Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer took part in Friday’s press conference prior to the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday. He provided some updates on his team and previewed the Wisconsin Badgers. Here are the highlights.
+ J.T. Barrett practiced Wednesday and threw, and practiced fully Thursday and is cleared to play. He had a procedure done on Sunday. For certain people that procedure could keep them out, “but J.T.’s a little different.”
+ Dwayne Haskins continues to practice well and looks good. He played high-level football last week. There is a lot of confidence in him from the staff and players. He could “absolutely” be part of the game plan for Saturday.
+ Barrett is one of the toughest human beings he’s ever been around. They will watch him during the course of the game “and some game-time decisions will be made.”
+ The goal is to be 250-250 on offense and they are close to that this year. Last year they were not. He has put a lot of pressure on his staff to make this happen. “I like where we’re at.”
+ “We are six strong at receiver and that’s rare.” They are selfless. Johnnie Dixon didn’t have a catch last week but he still graded a champion because he did what he needed to. Austin Mack “does everything for us.”
+ So much of whether J.T. Barrett plays or not is how he does this week. “It’s not finished.” Meyer has had a player come back and play this early from surgery. “The body has to react in a certain way.” Barrett’s reaction has been very good.
+ “We love it here” in Indianapolis. Meyer doesn’t worry too much about the conditions, but having no wind issues is a positive for both teams.
+ Meyer believes this game is as simple as whoever wins the line of scrimmage will win the game. “It will come down to who can control the line of scrimmage.” This is two very physical offensive lines.
+ Meyer isn’t curious about “which Ohio State team” shows up, but they have prepared well this week.
+ The running backs are full go and ready to go this week. “They’ll be used quite often.”
+ J.T. Barrett’s pain threshold is not normal when it comes to players. He is getting 15 hours of treatment per day. “That’s not normal.” Similar things have happened to players in the past and they’ve been out two or three weeks.
+ Meyer isn’t sure how well Barrett will be able to play or if he’ll start. Those decisions will begin to be made tomorrow.
+ Meyer can’t say enough about Isaiah Prince. He’s always liked Prince, but he respects him a great deal now. He has developed a lot of leadership skills. Billy Price is the common denominator on the offensive line. That group is “back to what we expect.”
+ There have been a lot of conversations about the offense if Dwayne Haskins is playing tomorrow. The offense won’t change, but the frequency of play calls will have to change because they have different skill sets.
+ The team has had a laser focus this week despite the distractions. “We’ve had a good week. Now we have to play like it.”
+ Meyer expects to stay with the same linebacker trio. Dante Booker is ready to go and Malik Harrison will play.
+ It’s not normal for freshmen running backs to be able to play as early as J.K. Dobbins and Jonathan Taylor. There’s a lot of maturity involved to be able to handle that position as a freshman.
+ “I know Wisconsin football and I have a lot of respect for how they do their business.” They recruit and develop players very well.
+ Meyer and Barrett are very close. He’s like a son. They have spent so much time together over the years. “It’s been an incredible five years.”
+ Other than Barrett, the rest of the team is healthy. “I think we’re good to go.”
+ The Wisconsin defense is a typical Wisconsin defense, which is a great defense with a big line and great linebackers. “The common theme is they’re tough and the play so darn hard and they understand their defense.” Some defenses blow coverage by trying to do too much. He knows what they’re going to get from Wisconsin, but they do it so well that it’s hard to deal with.
+ The Badger offense is hard core downhill running and play-actions. It’s hard to defend, but they have worked hard all week on it.
+ With early signing this year, there is no easy way to handle recruiting this week. “I’d much rather be here.” But he has a recruiting staff to handle these things. “The best recruiting tool out there is for us to play well tomorrow.”
+ Mike Weber will start as the team’s kick returner.
+ It is hard to imagine another college football program that has the history that Ohio State has. How do you measure great players and teams? Championships. “And we haven’t been here in three years. This is a great opportunity.”
+ Meyer wasn’t part of the decision for Barrett to have surgery, but he knows better than to put anything past Barrett. When Meyer arrives in the morning Barrett is already there rehabbing and when he leaves at night Barrett is still there rehabbing.
+ “I thought Dwayne did a hell of a job against our rivals last week” on the plays that broke down.
BuckeyeBob48- Yes he is. That doesn’t mean he should be thrust prematurely into a game if he’s still hurt, though. JT’s health AND the importance of the game trump someone trying to “tough it out” when they are at 70-80%. If JT starts and they have him running like a tailback- AGAIN- its not a good sign for OSU’s chances (the stats don’t lie on OSU’s winning percentage when the QB is the leading rusher). I hope the coaches make the smart move rather than the emotional one, whatever it may be.
J.T.’s a warrior – one heck of a winning, all-time record-breaking, Buckeye great warrior!
Right, BuckeyeBob.
People have underestimated Barrett since he arrived at OSU. His records, stats, victories, and game management speak volumes, if people only consider facts. Instead many compare JT’s performance to some ideal every-play-works view of how OSU and their opponents play.
This is shaping up to be an incredible JT game, like Q4 vs. PSU. Only difference: this is the last Big10 game for OSU’s winningest QB, our winningest player ever in conference play. If he’s safe, I hope he plays, even if he’s only 80-90%.