It was intended to be a question, but sounded more like a statement to Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, one he agreed with.
“The wide receivers, you feel like they’re getting in position to make plays now it’s time to make those plays,” was said to Meyer during his post-practice meeting with the media Wednesday.
“It’s about time, I’m with ya,” Meyer said before the question was finished as laughs echoed around the group of reporters circled around him. “Ditto.”
It was supposed to be the wide receivers’ time last Saturday against Virginia Tech, but it wasn’t to be.
The Hokies surprised everyone, including Ohio State’s coaches and players, when they showed a new 46 Bear defense with no deep safety over the top. It put the Buckeyes’ wide receivers one-on-one with Virginia Tech’s defensive backs. May the best man win.
Ohio State got a few big plays downfield — Dontre Wilson had an impressive 40-yard reception and Devin Smith caught a long 58-yard bomb — but for the most part the Hokies were in lockdown mode on the outside winning those one-on-one matchups.
“I thought we've improved at wide receiver, and we just didn't get open enough,” Meyer said Monday. “When we did, it was either protection flaw. They made a decision to take away the tailbacks and there were nine guys within six yards of the line of scrimmage, and you have to make someone pay a price and come up with some of those catches.”
There was one receiver who was able to find success against Virginia Tech, however. Redshirt sophomore Michael Thomas had six catches for 98 yards and a touchdown as he was the lone consistent threat for the Buckeyes on the outside.
He hauled in six of redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett's nine completions on the night, but the rest of the group struggled to get open. When they did, several key drops occurred.
“With the loss, we definitely feel disappointed on each other because we hold each other accountable and we know we’re supposed to make plays," Thomas said Wednesday.
Barrett's offensive line also needs to play better in order to give him time to throw, but the Buckeyes also need to get off to better starts in games. They've trailed at halftime in both games so far this season and completing big plays in the passing game early could be a huge part in that.
“We haven’t started particularly fast and we have a pretty good reputation for coming out of the games real fast, real hard," Meyer said. "We haven’t done that yet and it was brought to my attention and I went back and did a little research on it so we’ve gotta go take the lead and play Ohio State-style football.”
The Buckeyes insist last week's loss to the Hokies is behind them, but they say they've learned from it. Other teams may watch the Virginia Tech film and try to execute the same gameplan against Ohio State, so it will be crucial for Thomas and the wide receivers to play better going forward.
“I feel like everyone just took last week as a learning experience and knows now we need to produce," Thomas said. "In order to keep the offense moving, we’ve gotta beat man coverage, we’ve gotta be able to get open, we gotta lock hips and do the right thing.”
