EAST LANSING, Mich. — After he addressed his team in the locker room down the hall, Urban Meyer took a short walk into the media room at the north end of Spartan Stadium and fielded questions from reporters following No. 10 Ohio State’s 26-6 victory Saturday against No. 18 Michigan State.
To the head coach, was the latest grind of a Big Ten win for the Buckeyes (9-1, 6-1) over the Spartans (6-4, 4-3) different than others in recent weeks? He broke down the answer to that and more in his OSU-MSU postgame press conference.
Urban Meyer
Opening statement…
“Thanks for coming. Thank our Buckeye Nation for supporting us out there and great to see them in the corner of the end zone and also the tremendous respect I have for this program and (Michigan State head coach Mark) Dantonio. We knew exactly what this would be and it was, and that was November football at Michigan State and every run, every — (junior running back) Mike Weber ran for over 100 yards and I would have to say 75 percent of that was post-contact yards and he ran really, really hard. Everything about that was really hard against that defense and I’m really ecstatic for our defense, the way they came out and played.”
“And our punter and (fifth-year senior wide receiver) Terry McLaurin, it’s with great reverence I say — because you go all the way back to Brad Roby, to Devin Smith, to Denzel Ward, Gareon Conley. I’m just telling you for the guys who cover us every day — those are the gunners, we call them, and Terry’s as good as there is. Terry might have taken over the title as the best I’ve ever had because what he’s done for our program. … And he’s blown out now, and he even mentioned it a couple times that he almost couldn’t go but he knew how important it was to get that ball downed inside the 5-yard line.”
On bringing in redshirt freshman Tate Martell…
“It’s just — it’s hard yardage down there so we’re just kind of researching and then we had a turnover down there, but he’s a guy – I think we’re going to do more of that. When you start to get in that part of the field, it’s rugged. Especially against a defense like that. So I hope to use him more.”
On feeling about the win compared to others…
“It sure was — that was a big one and we’re very satisfied. I agree with you, the other ones … people don’t feel like they won. That was a great locker room. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, enjoy the win and get ready for the next one.”
On if sophomore Drue Chrisman was the most a punter has changed a game…
“I think so, especially against this kind of environment. And we’ve had some great ones over the years, but I think Drue and the little Australian (Cameron Johnston) was pretty good at it, too.”
On if it was funny to see Chrisman do the postgame television interview…
“I wouldn’t have let him if I had known that was happening.”
On if punting can break a team’s spirit by pinning an offense possession after possession…
“You think about the first quarter of the game, we couldn’t get out of our end zone, too. That’s the way it started. I remember a couple years ago against that team up north — that’s awful. When you’re facing a great team and a great defense and you just can’t get back. And then all of a sudden you flip the field … if you remember, they missed a field goal and that kind of flipped it. Instead of us being backed up, we were on the 30-yard line and we started playing on an even field.”
On the reaction to Chrisman’s 4-yard punt…
“I almost benched him. We just don’t have anybody else to go with.”
On if this was the kind of game that sets up a November run…
“We’re not where we need — we talked about do we have conversations about what’s — no, we’re not there yet and we needed to play some really good defense, tackle well, create turnovers. We did that. We needed to continue to run the ball — to have a tailback run for 100 yards against these guys was outstanding. We’re just driving the nail — just keep hitting the nail as hard as you can.”
On the Spartans’ flipping between quarterbacks Brian Lewerke and Rocky Lombardi…
“Oh, I don’t know. I just know that (Lombardi) went in right before the half and to take the team right down the field, I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
On what the defense did well…
“Tackle. We really tackled well. I felt like we covered well and tackled well.”
On if it was a shot in the arm…
“That’s confidence, man. You talk about an outfit that needed — we needed it.”
On how much the weather impacted sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins…
“I think OK. I think we missed a couple but it really wasn’t that bad. I thought it was going to be much worse.”
Closing thoughts…
“I’d like to close with this. … We presented on behalf of the Ohio State football team and Buckeye Nation — we presented William White the game ball for this game today. It was really kind of cool to see (sophomore safety) Brendon (White) come up there and take it on behalf of his father. William, I’ve known William since 1986. He’s a dear friend, one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met, one of the greatest football players I’ve ever met and so I know Buckeye Nation would approve of that.”
