Urban Meyer says he will return in 2019, more from Monday press conference

You know, it’s probably better that Urban Meyer didn’t have a press conference about 36 hours after his Ohio State Buckeyes were mercilessly defeated by the Purdue Boilermakers two Saturdays ago. The emotions from the fans — and presumably from the coaches and team — has had the opportunity to subside over the bye week. And, (hopefully) the Buckeyes have figured out some way to address the issues that have haunted the team throughout the first eight games.

Before Meyer’s Monday press conference, it was announced that the official game time for the Nov. 10 contest against the Michigan State Spartans will not be announced until late on Saturday, Nov. 3, but that it will not be a primetime game in East Lansing, Mich.

You can watch Urban Meyer’s press conference here and check out the notes below:

Purdue Recap

• The coach said that penalties extending drives and double-digit missed tackles were major issues in why good practices didn’t translate to the field against Purdue.

Nebraska Preview

• During the bye week, Meyer said they used the extra time to, “Get rid of bad taste and move forward.”
• Speaking of Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez, he said that he is an elite talent
• Meyer said that the week off was spent addressing the running game, the red zone, and tackling on defense.

Injury Update

• Brady Taylor and Branden Bowen will be practicing today, and there is a chance that they could play this week.

Evaluating his Team

• Meyer said that Binjimen Victor, Thayer Munford, and Pete Werner are the players that have improved the most since the summer.
• Meyer said that he plans on coaching next year, and he will be back at Ohio State.
• The coach said, “I’m fine. I want Ohio State to be successful in the worst way. We’re working in the hardest way to make it happen. I don’t want people worried about me.”
• He adds that games have “gotten to him” for 30 years, so his demeanor on the sideline isn’t exactly new.
• Meyer admits that at times the move for Michael Jordan to center has gone well, and at times it hasn’t. He added that the injury to Taylor messed with plans, and that Josh Myers wasn’t quite ready.
• On offense, he said that it’s been frustrating as they’ve struggled to get running backs into space. That has been their calling card, he said, but they haven’t been able to do that so far.
• The head coach admits that there is a tremendous amount of urgency amongst the team. They understand the team’s deficiencies, and the team and coaches have given an incredible effort to fix them.
• He added, “We understand where we’re at. We understand the stakes. We understand the weaknesses.”

The No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes will return to action against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, Nov. 3 at noon ET. The game will be broadcast from Ohio Stadium on FOX.