Urban Meyer took to the airwaves of 97.1 The Fan on Thursday—amid a report J.T. Barrett underwent knee surgery Sunday—to preview his team's championship tilt against Wisconsin.
What's the status of J.T. Barrett? "He's been cleared to play. He's going to play in the game."
On Dwayne Haskins:
- "Confidence is an amazing thing for older people, but there's nothing like it when you're 18-20 years old."
- "[The team sees] him in practice. They see the way he's matured. There's a lot of confidence in him right now."
Denzel Ward changed both the Penn State and Michigan games by blocking kicks.
COFFEE WITH THE COACH QUESTION from DICK in LEBANON: Can you talk about the backup quarterback culture at Ohio State?
- "It all started with Kenny Guiton," whom Meyer called "a legend."
- Guiton used to take mental reps to the extreme, always standing 10 yards behind Braxton Miller.
- "Dwayne Haskins isn't as mature as Kenny because Kenny was older, but he's come along." Noted it takes discipline to stand behind Barrett with Joe Burrow and watch him throw.
Urban Meyer called Michigan's "No. 73" (Maurice Hurst) "the best we've ever seen at that position." Also cited Rashan Gary and "No. 90" (Bryan Mone) for superb play. "But we kept leaning on them, leaning on them, and finally we got a big run."
Meyer cited Justin Hilliard, Jeffrey Okudah, Zach Turnure, and Erick Smith for outstanding special teams play against Michigan. "Zach will be welcomed here forever just like [Craig] Fada."
Meyer has "a lot of respect for Wisconsin's giant offensive line and superb running back." Wisconsin is primarily based out of the 3-4, but they also play a little 4-3. They don't blitz often, but when they do, they're effective. Noted Wisconsin is No. 1 in most defensive statistics that matter.
MIKE in LONDON: Anything special in preparing for a left-handed quarterback?
- Like right-handed quarterbacks, left-handed quarterbacks (including Tim Tebow) have tendencies too.
- You don't prepare much differently. "You don't want players overthinking."
ARMANDO in COLUMBUS: Are you able to see anything on film where you try to exploit matchups or just write the scripted plays and see how they react?
- "The Team Up North" was so multiple in defense, but Wisconsin only has two defensive structures.
- "But on that end, they're so good at understanding their defense." Noted the longest run against them is 16 yards this year.
- Keels noted Wisconsin hasn't trailed at the end of a quarter all year.
- "This is a possession type game for them. They're not going to go fast. They're going to try to bleed out the clock.
Meyer said two assistants have been contacted about head coaching vacancies, while another turned down a coordinator position. The Early Signing Period has pushed the coaching carousel calendar up, which Meyer noted he hates before falling back on his new favorite cliché, "that's life in the big city."
[Full replay available at 971thefan.com]
