Ohio State returned to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Thursday to kick off its first day of fall camp.
Left guard Luke Montgomery talked about waiting his turn and Ohio State's tough schedule, cornerback Devin Sanchez has high expectations for himself this season and middle linebacker Payton Pierce is priding himself on becoming more of a leader.
The media availability from the Buckeye trio marked the first group of Ohio State players to speak to the press after the first full practice of fall camp with the whole team together.
LG Luke Montgomery
“I've waited my time here. I think a lot of days people can jump ship and stuff like that. I've dealt with adversity, I've been through it, and I think you get wiser as you get older and stuff like that. And game-wise and experience-wise, you can only get that from real repetition against real guys in big stadiums... we've done it at the highest level for the collegiate league.”– Luke Montgomery on the experience he's gained
- On Austin Siereveld: "He's a big guy. He's got length. He's tall. He's athletic. I think one thing that sticks out about Austin is he's super smart and is always doing the right thing. He's always accountable, holding guys accountable and stuff like that."
- What offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has brought to the offensive line: "He's got a lot of jokes and stuff, and keeps it pretty light in the meeting rooms. But when it's go time, it's go time, and he's done a great job. I really love what he's doing, and what technique and stuff, and all the stories that he's bringing with him."
- On Ohio State's tough schedule: "(Ryan Day) told us yesterday, we have the opportunity to play 11 top-20 matchup games, and I think we're gonna have six or seven of those in the regular season. And that's gonna help us get calloused up for when the playoffs come around. So I enjoy it, week in, week out, you gotta be on your A-game. That's how it's gonna be at the next level, so I'm excited for it. It's gonna be a lot of fun."
CB Devin Sanchez
“That's my main goal, become an All-American, and I feel like I can do that, especially with the spring I had, going against (Jeremiah Smith) every day, and then this camp I'm going to have. It's just going out there competing and knowing that there's no better corner in the country better than me.”– Devin Sanchez on his aspirations for this season
- On the first day of fall camp: "It feels great, I feel like we had a long summer of not playing ball. So first day out, a lot of things we need to correct, but it feels great being out there playing ball, putting the cleats on, getting to touch the ball with my guys and getting ready for a long season ahead."
- On returning to his home state for the Texas game: "It's going to be a lot. It's going to be a high-emotion game. Going back home for the first time, playing in that stadium, I went to games as a recruit there. So it's going there and finally playing there. It's going to be a lot. My family's going to be there — a lot of my family's going to be there. So it's me having to control my emotions and just go out there and play for my team."
- On the fluctuation of his role last year: "Last year was very hard. It's more so not being on the field, it was more so coming in for games where I played a couple games where I played for these 50 snaps, and then coming out that next week playing eight snaps."
