Despite a three-touchdown victory against a formidable Big Ten opponent, Urban Meyer and Ohio State knew they left a bunch of offense on the field against Indiana on Saturday.
The No. 2 Buckeyes beat Kevin Wilson's Hoosiers 38-17 even though J.T. Barrett only completed nine passes for 93 yards. Ohio State travels to No. 11 Wisconsin for its first Big Ten road contest of the season on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Meyer met with the media to rehash the Indiana win and share his early thoughts on the Badgers in the team room of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Monday.
NOTES:
- Ohio State named 11 players champion following the Indiana win, with just two coming on offense: offensive linemen Pat Elflein and Jamarco Jones. Michael Hill, Jalyn Holmes, Sam Hubbard, Dre'Mont Jones, Nick Bosa, Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley, Denzel Ward and Tyquan Lewis earned champion grades from the defense. Lewis was defensive player of the game with five tackles (two for loss) and a forced fumble.
- "Defense played outstanding ... offensively, that's obviously an area we need to get much better at."
- Wide receiver Parris Campbell is the special teams player of the week after recording 149 kickoff return yards including the 91-yard sprint that changed momentum before halftime: "Parris Campbell is as valuable of a guy as there is on our team right now."
- Meyer said there wasn't one specific thing causing the passing game to struggle: "We just have to do much better."
- Meyer on the NCAA proposing changes to satellite camps and even maybe adding a 10th assistant coach: "I just haven't had much time to think about it."
- "I think urgency is always good." — Meyer on the offense. He said he and his staff are "attacking the team" even though it won the game but didn't play well.
- Meyer called Wisconsin "outstanding" and a "typical Wisconsin" team even though he is set to face a coach for the first time in Paul Chryst.
- The worried reaction after the game is dialed down a little bit since seeing the film: "Alarming is a little bit of overreaction but we know have to work at to fix it."
- On the depth of the defensive line being in a position where he wants it, Ohio State is "very close:" "I don't want to tag them 'SEC' because I haven't been there in a long time but we are getting better."
- Ohio State ran "a bunch of nickel" coverage against Indiana: "This week we will not be."
- Asked about Ezekiel Elliott's hot start in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, leading the league in rushing: "We're proud of him and that doesn't surprise me."
- "J.T.'s fine. J.T.'s going to play well."
- Asked about the wind and bad weather potentially causing issues for Barrett as it has in the past, Meyer said that "is a concern, but both quarterbacks have to play in it." Said Barrett will get to where he needs to get.
- Meyer shared blame to both Barrett and a few wide receivers for misses in the passing game both down the field and over the middle.
- Meyer looked up at the scoreboard and saw his team up two touchdowns while struggling to throw the ball: "You know you have the best punter in America so it becomes let's get out of here with a win and move on ... I don't like having to do that but sometimes it happens."
- Wisconsin's defense plays with its "hair on fire."
- "Part of playing quarterback in this offense ... you're one of the best in the country and you're going to play, we're going to use you."
- Meyer is concerned his opponent might know that he depends on his quarterback run too much: "[The quarterback run] is the great equalizer ... Just can't lean on him too much."
- How do you get away from relying on the quarterback run too much? "We don't."
- "They're enjoying their wins but it's just how we prepare around here—you expect to play great and we didn't."
- Making sure his players enjoy victories is something to keep an eye on: "The higher caliber player sometimes that is harder because they expect so much of themselves."
- On playing the first of two straight teams that will be coming in off a bye week, Meyer is spending more time on that and going on the road for back-to-back night games: "Just the wear and tear, it takes a toll."
- Meyer again reiterated they did not get the ball to Curtis Samuel enough on Saturday.
- "There's been a good bunch of games where I feel like we have elite skill ... we have to get the ball to the second level because a lot of times we have better skill."
