Standing at 1-0 and with Tulsa on tap, Urban Meyer took to 97.1 The Fan's airwaves to discuss all things Buckeye football with Paul Keels and Jim Lachey.
Urban Meyer on Week 1:
- "We played well. I didn't expect that."
- "We tackled well."
- "K.J. Hill had a very good day."
- "I thought J.T. [Barrett] played great, and I expect him to play great."
- Michael Jordan "played very well" and he "had probably his best practice Wednesday." Meyer credited playing next to a "monster" in Pat Elflein. Noted he must stay healthy, however.
- Curtis Samuel "is our best playmaker... the biggest thing is he's stayed healthy too."
Injury update: Defensive tackle Tracy Sprinkle, as expected, is out for the year. Linebacker Dante Booker is "a little bit nicked up," but Lachey noted "there are thoughts he could play this week." Joe Burger is his back-up, but Jerome Baker would see time too.
Jim in Cincinnati: How would Meyer teach high school coaches to teach tackling to avoid targeting?
- "I would recommend, as a young coach, we have a video ourselves on how to teach the kids. Contact our coaches' office and we'll send that out, as we do to [all area schools].
- "We take great pride in switching to rugby tackling the year we won the title." Meyer resisted it, but Chris Ash successfully pushed it. "We had the lowest missed tackles in the nation that year."
- Rugby tackling is good because to tackle a player you have to "kill the engine," which is the carrier's legs.
On running back situation:
- Was rotation of Mike Weber, Curtis Samuel, and Dontre Wilson ideal? "It was."
- Called Dontre Wilson "one of our top two or three playmakers."
- "Ed [Warinner] and the staff did a great job calling the game."
- Weber is a "smart" and "team-first" guy. He graded out "about 90% higher than he would've last year."
- Demario McCall continues to push for backup running back minutes, but Meyer noted "he needs to get a little bit bigger." Estimated McCall weighs around 185, 186.
On Noah Brown:
- "He's not quite 100%."
- Said the coaches were just as excited as the players when Brown scored the touchdown.
On Joe Burrow:
- No competition with J.T. Barrett.
- "He did very good," but Meyer noted he "needs to keep his release tight; he got into some old bad habits."
On Bowling Green's offensive pace:
- "That wasn't a big deal. We do that every day in practice." Tulsa offers a similar challenge.
On Tulsa–Bowling Green similarities and the game:
- Bowling Green threw more and did a lot off play action.
- Tulsa, whom Meyer accidentally identified as Baylor due to coach Philip Montgomery being Baylor's old OC, "wants to run the ball."
- "It will be somewhat of a chess match in this game." Meyer won't give Tulsa a single defensive look but will "switch it around."
- Praised sophomore Tulsa running back D'Angelo Brewer.
- Tulsa DC Bill Young, who used to DC at Ohio State, is "the opposite of their offense." Meyer described it as "standard." "We know what to expect from them ... This has been his best defense at Tulsa."
Ryan in Columbus: How does Meyer think the defense played? What can be improved on?
- "I thought we tackled well, but there's always things you want to improve on."
- "Once you get about four or five or six games under your belt, you're done with the 'newness.'"
- "We had thirty guys play for the first time... we wanted to play that many, and we might pop a couple more in there."
- "The way it's going this year, you're lucky to have good players for three or four years. Might as well play them."
Chris in New Albany: How do you keep the offense humble after putting up 77 against Bowling Green?
- "You try to make Tuesday the most awful day. God cooperated with us and made it very hot. We made it disgusting for our players. Ask them how good they thought they were after Tuesday night."
- Noted this is what separates elite from average on The Edge. Said Malik Hooker's edge when he came to Ohio State was "about from her to the table," which was about two feet. "Now, it's all the way across the table." Coaches can push Hooker as hard as they want now.
Denny in Mt. Vernon: During a game how important is it for captains on the field to be coaches-on-the-field for their position group? Closed with, "Coach, I love what you're doing for cancer because I've been through it."
- "When Jordan Spieth missed that shot at Augusta, I thought 'Who is going to help him up?'" Said the difference between an average team and a great team is players coaching each other up. When players buy-in, everybody wins.
- "I loved that call. Because that gets you thinking about, 'You want to be a great team? Solve the problems on the field.'"
- "We're dead in the water without [J.T. Barrett] and [Raekwon McMillan]." If OSU were forced to play in January without them, we would've witnessed "the worst season in the history of Ohio State football."
- "I don't want to say it because I'm a coach, but coaches are overrated." It's Meyer and the staff's job to build leaders and get them to perform.
- "Who do the weak of heart like to hang around? The weak of heart. ... Thankfully we don't have that problem in Columbus. We watch that close."
Mike in Columbus, who thinks Meyer is "the man": Can you compare Nick and Joey Bosa?
- Meyer saw the Nick's shrug. "I'll have to talk to him about that."
- Not as long as Joey, but strong. "We're going to play him more."
On Malik Hooker, who "had his bags packed" to leave the program:
- "His unit leaders were Tyvis Powell and Vonn Bell. You think he was about to leave the program?"
Sean Neurnberger is almost back, but he'll have to beat Tyler Durbin to earn his spot back.
Full replay available via 97.1 The Fan.
