Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer spoke with the media on Monday to provide updates on how his team performed in Saturday’s win over UNLV and to preview Saturday’s matchup at Rutgers. The full video is below. Here are the highlights.
+ Champions were named. “J.T. played very well.” Five receivers played very well. “There’s a lot of momentum in that room.” Good to see two tight ends — Marcus Baugh and Luke Farrell grade as champions. It was Isaiah Prince’s best week of practice.
+ Kickoff coverage was outstanding. Still haven’t had an opportunity on punt returns. The Thursday Races winner for great effort was freshman linebacker Pete Werner.
+ Dwayne Haskins played “good”. Meyer didn’t want to call him reckless, but he is aggressive. You don’t want to take that away from him. You have to get him time.
+ Mike Hill won’t play this week.
+ C.J. Saunders is a very good player, “he’s just not big enough to play.” “He’s not playing when it counts, and he has the ability too.” He has to be able to block. “We’re working on it. He comes from a coach’s family.”
+ Rutgers is a good job because you’ve got a recruiting base. They have the most-improved defense that Meyer has seen in the country this year.
+ The secondary shouldn’t be pass interfering, obviously. Bump-and-run coverage is one of the three hardest things to teach in football. When they get a PI, they didn’t do it right.
+ Mike Weber is cleared and he will play. Joe Burrow is cleared, but they don’t want to push him. That’s why he went in later. Chris Worley is probable, as is Bibi Landers is probable. Malik Barrow has torn his ACL — not the same one he tore in high school. He is out for the year. That’s a tough loss for a good kid.
+ Working on getting better at throwing in the red zone. They have the big receivers to get it done. He’s more comfortable than he has been, but it’s not where it needs to be.
+ Parris Campbell is getting there in terms of needing more touches. There are conversations ongoing.
+ The offensive line is still working and growing. Isaiah Prince is a big part of that. The direction for the unit is very good right now.
+ You always have a pretty good idea of where your team is going to be good and where it is going to struggle. When you lose a bunch of guys to the NFL early, however, you have questions. He thought the Buckeyes would be further ahead of where they are in pass defense. He likes the passing game, but they weren’t good in the big game.
+ The pass defense was good, but when there is a flag, it’s a pass interference, whether it’s a good call or bad call. “You’ve got to get that fixed.” It’s technique, not talent or effort.
+ Meyer makes religion “user friendly” around the facilities. “We have everything available to them.” There are many denominations in the program. The key is having respect for religion throughout the program.
+ We’re getting to the point in the season where you have enough films on opponents to get the kind of information you need from film. You don’t need to go back to last season or scouting where coordinators used to be.
+ Urban Meyer has texted Tom Herman to clear the air. They’re fine. His comments were taken out of context a couple of weeks ago. “That’s why I don’t do interviews.”
+ On social issues, the message has been consistent from the outset since Meyer arrived. Respect is big. Meyer didn’t realize everything that happened with the NFL yesterday. He has talked to some players and listened. “If it needs to be addressed, it will. Everything I’m hearing from our players is we’re playing Rutgers.”
+ Meyer can identify future head coaches in his assistants. If they are big picture people, that’s usually a pretty good sign. They can’t be good recruiters, they have to be great recruiters. Those are the two keys. “I can usually tell right away.” He knew Chris Ash was going to be a head coach. “He’s one of the best we’ve had.” “Was 2014 his first year? Yeah, so he did okay. I’d give him a good, solid A-.”
+ Sean Nuernberger is in shape, he’s more mature. He’s a man now. He used to be a boy and prepared like a boy. He’s a grown man now. “I thank his family, and obviously this program has done wonders for him. He’s hitting that ball.”
+ Parris Campbell is dynamic on kick returns. If you’ve got a good returner, you block harder. It’s just human nature.
+ Receivers can have a knack for getting open, for sure. C.J. Saunders is very well respected on this team. K.J. Hill is another guy who understands spacing. Saunders has the ability to play here if he gets stronger.
+ Urban Meyer has had issues with cleanliness and treatment on the road in the Big Ten and has shared it with Gene Smith and the commissioner should take care of it.
