Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Pregame Quote, 12/26/2023

Q. Does it seem like the redemption I don’t want to go with the revenge tour, but just ending it the right way?

DE JACK SAWYER: Yeah, I think we’re all focused on this game and we want to finish the season out right and end it on a good note. We’ve put a lot of work in for this season, and we want to end it the right way for the seniors and building and going into the next year.

Q. Do you expect your running mate on the other side to play? It looked like everybody is practicing.

DE JACK SAWYER: Everybody made the trip. I don’t want to get too much in the details about the roster, but we’re all excited to go out there.

Q. Coach [Jim] Knowles said he didn’t expect any opt outs. When you hear that, what was the conversation that went on in the locker room between moving past the Michigan game and deciding, hey, let’s go win this Cotton Bowl?

DE JACK SAWYER: I think it’s another time to go out there and play. We’re all extreme competitors and you only get so many opportunities to play this game.

We’ve got a great one here at the Cotton Bowl and Dallas [AT&T] Stadium. So really everyone just we wanted this last go round with everybody, because you don’t know who’s going to leave, who’s going to come back, and we’re excited to go out there and put on a good performance.

Q. Is there a little Pickerington [Central High School] pride with you and Ty [Hamilton]?

DE JACK SAWYER: Yeah, me and Ty have been good friends from since I can remember, playing PYAA (Pickerington Youth Athletic Association) football running around the neighborhood with all our friends. So it’s cool to be able to experience this with them, and Zo (Lorenzo Styles) and Sonny [Styles]. It’s a good time.

Q. When you look at the production down the stretch, I don’t know if you feel this way or not. The numbers on paper look like you were getting a lot better as you were going on. Did you feel a difference between the first six games versus last six games that would have explained that? Did you feel like your game changed? Did you change something?

DE JACK SAWYER: I definitely do feel that. I feel like the last six games, we let loose a little more. Started playing a little more free; within the scheme, though. Doing every little thing better. I think that’s just a mindset kind of switch for a lot of us. When you think about a lot of guys on our defense and offense, too, who played really well down the stretch. I think it’s kind of like halfway through the year, we all are experienced now. We’ve all started a certain number of games. Let’s go get it, and that was our mindset going into the last half of the year.

Q. Were you, in September, because I think the same could be said for JT [Tuimoloau], where it just didn’t look like it was pure pass situations and opportunities for sacks. Was some of that by design? Was some of that a scheme change for you guys? I’m trying to understand.

DE JACK SAWYER: A lot of it differs depending on the situation. A lot of times, we’ve got to contain the quarterback. So sometimes it might be a little different, might look a little different this way. But I just think later in the season, you know, as the season went on, we all started getting confidence and started playing a little more freely and letting loose.

Q. What about playing in this facility? Won a Cotton Bowl here, won a national championship here, as I recall, back in ’14. How did you feel when you walked in here?

DE JACK SAWYER: It’s amazing. The stadium is awesome. The (Dallas) Cowboys play in it. It’s huge. The staff does a great job taking care of us. So it’s awesome. I am really excited to get a chance to play this game here. And I think all my teammates are, too. It’s a good opportunity.

Q. Where can this defense get better, if not with turnovers, in other areas?

DE JACK SAWYER: I agree, I think we could create more turnovers. I think it’s more focused on attacking the football, maybe, when we’re going up for tackles, and attacking the ball when it’s in the air. I think that’s a great point. I think we can get better at creating turnovers. There’s a lot of areas we can still improve on going into this game that we hope to accomplish in this game, and turnovers is definitely one of them.

Q. What have the last couple of weeks of practice been like? I know there was a time when you had to flip the switch between that last game and what’s next. What’s the attitude been?

DE JACK SAWYER: It’s been good. Good question, though. Obviously when you lose a big game like that, emotions are high. You never know how some people may respond. We’ve done a great job and Coach [Ryan] Day especially did a great job of getting us to realize we have to take a step forward. There’s nothing we can do now about the game besides finish the season out right and prepare for it again next year.

I think everybody’s mindset is right. We all have the same attitude going into this game. So we’re super jacked up. Excited.

Q. You and JT [Tuimoloau] obviously came in the same class. You guys have been together for three years. What’s that relationship like, you guys coming from each side of the edge there?

DE JACK SAWYER: We’ve got a great relationship. I think over the last few years it’s built, and we became really close. That’s my brother. And I think we feel the same way about especially the rest of us on the D line. When it comes to Tyleik [Williams] and Mike [Hall Jr.], our class. We’re super close.

You know, it’s funny. These relationships and this brotherhood that we have lasts a lifetime. So when they go on and do whatever, we go our separate ways, maybe we come together in the league a couple years on down the road. We’re going to have each other’s backs for the rest of our lives. That’s real and we know that.

That’s kind of the relationship we have with this class is so tight knit. You can say the same thing on the offense side of the ball, the receivers are so close, too, when you talk about Emeka [Egbuka] and Marvin [Harrison Jr.] and those guys. Same with TreVeyon [Henderson]. Our class is special and we want to send them out the right way. Whether we come back next year or not, we have to see.