Instead of visiting with a swarm of reporters on the indoor turf of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center following his team's midweek practice as he has in the past, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer fielded questions briefly from reporters in the air conditioned team room Wednesday evening.
The Buckeyes were off Tuesday due to their rematch with Virginia Tech being on Monday instead of the typical Saturday affair, so preparations were back at full boar Wednesday.
Notes:
- Meyer said he has no concern with Braxton Miller's body as far as sustaining hits is concerned.
- Marshon Lattimore is questionable for the Virginia Tech game, Meyer said. Johnnie Dixon is full-go.
- Meyer said Noah Brown is out of the hospital and the goal is to have him in class tomorrow.
- "I have an idea of who will take the first snap, not a favorite, I don't like that word." — Meyer on the quarterbacks.
- Meyer again reiterated the idea of having great players and getting them on the field. He added he thinks Ohio State will play both quarterbacks this season, but not sure how much: "I've already made that decision."
- Ohio State's not lost a true road game under Meyer, but the head coach said there's nothing special that leads to that success. Just recruiting: "There's no magical formula other than you recruit really well. Motivate and push and go. I think recruit really well is probably the best way to win on the road. I think we have."
- Meyer called Tommy Schutt's family "one of my favorites" since he's been at Ohio State. He said Schutt's made a surge this fall both on the field and in the classroom: "He wasn't doing it all initially, what you would expect from a highly recruited kid. He looks like it now."
- Guys like Evan Spencer and Jeff Heuerman were brought up and how well they blocked on the edge last year, and all Meyer said was "The best." He added that Parris Campbell has done a really great job recently with edge blocking and "will play a lot Monday."
- More on the wide receivers, Meyer said the blocking aspect is the first thing that will determine playing time at the position: "The other stuff won't happen without that."
- On his gut feeling with his team Meyer said "it's up and down. Obviously, the elephant in the room is not having four guys playing ... Tomorrow I'll feel ready to dive off the edge of The Horseshoe if we have a bad day."
- Meyer raved about the leadership of his team: "Very, very good guys and very good leaders. That's probably the thing I love the most. Josh Perrys, Darron Lees, Adolphus Washington, Joel Hale, Decker, Elflein, Jacoby Boren, those guys. They're priceless as far as leadership and guys I trust."
- Meyer said he called "three or four" coaches to see what it's like to play at Lane Stadium, since he's never been there.
