COLUMBUS — Following Ohio State’s 49-26 win over Indiana, Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer spoke with reporters. Also taking some time out to talk to the media were Dwayne Haskins, Johnnie Dixon, and many others. Plenty was said by many, but here’s a good look at the highlights conveyed after the win.
Urban Meyer
+ Dwayne Haskins was “great” and “incredible.”
+ The Buckeyes still aren’t doing what needs to be done in the running game. Meyer called it “alarming.”
+ The defense was not what the Buckeyes needed in the first half. The pass rush wasn’t good.
+ If they give Haskins time, with his receivers he is a dangerous player.
+ Asked if this was a championship-caliber defense, Meyer said they’re not thinking about that right now, but he sees what you see.
+ “I trust our staff, I trust our players.”
+ Asked if it was time to endorse Dwayne Haskins for the Heisman, Meyer said he doesn’t know who else is out there and they’re worried about Minnesota right now, but they won’t hold him back from it.
+ They have talked about possible changes on defense. They always talk about what they should be doing and what would be best.
+ Malik Harrison and Jonathon Cooper are still being evaluated.
+ If people want to consider this a bad performance and the Buckeyes still won the way they did, that’s pretty good.
Dwayne Haskins
+ He has a dynamic group of receivers.
+ The team was probably still a bit tired from last week’s game.
+ Which of his six touchdowns was his favorite? “All of them are my favorites.”
+ Indiana blitzed a lot today.
+ Every game you want to light up the scoreboard, but it’s more important to simply get the win.
+ It didn’t feel like one of their best games.
+ There was a lot of 5-man and 6-man pressure, which made it difficult to run the ball.
Terry McLaurin
+ McLaurin doesn’t know many of the Indiana players. He’s been out of the state for five years now.
+ Indiana didn’t play their best, but neither did Ohio State.
+ They had to speed up the routes in the second half to get the ball thrown quicker.
+ Having a quarterback as talented as Haskins makes things harder and easier for the receivers. They need to be more precise in everything they do because Haskins will be precise.
+ McLaurin is biased, but he likes Haskins for the Heisman.
+ While he didn’t have any blocks where he took three guys out today, he did have two knockdowns on defensive ends.
Dre’Mont Jones
+ Jones is playing in pain with a nagging foot, but he’s not ready for the bye week. He wants to keep playing.
Johnnie Dixon
+ It would have been nice to have Haskins set the passing record.
+ Dixon doesn’t think that will be Haskins’ last 400-yard game of the year.