[It's the stuff of someone who worked last summer, as well as the byproduct of his running ability.] When you put people into the box to stop his run, ... there are times the pass will be vulnerable. |
[San Diego State held Ginn to just three catches for 37 yards and dumped him for a seven-yard loss on his only rush of the game, but in doing so allowed the Buckeyes to take advantage of other offensive options.] They just pinned their ears back and they were not going to let us outside the edges, ... They were not going to let Teddy run reverses or those kind of things, which gave us an opportunity to do some other things. |
[Teams will have to be creative. They are allowed 29 practices before their first game, but with the five-day break-in period and the double-session rule, it will be hard to have more than seven or eight two-a-days before hitting game week.] Do you want to have two-a-days during game week? ... We're going to have to ask ourselves that question. |
[There are signs Saturday's game could mark the beginning of a new era. Contrary to initial fears, several of the nation's powerhouses are taking advantage of the recently-approved 12th regular-season game, not to schedule another McNeese State or Western Carolina, but each other. Ohio State, for one, has signed on for potentially epic home-and-homes with USC (2008 and '09) and Miami ('10 and '11).] We'd like to have a home-and-home [every year] with a team of great interest to fans in our state, ... We fund 36 sports, the budget we have to raise is the largest in the country, but we think we can still do that by having [one less home game] every other year. |
A game of this sort is all about making new memories. I don't think we're going to fall short about that. |
A lot of the games I've watched over the years, the unnoticed things are that 3rd-and-7 play where there's bracket coverage and everyone was tied up, and that quarterback ran for a first down and changed the momentum of the game. So we don't discount the importance of that, but you have to do things in progression. I just think Troy needs to be a little bit better from his progression standpoint. |
Absolutely. I think the consistency, or lack thereof -- where we are at this moment is not where you'd like to be after three games. We haven't done little things across the board. Everyone likes to discuss what we haven't done at quarterback, but we could talk a little bit about all the way down the line, where we need to get a lot better. We need to get a lot better fast, because when you start playing against the Big Ten defenses, yards and first downs and points are even more difficult. So we've got a lot of work to do and we've just got to get at it. |
After the first play of the game, our defense dominated. After we were startled a little bit ... our defense decided no more of that and shut them down. |
All of our guys are happy that we've got that guy. They've watched how hard he's focused this spring, they've watched the work that he's done. He proved that in front of 63,000 going down (the field) on that first drive. |
and Maurice Wells will get some opportunities. And both Shaun Lane and Erik Haw have shown us that they've got some ability as well. So how many will we play, I couldn't promise you. I would say three or more. |
And, of course, the quarterback has to make plays. That's a major task. The second major task - and maybe more important than the first one I discussed - is they (the quarterbacks) have obviously got to make good decisions. |
Anthony is a mature kid. He's been through a lot. I think he's put himself in situations where he's had to grow up. |
Antonio has the tools and the skills, and he is gaining the experience every day, |
Antonio Pittman had an excellent spring and he's followed it up thus far with a very good fall. Erik Haw looks a little bit better right now than he did in the spring; maybe he's letting loose a little bit, maybe he was a little nervous. Maurice Wells is looking great. |
Antonio showed a lot of burst. I thought this was a good step for him. |