Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer will take part in his weekly call-in show on the Ohio State IMG Radio Network Thursday around noon. Meyer will be previewing Saturday’s matchup against No. 2 Penn State and providing updates on his football team. We will have live updates when the show begins. Refresh for more once the show begins shortly after 12:00 pm.
+ Zach Boren is one of his favorite guys ever. When Meyer first arrived they did not like each other at all because they had different offensive philosophies. Boren moved selflessly to middle linebacker having not played it for years and helped lead the team to an undefeated season. His leadership and love for Ohio State makes him and his family royalty to Meyer.
+ Penn State pressures 40% of the time on first and second down.
+ “I think that ship has sailed…” regarding this game meaning something more for Larry Johnson or Greg Schiano since they coached at Penn State. “I don’t want to speak for them, but…”
+ The scout team has done a great job. Tate Martell and Demario McCall did a great job this week. The receivers are short right now with Jaylen Harris being hurt right now. Defensive tackles Jerron Cage and Haskell Garrett have been outstanding and sometimes they have Chase Young come over. Graduate assistants work with the scout team and get them coached up.
+ Meyer doesn’t micromanage rotations. Meyer does expect to have a smaller rotation this week because you want your best guys out there as much as possible.
+ “I’m a fan of (road) night games, just not of four of them.” “Two is very manageable.” Two home and two away would be fine.
+ The defense “cheats a little bit” with their blitzes. “They’re more of a fire zone team and they’re very good at it.”
+ Penn State’s skill level is one of the best in the country, especially on offense. Saquon Barkley is a do-it-all guy. It’s a creative offense with the perfect quarterback for it. They do a lot of run-pass options. The offensive line is much improved, but the strength is the backfield. The defense is a 4-3 alignment — the first they’ve seen this year. It’s a penetrating defense and they play hard. It’s the best secondary they’ve seen.
+ Meyer has told J.T. Barrett to play for as long as he can, but eventually he’s going to be a coach. “I joke around about it, but he’s certainly going to be a coach. He really doesn’t have an option. I told him to go and play as long as you can, and you don’t have to look for work, we’ll find you.”
+ Zone 6 is “completely” living up to the Ohio State standard.
+ “I’ve been really lucky if you think about it with the quarterbacks I’ve had.” Going from Josh Harris to Alex Smith to Chris Leak to “that left-handed guy…Tim Tebow” then Braxton, J.T. and Cardale. “Inherited, recruited, coached, all the above.” All kinds, but they were all tough and they were leaders. They raised the level of those around them. “J.T. is right there.” That’s also what makes Penn State QB Trace McSorley so good.
+ The receivers are doing very well. This is the most selfless and humble group of receivers he has probably ever had. Every day is about doing your job, including blocking. Meyer is cautious about who he lets talk to his receivers because he doesn’t want people to put bad things in their head. Meyer vetted Brian Hartline before allowing him around the program. He didn’t want any selfish thoughts in that room and Hartline passed with ease because he was always a hard worker and a team player.
+ It has been critical to get contributions from Tuf Borland and J.K. Dobbins this season in allowing two important leaders to deal with injuries. Borland has been as valuable as anybody on the team. He is also the quarterback of the punt team. “He’s the guy who runs it.” The Buckeyes haven’t given up a punt return yard all year and Borland gets some of the credit for that.
+ If there is going to be poor weather for a game, they will practice outside in similar elements. It’s been chilly and wet and windy in Columbus this week, which might be some similar weather to what they will see on Saturday. The best way to prepare for weather is to recruit tough players who aren’t affected by such things.
+ The weaknesses on the Ohio State team that were exposed early in the season “have very much improved.”
+ Meyer likes the leadership and having nine captains. This is the stretch run when they need to show up. The 2014 team was the perfect template in that they got stronger and stronger each week.
+ “So far really good” practices this week. There has been a lot of attention to details during the off week.
put a man on barkley to tackle him in the backfield every play. let the rest of the defense deal with the rest. tackle tackle tackle. keep barkley on the ground, hit him hit him , bruise him up.knock mcsorley down on every play. PLAY MAD AND MEAN.
With all due respect to Barkley, and he is a fantastic player, it’s JT Barrett’s time to show the world why he is the leader he is, the talent he is, and why he is the all time leader in so many QB categories. All the best Saturday, since this game will provide a game that will indicate what an excellent team the Buckeyes are becoming, how JTB should be one of the players invited to NYC later this year, and give the coaches and team the path to the National Championship game in Jan 2018. All the best to everyone on the team.
Go Bucks., Let the Victory Bells ring loud an clear.as Script O-H-I-O is played and marched to on the field.
Is JT tall enough o be a good coach?