Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer sits down for his weekly call-in show on the Ohio State IMG Radio Network today. The show kicks off shortly and we will provide live updates throughout the hour. Here are the complete updates.
+ Meyer loves the culture of the program right now. With all of the protesting and things going on, his players don’t want to be symbolic, they want to make a difference.
+ Recruiting against former assistants depends on what they have to sell. Tom Herman has a lot to sell. The good news is that Meyer knows his guys are going to do it the right way. It has been a non-issue to this point, however.
+ Having conversations with J.T. Barrett or Sam Hubbard or Tyquan Lewis is a lot like having conversations with assistant coaches. There’s never any need to motivate them.
+ The Buckeyes have had a slight decline over the past few years in the red zone. They have taken some knees down there this year, which hurts their percentage, but that’s not the entire explanation. They work hard in the spring to put together their red zone packages. You can’t work too much on it during the season because you do so much game planning against the opponent.
+ The Buckeyes are very aware of Rutgers’ tendencies and other similarities between his program and Chris Ash’s. There is plenty of crossover. “It’s great, you just wish they were in a different conference.”
+ Meyer has plenty of strong thoughts and opinions on what is going on in college basketball. Meyer has always been a big proponent of the NCAA and they have no subpoena power, so people think they’re toothless. Meyer believes that once you lie to the NCAA, you should never coach again. If you pay a guy money, you should be finished. Coaches shouldn’t have more rights than the students they are cheating to land. Meyer said he is in favor of regulations and strong rules. He believes this will bring some reforms to college basketball. He has talked a bit to Gene Smith about it. If a coach is out there using a burner phone, “you’re done.”
+ Rutgers’ best corner was injured, so Meyer is expecting some “by committee” from Rutgers. Not sure if they’ll stick with press coverage against the Buckeyes.
+ Chris Ash did great things at Ohio State. He really changed the way they approached a lot of their defensive thinking. Meyer also said no to rugby tackling about three times, but Ash finally convinced him. They went from the most missed tackles in 2013 to the fewest in 2014, and it continues today. You can see these beliefs in practice on the Rutgers defense now. They are very improved from last year. “They’re very good on defense.” They are doing more 3-4 now due to personnel. The offense is behind the defense a little bit right now.
+ Jordan Fuller and Damon Webb are really playing well at safety. The corners are playing pretty well also, but the secondary still isn’t anywhere near where it needs to be.
+ On Demario McCall: “Everyone saw that kick return — that’s not him.” He’s not a violent runner yet. Needs to get healthier.
+ Malik Barrow broke their hearts to see him go down with another ACL injury. He’s had other injuries as well at Ohio State, but when he’s healthy he’s very good.
+ Joe Burrow is still right there with Dwayne Haskins. He is still working his hand back. Haskins played okay last week. It’s an opportunity for growth. Meyer isn’t sure about playing Tate Martell this year. Martell might be a five-year guy. He is as competitive a guy as they have. Meyer thought about playing him against UNLV.
+ Rashod Berry “is such a talented guy.” “I love where he’s at right now. His attitude is fantastic.”
+ Jaylen Harris and Trevon Grimes need to contribute on special teams. “They have to.”
+ A player who is relentless without the ball is incredibly valuable. Terry McLaurin is in that category.
+ Asked if six receivers is too many to rotate, Meyer said it’s a lot, but it’s what you want. “Six is a great number.”
+ It’s unusual to play two road night games to start the Big Ten schedule. Meyer blamed his big mouth five years ago saying the Buckeyes needed more night games. It’s tough getting back home so late and then getting right back to it on Sunday.
+ Throwing the ball in the red zone on fourth down can happen when you play lesser teams and can work on some things. It allowed them to get some guys experience on critical downs.
+ You practice to play, and when those players finally play they love it. Meyer got a bunch of time for guys who practice hard and they all appreciate it.
+ We have seen glimpses of Parris over his first few years, but he is picking it up now. Meyer is getting close to trying to find more touches for Campbell. Right now there isn’t a lot of separation at receiver and they have a great mentality about it.
+ The pass interference penalties and the fumbles last week were the most disappointing parts of the game last week. It was good to see the defense turn one of those fumbles into a safety.
So, Coach thinks Tate Martell is a 5 year player. Is that statement supposed to dissuade Emory Jones; or Tate?
He SHOULD have played Martell last week. What is Urban so fearful of; that Martell will be better or worse than he had hoped when he recruited him? Playing in an actual game is one way of making a determination.
Name the last QB who didn’t redshirt as a freshman under Urban Meyer at Ohio State. It’s just the standard operating procedure.
The Buckeyes need to be riding Roughshod Berry over Rutgers. Kid appears to be a mismatch for the B1G’s best LBs. I want to see more before PSU.