunities to make some plays and we didn't," the Badgers' head coach continued. "That part we got to be better... to win games, you got to play good football."
Chryst relayed additional insight into the thoughts going through his head while Wisconsin attempted to recover from its early struggles as a team. "I was thinking, 'we've already given them a short field,' and felt like we got a chance — we've been pretty good in that situation... certainly didn't love the way we started, but I felt like, 'you know what, we're gonna be alright, we can pin them down there and got a chance to stop them.'"
"Didn't, right?"
Chryst did not offer many thoughts on his opponent's execution, but when questioned about what Ohio State did to negate the effectiveness of Wisconsin's pass rush, he did comment, "I thought their rhythm, they were on. There were a couple times we got some pressure, but I think they did a good job of getting the ball out, and really not a ton of time for the rush to get there."
"Couple of the angles they hit early, you'd like to have a little bit more depth from your linebacker," Chryst further offered in reference to how his defense could have better slowed down Ohio State's offensive onslaught. "I don't know that it was guys not doing it, but you want to make it harder for them."
In searching for the few positives from his own team, Chryst attempted to salvage a form of moral victory in saying, "the one thing I did appreciate was I thought guys kept playing and they kept playing with each other, that part we got to carry forward."
"Where we're at right now, we got an opportunity to bounce back, and I appreciate the guys in that regard," Chryst said in looking ahead. "We'll go in next week and we got a chance to get back at it."
Chryst did acknowledge that he expects heavy criticism from the Wisconsin fanbase and supporters following such a disappointing performance, relenting, "I get people not being happy with where we’re at right now. They’re no more disappointed than anyone in the program is.... We want to have a team that people are proud of, but biggest concern is getting our guys to play good football."
“they were on... they did a good job of getting the ball out, and really not a ton of time for the rush to get there."– Paul Chryst, On Ohio State's Offensive Rhythm and How the Buckeyes Mitigated Wisconsin's Pass Rush
Regarding Clay Cundiff's injury suffered in the final minute of the game's first half, Chryst indicated he believes his junior tight tend "broke" an unknown bone in his left leg or ankle. Cundiff unfortunately experienced an ankle dislocation, broken fibula, and torn foot ligament in his right leg during the Badgers' win over Iowa last October.
"Maybe I'm nuts, but I do appreciate they kept going and it was important they were together on it," Chryst offered on the Badgers overall, doing whatever he could in wake of defeat on a night filled with setbacks to shine some benevolence on Wisconsin's tough evening.
"It is a team sport, and we all got beat tonight."
- #3 Ohio State 52, Wisconsin 21
- • Buckeyes Steamroll Badgers, 52-21
- • B1G Statement By Bucks
- • McCalister, JK, Brown Step Up In Secondary
- • Debriefing Ohio State's Win In B1G Opener
- • Ohio State Postgame • Notebook • Quotebook • Photos
- • 3 Key Stats • Five Things • Social Reactions
