Tuesday, October 12, 1999
Cooper's words rile Buckeyes
Says OSU not as good as Penn State
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach John Cooper said Monday his team's best might not be good enough against No.2-ranked Penn State.
“I think it's pretty obvious that if we play our best game and they play their best game and neither team makes any mistakes, they'll probably win the game,” Cooper said.
The Buckeyes (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten Conference) aren't accustomed to being told they need a lot of help from an opponent. After all, Ohio State has finished second in the nation in two of the last three years.
The Buckeyes are 111/2-point underdogs to the Nittany Lions heading into Saturday's game at Beaver Stadium.
Cooper was asked if he wasn't sending a negative message to his players.
“Our players are realistic enough to know we're going to have to play a fanatical game to go beat this football team,” Cooper said.
Cooper's words caused a firestorm among Ohio State players.
“I don't think it's a fair assessment because if that's the case, then we don't need to play the game,” said wide receiver Reggie Germany.
Safety Donnie Nickey said, “I don't want to shortchange the coach, but I don't believe that personally.”
Linebacker Na'il Diggs said: “I definitely would not say that. I won't be thinking this whole week that Penn State will win.”
When a reporter asked cornerback Ahmed Plummer about Cooper's words, Plummer's eyes narrowed and he said, “I don't really have a comment on that. That's his position.”
“You've got to go over there with a winning attitude. If you don't expect to win, you might as well not go at all,” defensive tackle Mike Collins said. “Wow, that fires me up. That gets me upset to hear that.”
Tight end Kevin Houser said Cooper's words didn't mean much.
“Neither team's going to play a perfect game,” he said. “So I'm going to kind of disclaim Coach Cooper's comments because football is a game where there are going to be mistakes made.”
Defensive end James Cotton said he wasn't upset by Cooper's words, but added, “Whenever your coach tells you that the other team will win, that means we have to work harder in practice to prove to him and then prove to the nation on TV this Saturday that we can win.”
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