Ohio State (8-2, 6-1) took it to Michigan State (7-3, 5-2) on Saturday in a 48-3 win and made the Spartans look positively Nebraskian.
Following the game, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer spoke with the media, as did a hand full of players. Here are the highlights.
Urban Meyer
+ The focus this week was where it needed to be. Players and coaches alike.
+ Meyer had some anxiety midweek when he found out the defense would be without two starting linebackers.
+ Greg Studrawa and Kevin Wilson did a great job with game planning the running game. They ran a draw play for the first time all year and it went for a big hit (82 yards). The running backs also ran really hard.
+ Mike Weber had such a good offseason. He’s much better than he was a year ago. It was good to get to see him show it.
+ There was a mandate to run the ball this week.
+ The linebackers stepped up without Baker and Booker. Meyer said they would take a look at the positives of keeping Chris Worley outside.
+ Two weeks in a row the special teams have been outstanding.
+ Billy Price “has done everything I’ve ever asked of him.” Meyer said Price took over the locker room after the loss last week.
+ Damon Arnette has a thigh bruise. Nothing structural.
+ Jerome Baker and Dante Booker should play next week. Baker will be cleared. Booker should be.
J.T. Barrett
+ The focus this week was on competitive excellence.
+ Asked if they’re kicking themselves for last week’s loss, Barrett said you can’t go back in the past. You have to learn from your losses and move forward.
+ When the offensive line plays like they did today, his job is easy. The defensive line was being pushed back constantly.
+ Barrett wasn’t surprised by Mike Weber. “We know what he can do.”
+ After a loss like this, you want to get back to who you are, and they did that this week with the power game.
Mike Weber
+ On Ohio State getting back to the running game: “I feel like it’s a good thing for us. We went into the week going hard about running the ball. The coaches did a good job saying we were just going to pound the ball and it worked out for us.”
Sam Hubbard
+ On overcoming the loss to Iowa: “Credit to the leadership and the young guys following our lead. We had a meeting early in the week talking about the Big Ten standings and what we needed to do from here on out. It was mentioned that if we won this game we would swap as head in the Big Ten East and that was our focus.”
Demetrius Knox
+ On underestimating Iowa and the state of mind for this game: “I wouldn’t say we underestimated them. Coach Meyer just tells us every week, we have to have that respect for our opponent, we have to go in every game thinking it’s the National Championship. We respect our opponent, we respect all their players and do our best to be excellent.”
Malik Harrison
+ On the impact of Chris Worley: “He’s always talking to us whether that is on the field, or off of it. He just tells us to be calm out there and that the game is just like practice.”
Nick Bosa
+ On facing Brian Lewerke: “I knew we could take advantage of their weak spots on the offensive line. It was big to put him in pressure situations and make him run, because he loves to roll out.”
Damon Webb
+ On his interception in the fourth quarter: “I was just playing the post and really just tracking the ball down. He put the ball up in the air and it was just me and the ball. I went up and got it and made the play.”
+ On his improved play defending passes: “I’ve definitely just been putting more effort into it and getting deeper on the post. Once the ball is in the air it’s just you and the ball, the receiver doesn’t really matter. That’s what I have started doing and it has been working really good for me.”
Mark Dantonio, Michigan State head coach
+ On Michigan State’s overall performance: “It was a disappointing outcome, obviously. When you look at the football game, the other side of the field got a wave of momentum going and things just didn’t go right. We didn’t separate with our receivers. We didn’t throw the ball accurately. We couldn’t protect the quarterback. We couldn’t run the football. Defensively, we didn’t tackle well. We didn’t pressure their quarterback enough and couldn’t stop the run. Consequently, a meltdown happens, and you have to give Ohio State a lot of credit. They came in ready to play, and obviously, we could not match up with them in terms of the momentum of the game.”
+ On bouncing back from loss: “It’s going to be difficult to do. There’s going to be something to learn from every experience our guys have. We have a lot of young players. But sometimes you just have to play better, and we’re going to learn our lessons in those areas.”
Brian Lewerke, Michigan State sophomore quarterback
+ On pressure from Ohio State’s defensive line: “They would always spy, so they would have a guy wait for me if I scrambled. I wasn’t able to get away from him very easily. They have some good defensive ends.”
+ On value of the loss: “We have to play better. We have to step up to the stage when it’s there. There was a chance here for us to go to the Big Ten Championship, so we just needed to step up and play better than we did. Even if we know this is a really good team, we still have to come out and play like we have been playing all season.”