COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer met with reporters on Monday to provide some updates on his football team. He announced Champions and Players of the Game, provided personnel and injury updates, talked about what he liked and didn’t like from the win over Michigan State, and looked ahead a bit to Saturday’s game against Maryland. Here are the highlights.
+ Meyer went through the Champions and Players of the Game.
+ J.K. Dobbins ran really, really hard in grading out a Champion. This may have been Mike Weber’s best game. Meyer said if he has another child, he’s going to name him after Terry McLaurin.
+ Justin Hilliard is a monster on special teams.
+ There probably won’t be a shakeup on the offensive line, but they can play better. “It’s not exactly where we need to be.” Michael Jordan plays very well at times. He works his tail off, but it has been a little bit of a transition for him.
+ There isn’t that much of a difference running out of the pistol or shotgun.
+ Dwayne Haskins is still developing. His numbers may be dropping a bit, but MSU has a legitimate defense. His development has been very good.
+ Meyer is concerned about Michael Jordan’s snaps and the issues he has had. They are going to continue to work really hard at getting better at it. Jordan was snapping yesterday.
+ People being unhappy with where the Buckeyes are right now is a product of the program and the success they have had. “I get it. I don’t think we’ve played great either at times.” But the win over Michigan State at MSU was a big win. It’s tough to beat them. OSU isn’t playing great, but there are good moments. “It was a great team win.”
+ Maryland is one of the more talented teams in the Big Ten and Meyer has explained that to his players so they aren’t looking ahead to the Michigan game.
+ Tuf had a great day. The starting linebackers all graded at 90%. Baron Browning is probable for this week after missing last week due to injury.
+ Meyer just wanted his running backs to run harder and so he emphasized it and it has been productive the last two weeks in the fourth quarter of the last two games. Tony Alford has done a great job with them getting them ready for November.
+ This was one of their better days regarding the number of missed tackles. Maryland will be a bigger challenge because of their skill players.
+ Meyer sees Tate Martell’s role expanding as the season continues. He’s an elite competitor. Martell does it in practice, which is why they had the confidence to play him on Saturday.
+ Brendon White has brought a spark to the defense, Meyer has seen it, and he is tackling well.
+ Asked about Zach Smith’s tweeting, Meyer said he has moved on.
+ Saturday’s win was a big win, but he doesn’t know if it will be galvanizing like the 2012 or 2014 wins. They are in game-prep mode, so he’s not sure, but food tastes better.
+ He has spoke with former Maryland coach D.J. Durkin following his firing. Durkin was an assistant under Meyer at Florida.
+ It is rare to have a guy like Brendon White come into the lineup this late in the season and have an impact like he has.
+ What makes a good gunner? 1) Unselfish; 2) Understanding of the plan to win and an appreciation of it; 3) You have to be intelligent, fast, and tough. “I should have a gunner wall because those are my guys. Don’t mess with them. Those are my peoples. I can talk about those guys all day if you want.”