Please patronize our advertisers to help
keep theOzone.net free for everyone.

Football
Two-Minute Drill: Inside Ohio State’s Postgame
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS — It started slowly, but Urban Meyer’s first game ended with a boom as he picked up a 56-10 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

We were inside the Buckeyes’ postgame for all the news and notes from Meyer’s first win at Ohio State.

Offense Slow out of the Gates

* Meyer said he was getting frustrated in the first quarter and was "embarrassed" with the offense because everyone had worked so hard.

* Meyer said Miami did a great job studying his base defense for the past 10 months. Took away some things they wanted to do early.

* Meyer said he wasn't getting upset in the 1st quarter, but he wanted it fixed. Said Braxton was the one who kept his cool.

* Meyer said OSU switched up their packages and ran some different plays in the 2nd quarter. Started asking Braxton what he wanted to run.

* Braxton said he felt a little uncomfortable in the 1st quarter because they came out with so much base offense.

* Hyde said they didn't really show too much of their offense today. A lot more stuff they will run in the future. Said he still thinks the offense can look better than it did in the 2nd quarter today.

* Meyer said not scoring on the last play of the first half is absolutely unacceptable. Called it non-negotiable nonsense that Ohio State can't punch it in from the 1 yard line. Said they will ‘hit it with a sledge-hammer’ on Sunday.

Braxton’s Big Day

* Meyer said he was impressed with Braxton's leadership today. Starting to look more like a QB than just an athlete.

* Miller told me he wanted to show his teammates what he would have done in practice if he wasn't wearing a black jersey.

* Braxton was surprised to hear he carried the ball 17 times, but said he's fine with that. Just needs to drink more fluids.

* Carlos Hyde said Miller was "a fat man" at the end of his touchdown run. That's why he was cramping up in the second half.

* Meyer said Braxton did not throw the ball as well today as he has been in practice. Hyde and Boren both agreed.

Williams Makes His Return

* Luke Fickell and Nathan Williams both agreed Williams played a lot more than expected today.

* Williams said he thinks he only played like 20 plays, but it felt like 50. Definitely sore all over.

* Fickell and Mike Vrabel put Nathan Williams through a series of tests during pre-game to make sure he was really ready.

* Williams said there were a few times he caught himself thinking about the knee today, but overall he felt good.

* Williams said his goal is just to feel the way he used to feel. Said he's getting closer but not there yet. He did say he feels like he's in the best physical shape of his life. Has worked really hard.

More Offensive Notes

* Meyer said they wanted to get Hyde over 100 yards, but Miami was taking him away early. Forced Braxton to keep it.

* Zach Boren said it felt really good to get in the end zone. Meyer was still blown away he only had 1 carry coming in.

* Boren said he still enjoys blocking for other guys to score as much or more than his own score.

* Asked Meyer about Boren and he got a huge grin on his face. Said he will get a lot more opportunities to carry the ball.

* Meyer made it sound like Devin Smith's catch could be his official break out moment. Said he has all the tools to be great.

* Braxton said Devin Smith is a hurdler, so he just tried to throw it up to his shoulder and let him make a plays.

* Smith said he could see the fear in the Miami CBs. Said their eyes were wide. They also weren't interested in run support.

Defense Gives up Big Plays

* Overall, Fickell said he was pleased with his defense Saturday, but called the early blown coverages “unacceptable.” Said they knew Miami would move the ball, but they can't allow those types of big plays.

* Fickell said they didn't get much of a pass rush early because they asked their linemen to play a lot of contain and take away the run.

* Fickell said he and Vrabel talked about the fact this defense needed to face some adversity today. He claims they didn't want it to be easy all day, one of the reasons they didn't cut their guys loose up front early on.

* In the second half, they finally cut their guys loose up front a little bit and let them get after it.

* Fickell expects Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington to be a permanent part of the rotation. Won't treat them like freshmen.

Fickell said the play that stuck out in his mind was the dropped pick by C.J. Barnett.

* Travis Howard was the defensive player of the game. Fickell said he's always had the ability, now it's starting to show.

* Howard said one of his picks came in man-to-man and the other came in cover-2 defense.

Donate by Check :

Ozone Communications
1380 King Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43212

Help us bring you more Buckeye coverage. Donate to the-Ozone.

Click here to email this the-Ozone feature to a friend...or even a foe.

(c) 2010 The O-Zone, O-Zone Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.