Big Ten Football Teleconference – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/25/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 25, 2001
Coach Tressel’s opening teleconference statement
Well, as all of you know, we took a long trip to UCLA and I thought our kids played extremely hard, and in many phases of the game, very well. There were some phases of the game that prevented us from having a chance to win, but I thought from start to finish our kids went after it well and represented the Big Ten Conference in a first-class fashion. Now we’re looking forward to starting the Big Ten Conference and doing so on the road against probably the most electric player in the Big Ten. I know our defensive guys, who are coming off an outstanding performance, our well aware of the challenge at hand: That every time Randel El has the ball in his hands it can be a problem and I know they’re looking forward to that challenge.
Offensively, our people our looking forward to the opportunity to get better, to prove to themselves, first and foremost, that we can be a good offensive football team. We’re looking forward to traveling to Indiana and starting the Big Ten schedule.
Coach Tressel fields questions via telephone
Q-Have you been preparing for Randel El more as a quarterback or a receiver, or as both?
A-Well, we just started preparations with a walk-through on Sunday and preparing more for him as a quarterback because as the reports came through, against Utah I think he ran it about 18 times from the quarterback position and threw it 23 times from that position. So, we really spent any of our walk-through time on Sunday on that and then we don’t go back to work until today. Yesterday was our day off, practice-wise and we will prepare for Randel El at the quarterback position.
Q-I want to get your thoughts on the Big Ten’s continuing struggle in non-conference play. Are their any reasons or factors you can pinpoint why the league has continued to struggle when it goes outside its own boundries?
A-Well, you know I can speak to why we struggled outside the league. We went to UCLA and played a good team, number one, and didn’t do the things that we need to do, number two. When you’re on the road against a good non-conference opponent like UCLA, you have to make your field goals and not turn the ball over and take advantage of any opportunities if you get them. Many times on the road you don’t even get opportunities. As far as the other folks, quite honestly I haven’t paid that much attention. We’ve had our hands full right here. We have watched the Utah-Indiana game, which was a hard-fought game. I think the key to that game-it was 14-14, then it was 21-14 and then when (Indiana) made it 21-20, I think they missed an extra point and that really put them behind the eight ball there. So, again, when you don’t execute the fundamental things like getting that extra point-which we missed one-which I thought had a big emotional flow in the game and obviously Indiana missed one in the Utah game. You’re going to have a tough time winning against good teams.
Q-How are you looking to improve on offense after last Saturday?
A-Well, I think we only have ten minutes as our phase of the conference call, but obviously it starts up front. We’ve got to do a better job from a consistency standpoint. We’ve had some excellent performances up front, but we’ve had some inconsistent performances as well. Out wide, we have got to mature. We have to grow, we have to learn and understand what it takes out there to contribute to our part of the offense. Most especially, we have to do a better job at the quarterback position. We always say that the quarterback position isn’t more important than any other, but it can create more problems if we don’t do it well than, perhaps, some others. We obviously have to get better at the quarterback position. And then from a running back standpoint, we need a little spark there. We need to come up with some plays. I’m not saying that they haven’t been doing their jobs, but we need some folks to step forward and come up and make some big plays. I think if all those things happen: If we are more consistent up front, grow a little bit out wide, get better at the quarterback position and come up with plays at the tailback, we’re obviously going to be a much better offensive football team.
Q-How wide open is the Big Ten Conference race?
A-Gosh, you know it’s game one, I know, for us. I would think that everyone of us on every Big Ten campus feel as if we know when we can get better and if we’ll do that, we’ll have a chance to be Big Ten Champions. I don’t know that there is anyone not feeling that way. If there is anyone not feeling that way, then they don’t have a chance, so that group is out. But those who believe if they’ll do what they need to do to be Big Ten Champs, I think have a chance.
Q-What about the UCLA defense concerned you going into the game and what we’re your impressions of the defense after the game?
A-I think the biggest concern we had facing UCLA’s defense was there maturity. If you looked at their experience level vs. our maturity level with the folks we had going against them, there was quite a difference. They’re very mature in the back end. Those two safeties and No. 9, the one corner, those three guys have played I don’t know how many football games against very, very good competition. Their linebacker corps has played an extraordinary number (of games) and I think that No. 8 could be one of the best there is-excellent quickness diagnosed as well. Up front, what I think they brought to the fold, which it looked like it on film and it reinforced as we saw them live, was I think they can bring a number of people at you that have excellent skills-good strength, good quickness, they can get rid of blockers. I think it has the potential to be a very good defense.
Tressel’s opening statement to the local media
I think Saturday’s game was a great game for college football and Ohio State in the way that we played the game, that it was going to be a marquee game. It was going to be a game that, maybe someone was going to be sitting down and looking for a little therapy or whatever, it would happen to be as they watched the game and stepped away from their own anxiety and so forth. We wanted to make sure that anyone that tuned into that football game knew that we had a lot of faith in what we were doing, we have a lot of faith in where we happen to live, we have a lot of belief in the university we represent and in the sport we represent and that we were going to play the game as hard as we could possibly play it. We were going to play the game in the classiest manor that we knew how to play it and that could perhaps be one of the things that we could contribute to a very difficult weekend in our country. We knew that we were going to be playing against a very, very fine school that was going to do the same thing, a very mature football team that was going to approach the game as even more than a football game and that we were going to be able to reach quite an audience. And I think our young people did that. I think that anyone who was there and tuned in to watch the football game, hat they saw a group of Buckeyes who played extremely hard-not well at times-but well in other occasions. But there couldn’t be any question of how hard they played and the manor they played the game.
I thought that was the overriding storyline, if you will, of the football game. (The) second thing that I would look at from a positive standpoint is that I felt good about the way our players were conditioned. We have been through two weeks (and) from an emotional standpoint that does affect the body. We had a long trip, which affects the body. I was anxious to see just how we would match up physically with the pounding and effort that was going to be going on, with the heat that was going to be part of it. Like many of us, I was going to be anxious to see because I had a lot of questions like in the Akron game – where, ‘did we look a little tired, or are we where we need to be from a conditioning standpoint’. Based upon the evaluation I saw from the football game, I thought we were the better-conditioned football team-obviously we don’t get any points for that. But if you look at the whole picture, I was real pleased with that. We outlined the formula for winning on the road. Because that’s part of what we want to do-we want to win. We want to go out and do other good things, but we want to win. We don’t apologize for that. We always say that the formula for winning against a very good football team on the road is first and foremost to have superior special teams. We had to go out there and be flawless in the special teams and come up with a play. You have to come up with a play on special teams if you want to win on the road. As you evaluate that faze of the game, you have to say that you came up with a play that made a difference in the game. Four of our six units graded out, as what we like to call, winning performances. With our punt unit doing a great job, I think our net punt average was yards above what our normal is. Our kickoff unit was solid because we happened to be kicking it through the end zone. Our field goal block group was outstanding in putting the pressure on the kicker that I haven’t seen from us to date. And of course our punt block group did a great job, not just with the blocked punt, but with the pressure we put on the punter during the rest of the game. One return, we brought it up eight yards, which anytime you can gain a first down makes you feel real good. Obviously we missed our field goal kicking. Part of the formula that had to be in place for us to win on the road, we didn’t complete that part of the formula because we didn’t make our field goals. I don’t think we just missed field goals. When you evaluate that unit, I don’t know if we protected all that well. Not to say that had anything to do with what we didn’t do mechanically, but we happen to think all things are related. (The) second part of the formula if you want to win a big game on the road is you better play relentless defense. The home team is kind of in their comfort zone. You better play relentless. I think that part of the formula we did. In fact, we may have upped that mark when you talk about knocking the ball loose seven times. That, in my mind, is extraordinary. And the third part of the formula you always say for a road victory is to play mistake free and opportunistic on offense. That is the formula we shared with our guys and challenged our guys when we started talking about how we were going to win. Obviously, the third part of the formula we didn’t do. We weren’t mistake free and we certainly weren’t opportunistic. Whether it be the opportunities we missed by not making our field goals or the opportunities we missed by not scoring touchdowns, we did not do that part of the formula. So as we evaluate the ‘Why’s’ as to why we didn’t come up with that all important ‘W’, I think the formula shows why we didn’t get that done.
So the natural progression of things, we now get down to evaluating the individual parts that go into those three main units. We will do that and we have done that. As we graded the defense we had nine guys grade a winning performance. When nine guys on a unit grade, throughout the course of the game, a winning performance, you have a chance for that group to make a great contribution to the victory. On the flip side we only had three guys on the offensive side. LeCharles Bentley, in my mind, outside of two plays: one was a simple block back and he simply wasn’t able to get it done and another was further along in the game. Out of 61 plays, LeCharles Bentley played as fine a game on offense a center game that I think I have ever seen and obviously graded a winning performance. Tyson Walter had the next best grade. Tyson didn’t grade quite as well as LeCharles did, but he did have two penalties, which was why he wasn’t able to grade quite that well. And Ben Hartsock, who didn’t have quite as many plays as some of the guys up front, graded a winning performance. Outside of that, we didn’t have winning performance grades. Therefore, it’s not as surprising that we didn’t have that formula on the offensive side. Next the place kickers didn’t have a winning performance. They did kickoff wise and punting wise and so forth, but we didn’t from a placekicking stand point. So as we evaluate individual components of those large units, that’s where we do our evaluation. Then I think the next step as you talk about what’s next, I think you have to go to work to make sure that we can move people from where they are to where they need to be in a winning performance standpoint. And two, I think you look in the mirror and say, ‘Where was the design not best?’ We always say two things: there’s design and then people. If you’re afraid to evaluate both, I don’t think you’re a coach. Obviously that’s what all those hours are in those closed door meetings are. That’s how you approach and go in. And when you talk about what this week is all about, we said earlier in the year, that first Big Ten game is crucial. Coming out of the gate in the Big Ten is crucial. Most especially when you play away. Opening the league schedule away is something we had to have circled on our calendars. The pressure Randle El puts on a defense will be unlike any pressure. You talk about DeShaun Foster, or Poli-Dixon, they don’t put anywhere near the pressure that Randle El put out. I think our defensive coaches and young people know what were facing. Now the question will be getting a design and getting people in the right place to handle that challenge. Offensively, as we watch film on them from a year ago, people did not run the football real well on them early in games. Later in games people ran the ball better against them. This particular year as you watch Indiana, six of the drives that N.C. State had were either 0, 1 or minus yard drives. The also did enough, with some blocked punts and this and that to win the football game. So our offense, I think, has to work real hard to get better at what we do, and attack Indiana in the way that we come up with from a design standpoint. They’ve put Randle El back at punt returner to get him more touches on the ball. They’re kickoff return unit averages 29 yards a return which is the best we’ve seen. They’ve struggled a little bit with they’re return unit and they’ve used three punters. They used 38 for a while and then Randle El and then number 18. So they’ve struggled a little bit there and our special team units have to continue to grow and grow and grow.
So with that let me introduce who’s here. On the far left we have LeCharles Bentley, who in my mind if he continues to grow like he is growing, I can’t believe there will be a better center in America. As I listen to Jim Bollman who has been around a lot of great ones at his level and the next level, we think LeCharles Bentley is very special. Next to him is Andy Groom. Andy came in and was our special teams player of the week and LeCharles was our offensive player of the week. Andy has done a good job holding and as our punter. I think he netted 46 yards a kick on Saturday. He’s done a great job when he has to pooch them down in which affects you net a little bit. We didn’t know much about Andy in the spring because he had a bad ankle and he wasn’t able to punt. He’s worked very hard in the punting picture and has done a nice job for us there. In the empty seat is Joe Cooper. And I told Joe since he held his press conference yesterday, to stay back and watch a little more film on Randle El. With that we’ll throw it open it to questions.
Tressel fields questions from the local media
Q-What is the Ohio State offense in a nutshell? What are you trying to do with the concept of the offense?
A-We want to be able to run the football because we think you have to run the football. We want to be able to throw the football very efficiently and we want to become a big-play team. At many of the big-play positions right now we are young, but we have to evolve and get old. We would like to have some of those magic potions, but that is what we would like to do.
Q-What are you going to do with the punting personal? Who will be punting this week?
A-I think if we had a game today I can tell you that Andy (Groom) would be our punter. What we did before the game, we divided the field up. We had Andy punting from our own goal line to the 40 We had B.J. (Sanders) punting from the 40 to the 40 and we had Andy punching the ball when we got down in there if we had to punt. I think B.J.’s punts are hard to catch. I watch our guys every day. That left-footed punt comes sliding out the other way. We had seen nine punts on film from UCLA and they left four of them on the ground. We felt that right there in the middle of the field we could give them a little bit of a changeup and make them catch B.J.’s punt. Willie Mays would not have caught that punt BJ had on Saturday, but that is how we went into that moment.
Q-Who are your big play guys? It seems like there is age at tailback, fullback and tight end, but they are not necessary making big plays.
A-I don’t think you look at tight ends and fullbacks as big play guys. They will get you 20 (yards) every once in a while, but I am talking about going to the house. We are young at receiver and Jonathan (Wells) has been here a long time, but I don’t know if Jonathan can ever say that he was the featured back. As I watched last year’s film – I don’t know about two years ago – but as I watched last year’s film, I think Derek Combs was the tailback you kind of expected to hit the corner and go or catch a screen and make it and that type of thing. I would have to say from game experience standpoint that (Wells) is young tailback.
Q-Lydell Ross got in the game. Is he a guy you think can be a big play guy?
A-I think Lydell and Maurice Hall have shown in practice that they have that ability. I think they are both going to become big play guys and that is not to discount JaJa Riley. JaJa is one of those special kids. He came in the other day and sat down and (I thought), ‘Oh boy we just went to California and he didn’t play. I wonder if he is down in the dumps.’ He is the kind of guy who is not afraid to tell you how he is feeling. He sat down and said, ‘You know coach, I didn’t do a very good job the first three weeks and preseason. I think the best thing for this team is if I redshirt and I go down and give the defense a great look and go down and get big and strong and then have a four great years after that. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy is 18 and he has that perspective and you know what, he is exactly right. He got banged a little bit when he got in early, didn’t get some of the reps, some of the opportunities. When he did have a chance to flash, he did. He is going to be a big strong guy and I just appreciated that he wanted to come in and was willing to look in the mirror first and say, ‘This is what I haven’t done and this is what I want to do.’ So I am not discounting JaJa when I am mentioning Maurice and Lydell. I think both Maurice and Lydell have that ability and will one day be big play guys.
Q-There has been a lot of flack on Steve, but were the receivers always open or running the right routes?
A-Well, on the receivers standpoint I would say this, we did not get a big play made. We had an opportunity maybe twice or three times for a guy to make a quarterback look good. We had the deep one to Michael (Jenkins). How many thousands (of) time have you seen a deep ball that is a little under thrown where the receiver comes back to make the play and the quarterback gets applause and statistics and so forth? We had that chance. We had the one in the end zone that really no one got their hands on other than the receiver and we had the one in the other corner that we kind of waited, rather than us attacking the ball, we kind of waited and gave them a chance to get there and knock it down. There were three opportunities where someone could have made a play. From the standpoint of stretching the defense and knowing what the defense is doing so forth and so on, we have a ways to go. That was a savvy group in the back for UCLA and I would not call our receiver corps a savvy group yet. I thought Angelo Chattams showed you that he is going to be a good tough kid and come along. We have high expectations for guys like Michael Jenkins and Chris Gamble and we would like to think that Drew Carter will come back and be a contributor. Chris Vance and Ricky Bryant have showed moments, but I don’t know if anyone from a consistency standpoint (has). And please don’t mistake me pointing the finger at the receivers for being all of the quarterback’s problem either. Just like all the quarterbacks problems are not his own. It is a two-way street. But no we did not have receivers running wide open and miss them if that was the question.
Q-Is there a difference Steve (Bellisari) and Scott (McMullen) in the game plan? Are their roles in the pocket the same? Does that figure into who plays?
A-You know it is not totally different. They are not as far apart as some I have experienced over the years, but they are not exactly similar either. I think they can both do some things the same and I think there is no question that if Steve pulls the ball down and runs, he is going to have a chance to make a big play. And I don’t know if Scott will make much more than a first down. That is not to downplay Scott’s abilities. On the other hand, I think Scott has some abilities, from quickness of relief that might be a little bit ahead of Steve. To answer your question, ‘Does that make it difficult?’ I don’t think to the point of ‘oh what do we do because of that.’ The thing that makes it difficult is when we are all not doing everything. Somebody asked the question last night about ‘Wasn’t it simple you just make the change at quarterback during the course of that game?’ The only thing that makes that simple is if 10 guys are doing the exact right thing and one guy isn’t. Then it is easy, you take the one guy out and put the new guy in and hope he does it right. Obviously, if you were at the game, that was not the case.
Q-What is the situation with repetitions for the quarterbacks?
A-They have been both getting about equal reps in the last couple weeks. Steve maybe got a few less because he missed some practice early last week. But, from what I hear from the training room he’ll be fine to practice today. Now I have not seen Steve yet today.
Q-What is your biggest concern about a quarterback change?
A-Well, it would be, I think, tougher from the standpoint of what perhaps that would do to Steve’s mentality and that doesn’t mean you don’t do what you need to do. But I think in all of our dealings with all of our young people, you keep in mind the person.
Q-What would give you the confidence to go with McMullen?
A-If we wanted to go with him, we would. Scott McMullen, I think, has progressed as we’ve gone on. He has an excellent quick release. He has an ability to find that open guy. But he suffers from the same things that most quarterbacks do. When things aren’t just right, he’s not perfect. When the protection, perhaps, isn’t as great or the route is designed to be open, maybe, or doesn’t get open, which ever the case may be, it’s a problem to play that position.
Q-What do you expect from Indiana on Saturday?
A-Well, the only reading I’ve done is the play-by-play. So I saw that Randel-El threw 23 times and ran 18, and the kicker missed a kick. I didn’t get the rest of the other info until just now. But, even if I didn’t have that, I would say this: you better expect a team that’s like a wounded dog and is going to play the finest game they can possibly play because it’s the Big Ten season. The frustration level, I’m sure, is high when you lose a tough one. You better expect a football team that you’re not even seeing them on film. You better expect a team that’s beyond what you’ve seen of them.
Q-Have you thought about alternating weeks for kickers?
A-You know, I haven’t given it that type of thought. I’ve been real pleased with the way that Josh (Husted) has kicked off and if you look over the course of the whole preseason, I’ve been just a little bit more pleased with the way Mike Nugent kicked field goals, although not dramatically. After Mike missed an extra point, I certainly wasn’t going to pull the rug and say, I guess you can’t make it-because I think he can. But he has to be a guy who can handle pressure. Then, when he missed the second (kick), my feeling was probably the fairest thing for a young kid right now was to maybe take him out of that frying pan. Josh has been solid and it wasn’t like he was going to hit a 47-yarder. It was very makable and Josh had been in the game and been successful and probably had a good confidence level. While it might have been sound thinking on my part, it didn’t work.
Q-When will you name your starting quarterback for the Indiana game?
A-I have not given it much thought, but now that you ask the question, I think by the end of Thursday we will know. I see no reason why (not). You know, all of a sudden Indiana is not going to do something different because we have announced so and so.
Q-What has McMullen showed you in practice?
A-I think he has matured and grown in practice and as a player. In fact I see a demeanor and look in Scott’s eyes that he would love to have an opportunity to help this team. But Scott is not the kind of guy that is chippy or going to say that there is something wrong with the guy playing his position. Scott is a pretty solid guy. But, I think when you look in his eyes. The only thing I have a problem with him is that Scott needs to be louder. I am talking about in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. But I do believe he has a lot of confidence in himself. He is an Ohio State Buckeye and he is not going to roll his eyeballs at something or give some sort of gesture when things don’t go as they should for the other quarterbacks. Scott’s a good man.
Q-Many fans wonder why not go with a sophomore instead of a senior at quarterback if there isn’t a clear cut favorite in order to prepare for next season. Why not let the sophomore prepare for next season?
A-T hat is an easy one. I got 12 seniors that are more important to me than practicing for next year. I will have only been with them for 11 or 12 months of our lives. That is the way it will be. Still that is a blessing my mind. In my mind if a change is made with that rationale and let me preface that, changes have to be made if they have to be made. But if a change is made with that rationale and we are getting ready for next year, I think that is totally inappropriate.
