Meyer: 'We've Seen About Every Defense You Can Imagine'

By Tim Shoemaker on October 14, 2014 at 2:45 pm
Urban F. Meyer
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For weeks after Ohio State's 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech, Urban Meyer and his coaching staff continued to talk about how the Hokies' 46 Bear, Cover 0 defense took them by surprise.

Since that Sept. 6 defeat, the Buckeyes' offense has looked much improved against that Bear defense and has been firing on all cylinders. That could be because nothing should surprise Ohio State at this point.

“We’ve seen about every defense you imagine," Meyer said Tuesday on the Big Ten coaches teleconference. "Against the one style of defense that gave us a hard time, we’ve had success against it now and we practice against it every week so we won’t get caught again like we did.”

The Rutgers defense could certainly present Ohio State with some problems, especially up front where the Scarlet Knights rank first in the Big Ten in sacks with 24.

“They’re very quick, they do a lot with their hands what we call violent hands," Meyer said of the Rutgers defensive line. "They’re well-coached, they’re always in the right gaps. It’s a unique structure of defense that you can tell they’ve been doing it for several years and they’re very good at it.”

It will provide a stiff test for the Buckeyes' offensive line, which surrendered seven sacks to Virginia Tech but has been much improved since that game. On the Big Ten teleconference, Meyer said right tackle Darryl Baldwin is "without a doubt" the most improve offensive lineman, but the group as a whole is still his team's No. 1 concern.

“I think it’s still concern No. 1 just because we need to continue to keep growing especially when you start facing some pretty good defenses coming up," he said. "We’re an offensive line driven team so that’s still our No. 1 concern.”

Ohio State is coming off its second bye week of the season so the Buckeyes have had a little extra time to prepare for Rutgers, which Meyer said is one slant route play away from being a 6-0 team. Meyer also noted how impressed he has been with Scarlet Knights quarterback Gary Nova.

"This quarterback had the day of days against our rival," he said. "Historically, we have issues against throwing teams so we spent a lot of time on that."

Notes:

Just six games into the season, Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon and Indiana's Tevin Coleman have already eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season. Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah isn't far behind, either, with 878 yards.

Iowa and Minnesota are tied atop the Big Ten West standings with a 2-0 record.

In addition to Meyer, the Big Ten's 13 other coaches appeared on their weekly teleconference Tuesday. Here are some highlights from what each coach had to say:

Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern):

  • Fitzgerald was asked about the character of players in college football. He said he could only speak about his team, but it starts with recruiting. "Too many kids are making too many mistakes and thinking those things aren't looked at and they are."
  • Fitzgerald on Saturday's forecast which calls for windy conditions: "Yeah, baby. Big Ten football. Let's have some fun."
  • Fitzgerald on the Big Ten's running backs: "I think it's as deep as we've ever seen."

Brady Hoke (Michigan):

  • "The atmosphere in Michigan Stadium, I don't think it'll ever be duplicated. It was tremendous throughout the game."
  • Hoke on on the off-the-field issues with players around college football: "You're always educating your players and when a guy makes a bad decision nationally, we address it, we talk about it."
  • For some reason, Hoke was asked who he thought the best football coach of all time was. He mentioned Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes and Vince Lombardi.

Gary Andersen (Wisconsin):

  • Andersen was asked about how it's possible to sustain good offensive line play year in and year out like Wisconsin is known for. "We commit 16 scholarships to that position."
  • On the running backs in the Big Ten: "There's a good crop of running backs, without question. I think the Big Ten is a very balanced league."

Bo Pelini (Nebraska):

  • Pelini on Northwestern's turnaround: "I think Northwestern, like any well-coached team, is gonna get better as the season goes on."
  • Pelini on off the field issues around college football and how coaches deal with those things: "There's only so much you can do as a coach. You can't live with them 24 hours a day and you can't make decisions for them. At the end of the day, you want to educate them and I know we do that at Nebraska and I know other coaches do that, too, but you can only control so much."
  • Pelini on the running backs in the Big Ten: "They're really good. I think there's a commitment to running the football in this league because I think the coaches understand the importance of it."
  • Pelini was asked about allegations he made about Michigan State clapping to simulate snap count and if he received clarification on it from the Big Ten. Sidestepped the question by saying, "I've moved past the whole clapping thing. It's not the first time it's happened and we didn't lose because of it."

Mark Dantonio (Michigan State):

  • Dantonio dropped an awesome opening statement: "We're excited about the opportunity to play Indiana this week, I'll take some questions."
  • On how Michigan State handles off-the-field issues: "Just like everybody, our compliance people spend a lot of time talking about the things that can happen and cannot happen in your football program."

Kirk Ferentz (Iowa):

  • On running backs in the Big Ten: "They're just really good players and I think they're all different players. The bottom line is all of them are really tough to defend."
  • Ferentz on of he has a pulse of his team at this point: "I like our team in terms of our work ethic, I like the way they do things in general."

Jerry Kill (Minnesota):

  • On Minnesota's slow-tempo offense: "I think you are who you are throughout the years. It's one of those things where I think everybody has a different philosophy and they're all good."

Kyle Flood (Rutgers):

  • On quarterback Gary Nova's improvement this season: "People don't realize when they're seeing Gary for the first time is Gary's had four coordinators in four years. ... I think this year has probably been his most consistent year and even with the setback against PSU a couple weeks back, I think he's come back stronger every week."
  • Flood on Ohio State's offense: "They've got so many weapons on the field. ... It's not an offense where you can go into the game and say you can stop the quarterback and we'll be OK."
  • Flood was asked about Urban Meyer and his success: "Coach Meyer is one of the best in the business."
  • "Joey Bosa is one of the best players, at any position, in the country."

Tim Beckman (Illinois):

  • Beckman on reps between quarterbacks: "We've gotta continue to evaluate who is gonna be best for us in order to win games."

Randy Edsall (Maryland):

  • On Maryland's matchup with Iowa: "Iowa doesn't beat itself. We have a big challenge on our hands."
  • Edsall on Stefon Diggs: "Stefon is a guy who can make plays and we try to use him any way we can."

Darrell Hazell (Purdue):

  • Hazell on quarterback Austin Appleby: "I think the thing about Austin right now is he's playing with so much confidence and I think that's what's helping our whole football team."
  • On the Big Ten's running backs: "You just look at the Big Ten for years and years and years and they've always had a collection of great backs and this year is no different."

James Franklin (Penn State):

  • On Penn State being shut out in the second half against Michigan: "Michigan was able to do some things defensively, not a whole lot differently than they did in the first half, but they had some more success. ... I think one of the biggest differences in the game was field position."
  • Someone inexplicably asked Franklin about Myles Hartsfield — from Sayresville — having his scholarship pulled by Penn State and Franklin kindly told the reporter he couldn't talk about recruits.

Kevin Wilson (Indiana):

  • Wilson on Michigan State wide receiver Tony Lippett: "He's one of the better receivers not only in our conference, but in the game."
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