Urban Meyer discusses the Michigan victory, Big Ten Championship game

Following the massive victory over Michigan on Saturday, Urban Meyer met with the media on Monday to reflect on the rivalry win and the season, and to look forward to the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday against the Northwestern Wildcats.

As it has been over the past few weeks, the press conference had a different feel, with Meyer cracking jokes and laughing about questions with members of the media. It was a stark contrast to how he handled the media’s questions earlier in the season.

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

Champions of the Game

Offense: Isaiah Prince, Demetrius Knox, Michael Jordan, Thayer Munford, Malcolm Pridgeon, Dwayne Haskins, Mike Weber, J.K. Dobbins, Luke Farrell, Johnnie Dixon, K.J. Hill, Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave
Player of the Game: Parris Campbell

Defense: Chase Young, Davon Hamilton, Robert Landers, Jonathon Cooper, Tuf Borland, Brendon White, Jeffrey Okudah
Player of the Game: Malik Harrison

Special Teams Player of the Game: Justin Hilliard, Chris Olave, Keandre Jones

Michigan Recap

• Meyer said that Campbell gave a great pregame speech.
• He praised the offensive line from the beginning of the press conference throughout, saying “playing very well right now.”
• Meyer said that the offensive game plan against Michigan was going to come down to one-on-one match-ups. He said that if you win enough battles, you win the war, and that his guys did a tremendous job.

Northwestern Preview

• Meyer said that he hadn’t yet watched Northwestern’s offense, but said that their team plays “great” defense.
• Coach said that Pat Fitzgerald is “one of the best coaches in college football.”
• He said that the NU defense keeps everything in front of them. They are a zone coverage team that doesn’t allow a ton of big plays. He said that in today’s college football, that can be harder to deal with than a team that plays man coverage.
• Meyer praised the late Northwestern head coach Randy Walker, and said that he was always someone that he looked up to, especially as he adapted from an I-formation coach into the spread offense that eventually became more common in the Big Ten.
• Meyer said that Northwestern has a bit of an advantage as they’ve known that they would be in the B1G Championship game for a few weeks, so they’ve had a lead in prepping for Ohio State.

Injury Update

• The coach confirmed that Wyatt Davis will start on the offensive line against Northwestern, following the injury to Demetrius Knox. He said that Josh Myers, Branden Bowen, and Joshua Alabi will be in the mix as well.

Playoff Contention

• When asked about the importance of putting up a good win against Northwestern to impress the committee, Meyer deflected and said that Northwestern has rushed the kicker 12 times, so his team will need to be ready for that.

Evaluating his Team

• Meyer said that Haskins might have turned a corner in the game against Maryland. He mentioned that he was willing to drop his shoulders and do the things that were needed to win.
• He said that Haskins has always been very diligent when it comes to film study. He said that if you are only practicing and preparing for 20 hours per week, “you’re probably a pretty lousy quarterback.”
• When asked who the players were that have provided his team with energy this season, Meyer mentioned Campbell, Dixon, Dobbins, Prince, Borland, Jones, and Cooper.
• Meyer admitted what we all already new when he said “I’m a big Tate Martell fan,” and he said that he wants him in the game.
• Meyer said that while K.J. Hill isn’t the fastest guy on the team, he is a “tough guy” who understands space and he’s got a bit of arrogance to his game.
• When asked about “how he was doing,” and what his plans are, Meyer jokingly continued to repeat the word, “Good.”
• He was asked again later in the press conference if he would be back as Ohio State’s head coach next season, Meyer reiterated what he had said previously that he plans on being back as OSU’s head coach in 2019.
• Meyer said that one of the reasons that they do the push pass with Campbell cutting across the offense is to mitigate the danger that could result in a faulty handoff. Also, to hand the ball off, the skill position player has to slow down. With the “pass” that doesn’t have to happen, and if the ball is dropped, it is considered an incompletion, rather than a fumble.

The No. 10 (for now) Ohio State Buckeyes will play the No. 19 Northwestern Wildcats for the Big Ten Championship on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. ET from Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be broadcast on FOX.