Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Pregame Quote, 01/05/2025

Q. Luke, how’s the nose?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: It’s good. I meant to say “busted.” I didn’t mean to say “break.” It’s good. It’s on to the next one. (chuckles).

Q. Is that different?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: I mean, it’s just bruised up. It’s just my helmet. Every time I hit someone, it’s down my face like that and bruises it up. It’s been busted for a long time. I haven’t gotten it fixed.

Q. After the game, I saw you and Donovan Jackson kind of share a moment where he said: You’ve got a lot more in you, keep going. When you have the support of the offensive line like that, what does that do for you?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: Means the world. Speaks upon just being confident out there and playing the game. That guy has been in a whirlwind this year. So have we all, with just what’s happened on our offensive line and stuff like that.

So, to have someone in your back pocket like that, that gives you the confidence to go out there and play like you have been, it’s a lot of fun.

Q. Luke, do you feel more confident having a couple games, a few couple snaps, how much more confident do you feel going into this game compared to Oregon?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: Yeah. It’s actually funny you say that. I’ve really felt the same the whole time. I haven’t really blinked when I’ve gone out there and gotten my opportunity. I think just the preparation the coaches have given us over these last couple weeks, going into games, that gives you confidence on itself.

Q. Luke, we hear a lot about how this team is fighting to play one more week together. Is this team closer than last year’s teams and teams in the past?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: For the two I’ve been on, I would say this one is definitely the closest as a team. We’ve all been around each other. I think just the ups and downs this year. It’s been a whirlwind, like I said. We just continue to get closer and closer through every game.

Obviously we don’t want it to end, so we have an opportunity and a chance for one more game to play, and we’re going to go out and give it our all, and hopefully that’s enough to get us to the next one.

Q. Luke, obviously Will [Howard] has been the leader of this group since he got here. Where have you seen him grow or his leadership take a step, just in these playoffs?.

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I think his leadership has been tremendous all year. He’s kind of a guy that you get to know right out of the gate. He’s very energetic, very positive all the time, and obviously talks a lot, and very social like I am.

So, he’s awesome. I think Coach [Ryan] Day does a great job with the analogy of how it gets more intense, the more playoff wins you get. It ramps up.

So, obviously, leadership ramps up as well as that intensity goes.

Q. Will [Howard]’s intensity, that affects everybody else?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: I really think it’s not even just Will. I think it’s us having the opportunity to play one more game. We have an opportunity, and we don’t want it to end.

Q. What makes Texas’ defensive front, in the initial film that you watched, and how challenging is it for an inexperienced group?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: Well, I think first of all, we’re going into their territory in Dallas. So

obviously, it’s going to be loud. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s an SEC team, so it’s the SEC in the way, and they’ve got a lot of great players up front. And they’re kind of banking on you guys losing your one-on-ones and stuff like that.

So I think it’s an amazing opportunity to go and show how confident we are and go out and play our ball.

Q. Luke, obviously with these being your first real, meaningful snaps that you’ve gotten to get the last two games, what’s been the benefit of being able to rotate with someone and seeing the comparison of having to play a heavy load the last two games?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: I think obviously now, if I had to play a full game, I’d obviously be able to. I think I’d be able to from day one just because of all the stuff we’re doing in here, like staying in shape and our preparation, stuff like that.

But I think for not playing for two years, two and a half years since high school, I think the 30, whatever snaps I played was a great amount. And obviously, it just enhances as the game goes on.

Q. Luke, I guess kind of the follow-up on that. How much has it helped you to have Austin [Siereveld] and Tegra [Tshabola] there in that rotation to lean on and talk to between series and things along those lines?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I think it helps a lot. They start the game with the first series or two, and I get to ask them questions on what they’re like, what their moves are. What are they doing up front. Are they doing anything different that we’ve seen on film? Stuff like that.

Q. To piggyback on the defensive line question, anybody jump out at you? And who exactly will you be going up against?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I think they’re all tremendous athletes. A ton of respect to Texas and what they’ve done this year. It’s a lot of fun watching them on film. They have a great defense. I think all their defensive linemen are great players.

Obviously, specifically speaking, the interior guys that we’ll be going up against, I think they’re all really good. They have different moves and bring different things to the table, so we’ve got to be ready for that.

Q. They’ve been a pass-first kind of team and struggled some with the run. Do you feel like you do better against teams like that that are maybe ‚Äì I don’t know, if you think they’re as physical as you are or not?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: No, I think everyone’s the same. We’ll see what happens in this game. Obviously, we’re pretty new to the game plan here, but we have a big practice today, and that’s what we’re really focused on. And obviously, that time will come in the game.

Q. When we spoke to Ryan Day on Friday, he mentioned that this time of the year, he’s able to focus even more on the Xs and Os, and less on some of the other CEO kind of stuff that head coaches have to do in college football. I was wondering, from your perspective, where have you seen that show up the most in the way that the offense has played the last two weeks?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: I mean, what you said right out of the gate, I think we had more time. Obviously, school is starting back up, but we haven’t had school for a couple weeks, and that gives us more time to walk through, more time to have even more reps than we usually have.

I think Coach [Keenan] Bailey said going into that Oregon game, we had like 970-something reps in that week leading up to the gaming and stuff like that. And that’s not just practice; that’s walkthroughs, that’s more walkthroughs, and stuff like that.

So, obviously, when you have the opportunity to have more time to put into your game plan, it’s going to go to show during the game.

Q. Luke, you started your career here at tackle. Now you’re playing guard. To see what Donovan’s [Jackson] done moving from guard to tackle, how impressed have you been with his transition?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: I mean, he’s a tremendous athlete, guys. I know he played tackle in high school, and it’s a lot different coming here. But for him to do that, obviously, just speaks more volumes to who he is as a person.

I know that he wanted to be an all-American at guard and stuff like that, and he still got that this year. But he’s done a tremendous job going from guard to tackle, and not many people can do that.

Q. Picking up on the Donovan Jackson thing. One play in particular that caught my eye, it was the long pass to Jeremiah Smith for a second touchdown. But Donovan was in what looked like a boxing match with Jordan Burch, physically and stuff. What does he bring from that realm of pure physical playing the game?

OL LUKE MONTGOMERY: If you were to build an offensive lineman, I’d probably just point you to Donovan Jackson. I mean, he’s tremendous at all levels. He can get to the second level. He’s fast. He’s very strong, obviously. And he can play all five positions. And obviously, if I was an NFL guy, I don’t know why I wouldn’t pick Donovan Jackson.