With Maryland vanquished and OSU's second bye-week on deck, Urban Meyer joined former All-American Jim Lachey and the voice of the Buckeyes, Paul Keels, on the airwaves of 97.1 The Fan for Urban Meyer Coach's Call-In Show.
Urban Meyer said this is the first time in his career he's experienced two byes this early in the season. The first bye came at the right time, but Urban isn't as high on this one. "It is what it is," he said. Ohio State, however, has had two good days of practice this week.
Jalyn Holmes is "getting a ton of reps." Chris Carter is "getting pushed as hard as [they] can." "He's gotta help his team," because Ohio State needs the depth.
Ohio State has "the best kick coverage unit [Meyer has] been associated with." Urban lauded a kickoff (4.81 hangtime) in which Stefon Diggs caught it two yards deep in the endzone and hit his stride at the seven-yard line. Craig Fada, Brio'nte Dunn and two others tackled him at the nine. "I've never seen that before."
Sam Hubbard, a Notre Dame lacrosse commit at the time, was recruited by Urban when OSU's coach saw the prospect playing a game of dodgeball. ("Who is that big freak?") "He could help us right now," but Ohio State is still figuring out where he's best used. "He's a defensive end right now."
Curtis Samuel, who is dealing with a thigh bruise and high ankle sprain, should be ready next week against Rutgers.
On the two-tight end formation: "We wanted to do that early in the year, but Jeff [Heuerman]'s injury set us back. ... It gives us a lot of flexibility."
"Rutgers is one of the more talented teams in the league," Urban said in an indictment of the Big Ten. "Their quarterback is better than last year."
Darron Lee, Raekwon McMillan, Joey Bosa, and Michael Bennett all earned praise for their performance against Maryland. On McMillan: "He's more than we thought he would be. ... He's one of the best leaders in the country."
On starting corners and depth: "Not enough."
On the Bear defense: "It's gotten to the point now that we're excited when we see it."
Urban lauded his assistants in getting the team ready for a noon kick on the road. "That team was ready to go."
J.T. Barrett is a "redshirt freshman who acts like a junior" in the leadership department. Urban was concerned about his arm strength early in his career, but Tom Herman put together a plan to keep his arm fresh. If you surround a "grinder" with talented players in Ohio State's offense, the rest will take care of itself.
A caller questions why Ohio State goes out of shotgun in so many short-yardage situations, as opposed to going under center and sneaking it. Urban said there is a risk to putting a shotgun quarterback under center. He is, however, open to going back under center in those situations: "We've been excellent [in those situations], but last week we were not. We've opened up those discussions again."
On why Ohio State presses receivers but doesn't jam defenders: "I've coached receivers for a long time, and a cornerback that plays the same technique every time is a dream." Urban said Ohio State's receivers, especially Michael Thomas, pray the cornerback attempts to jam them at the line. Ohio State rotates three styles of coverage, but "if you lunge at a guy... that's the fastest touchdown in football."
Eli Apple "does a good job at putting his hands on you," but he's always improving.
On the importance of Michigan being good: "No idea. If you worry about something [like that] Thursday on a bye week you will look like a fool. ... All I know is they lost to Rutgers."
On if Michigan can turn it around: "I have no idea what's going up there. I know they have great players. ... I know they put 1,000 yards on our defense."
Urban said truly great players (Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin) never asked about competition or who else was on the roster.
Urban said 10-12 QB runs is a good number for J.T. Barrett. "16 is too many."
