Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer spent a few minutes on this week’s Big Ten coaches teleconference. He spoke a little bit about last week’s loss to Oklahoma and also answered some question about the challenges that remain, including this week’s contest against Army. Here are the highlights.
+ Asked if J.T. Barrett needs to “cut it loose” more, Meyer said he won’t get into those conversations, but there are areas all over the offense that need to improve.
+ Meyer thinks the offense needs to be more creative and take more chances. He said it’s being addressed this week.
+ The service academies all use a difficult defense to prepare for and the wishbone offense, which is no easier. Army is playing at a high level right now.
+ The message for the defense this week is the same as it is for the rest of the program. They’re not playing particularly smart right now and they’re not doing what they’re taught to do.
+ Meyer believes J.T. Barrett can lead this team like Tim Tebow did after his speech following a loss to Ole Miss back in 2008. “Without question I do.”
+ It’s difficult to manage the task at hand and win, and also to make sure the passing game gets improved. But it has to happen.
+ Part of the process right now on defense is making sure the young players who are playing are continuing to improve.
+ Option football can create big plays, and that’s what is missing from the Ohio State offense. There are three ways to get that to happen. You either break a long one with the tailback, or get it through the option game, or execution in the passing game. They are working to make all three viable possibilities.
Thanks for the clarification.
Good to see the majority of fans seeing arrogance of UM now after a few years of exposure. I liked the old Urban better when he acted like a heartless Belichick CEO with no favorites and maximal accountability of both players and coaches. He is shopping JT like he tried to do with Cardale. He has a bunch of “friends” as coaches. Hard to be tough on your friends. They can recruit well but hard to see development for most of the coaches. Players will stop coming if they can’t get NFL ready. WR coach should have been canned with Beck. Same degradation in performance with WRs as with QB play past two years. Wilson is a proven play caller and offensive genius adapting game strategy and play calling to available talent. So either we have no talent or UM is dictating style of play. UM needs to swallow his pride and let the good coaches he has do their job instead of micromanaging them. Urban “they’re your players and coaches” you are running short of fan patience and pixie dust (Herman took it with him). Recruits are not only reading but watching. Show some humility. Stop making excuses and blaming others. They’re your players and coaches. Fix it now
There is NOTHING wrong with the runningbacks. THEY are producing with the PATHETIC amount of carries they get. Once in the damned red zone on mostly the work of those tailbacks, the childish playcalling takes the ball OUT of their hands and puts the ball into an atrocious passers arm to finish the work. The REASON for that is obvious. SELFISHNESS! Why say that? Meyer knows he has a crap passer and the only way he can get that passer any “stats” to gloat to the press about is to let him do his dink and dunk HS garbage. It backfired in his face Saturday night.
Now he’s running out to the media to get the horrible coach speak rubbish peddled because he knows the media and writers are not going to buck their chances of program access.
Here’s news for you coach. Fix the damned quarterback disaster that you created and allow to continue to fester and the offense will produce again like it’s supposed to. STOP trying to pimp JT Barrett to people. For whatever reason you have taken his teeth out. He plays scared with zero passion or will to win. Trotting out of bounds or belly flopping with many yards left on the field. Oh we know. You want to have JT break the Big 10 passing records. THAT’S the guiding force behind you taking the ball out of productive runningbacks hands. YOU HAVE BECOME PREDICTABLE. We’ve seen this before. Garbage quarterback keep plays and pissant tosses that don’t constitute passes. MSU thanks you for that idiocy. EVERY loss has the same script. Take the ball from the backs and give it to an unproductive quarterback. When the entire world knows he can’t pass and the tougher defenses are lining up to ruin your pipedream nwith his legs…………you stubbornly (spelled ARROGANTLY) ignore what works, the tailbacks. Zeke was 100% right after the debacle against MSU. Every loss the backs have to have that same sentiment because they are a rinse and repeat forgotten producer. Saturday night? Same thing. Trying to get teachers pet records rather than feeding the ONLY part of the offense that actually works. The tailbacks.
The scary part? The backs are producing based almost entirely on their own skill. They are doing what they do behind a GARBAGE offensive line. WHY would the receivers want to ball out when they already know they have a quarterback incapable of exploiting their talents? Austin Mack this past weekend saved a shutout for down the field passing with a leaping and fantastic catch of a poorly thrown football. Body language tells a story with skill position players. They already know their tallest task is to block in case the guy who can’t throw panics and runs.
We know coach. You’re addressing the woes this week. Well congratulations I’m sure we’ll see the fruits of all that hard work payoff big time against a virtual punching bag for the next few weeks. Bad news for you coach. History shows that those same problems are still going to be there waiting for you when a real opponent comes up on the schedule again. What will be the excuse then? We already know. Rinse and repeat excuse laden pressers that you have no intention of addressing. Favoritism often spells disaster for the LOYALTY you OWE to each player on the roster. That favoritism is putting your team in a position to fail. That’s on you coach. It’s not the players. It’s not us awful fans. It’s you. Fix it or YOUR seat will warm up quickly.
Great great post. Barrett will have 10 TD passes against Army, UNLV, and Rutgers and Meyer will say the offense is fixed.
Maybe Mills could reduce his ranting from dissertation length to Masters Thesis
No!
Assuming that the summaries of Meyer’s comments are accurate, sounds like the coach is subtly pawning off accountability. The players aren’t doing what they are taught to do? Really? Maybe the problem is they are doing what they are taught, and it’s faulty. Guys like Hyde and Elliott gave us a glimpse of their frustrations and they were RIGHT. Also, the notion that option football “has to” create big plays is wrong, Coach. How about simple to execute run plays that WORK and eat up yards while wearing down defense. The entirety of Meyer’s remarks are a subtle dig at everyone but himself.
BINGO…well said.
“The D is not playing hard or smart right now.” That is a direct contradiction to Meyer’s statement following its beat down on Saturday. “The D hung in there.” What is it? “The hung in there or the D is not playing hard or smart right now. It sounds like a guy who’s recruited at a very elite level and has no answers except to blame others.
The reason for this contradiction is because I mis-heard Meyer. He said they were playing hard, but not smart.
Based on what he said elsewhere I think he was referring to the back seven as opposed to the DL