Urban Meyer and Gene Smith Press Conference Transcript – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 16, 2015
Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer
COACH MEYER: Thanks for coming. Some comments about the Illinois game and champions effort. Defense outstanding performance again, playing at a very high level. Tyquan graded out a champion, and him and Joey are playing like a very good book-end defensive ends, Adolphus Washington. It was great to have Tommy Schutt back. He only played 25 plays, but he graded out highly.
Mike Hill graded champion again. Sam Hubbard, Darron Lee is playing outstanding football for us. Our captain, Josh Perry, Gareon Conley was tremendous, Vonn Bell tremendous, and Tyvis Powell played very good.
We had three co-players of the game multiple players of the game. You had Eli Apple, he was playing as well as he’s played. Joey Bosa just dominated the game, and disrupted the game, and Raekwon McMillan. So our defense is playing very, very high level against a team that just really had their best performance the week before Illinois.
Offense, receivers you had three of them, Jalin Marshall, Mike Thomas and Curtis Samuel all grade out champions for us. Offensive line, we had two. Taylor Decker and Pat Elflein, and the player of the game was Zeke.
Special teams player of the game was Curtis Samuel, blocked a punt, started on three units, great effort, 23 production points, and just a special mention for Denzel Ward.
Couple comments on the game, offensively the obvious was it’s hard to distribute balls when we’re getting pressured, so we’re going to take a hard, long look at our pass protection a little bit, but other than that, we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. You win most of those games, almost all of those games unless you turn it over.
We did nominate the line of scrimmage in the run standpoint. Zeke was outstanding. 180 yards, and was just constantly in my ear to keep going at the end, and I pulled him out because I can’t imagine walking in front of you guys here if something bad would have happened, so we did the right thing and pulled him out of there.
Then, this week Jerry handed me some incredible stats here for our senior class. Last game in the Horseshoe and they’ll be honored. And sometimes you honor senior classes and you honor them because I guess you have to honor senior classes, and other times you honor senior classes because of the contributions to great university and a great football program or kind of over the top, and this one is.
48 wins since their freshman year, which is an Ohio State program record. A record 30-game win streak, which is Big Ten, and I think someone said a national record, and they’ve been a part of two winning streaks, 24 and 23 games, which are both Ohio State records. So I joke around with our players and say how’s it going, seniors? It’s going pretty good.
These kids really, I look at these names. It’s going to be a tough day. Senior Day is always a tough day, especially for the guys that are really invested. And you look at some of these guys from the fifth-year guys, Joel Braxton, Chase Farris, Nick Vannett, Bryce Haynes, all wonderful people, and then your fourth year guys, are Montee who is not playing, but still very involved. Warren Ball, Ken Williams, a real soldier for us. Tommy Schutt turned out to be a great kid for us. Adolphus Washington, Jacoby Boren, Taylor Decker, and obviously Josh Perry. An incredible group of people.
Most prepared team. Very, very good team we’re playing, and we’ve had some great games with them. Lot of respect for the way they play, and their personnel, because they’re outstanding. So I’ll answer any questions for you.
Q. It’s human nature to play to the level of your competition as much as you’re playing? You’ve been athletically superior to everything you’ve played so far in the last two, pretty comparable. Are you concerned about the fact that the bar is higher, are we ready for this jump?
COACH MEYER: Sure, I’m very concerned. I live my life concerned so, yeah, we’ll go out and practice. We’re facing the best defensive line maybe in college football. Theirs and ours are very comparable and just very, very good players. One of the best quarterbacks in Big Ten history, and someone showed me his winning record. And that’s how you value a quarterback, is do you win games because that’s his job? And he wins almost every game he plays.
Q. Even though you’re focused on the moment. Have there been times this year when you’re evaluating a team where you thought is this going to be good enough against Michigan State?
COACH MEYER: Oh, yeah. I told you. Is this going to be good enough period. And Michigan State, that’s the top of our conference and obviously the next two games we have are big, big-time games, and that’s human nature to say we see what’s coming. I think what our guys have done, because you see it across the country, the consistency and winning, it’s very admirable for the way our guys are.
I saw I think it was Finkes — I was over my friend’s after the game and my son’s best friend’s family’s house, and I was there. Get home after Illinois and he turns on the challenge, and I think it was Matt Finkes and maybe Stanley Jackson, do they do a show or something? You might have been there. Yeah, and he said, “Yeah, we’ve just got to get on a roll here.”
My friend looked at me and said get on a roll here? So it just tells you, I guess we’ve got to get on a roll. So to answer your question, you always, when you watch and evaluate a team, is it good enough to beat the best? And you’ve got one of the best coming in here Saturday?
Q. You mentioned the pass protection issues what has been the biggest problem up front with pass protection?
COACH MEYER: It’s not just one thing because sometimes we get our tight ends involved in it, and they weren’t great Saturday. And then just a guy getting beat here and there in the lap of the quarterback, so we’ve just got to get a little firmer. It’s almost like I challenge Coach Warriner and our staff, do we spend the same amount of time in focus and energy, because you watch him come off and run block, and it’s maybe the best there is. And we’re not that way in our pass pro, so we’re going to work at it really hard. This is a real week to work at it.
Q. Will you consider any personnel changes or is it just the guys you have need to get better?
COACH MEYER: No, no, Jamarco Jones is the next man in, and he’s getting better and better, but at this point, no.
Q. It feels kind of strange to sit here and have no real questions about your quarterback. You finally have some stability there. There is no suspension, no Cardale’s arm strength, those conversations. I know you thought both would play this year. Did you think it would take into November before you find something to be a little settled there in that position?
COACH MEYER: Did I think that? Not really. I didn’t think that far ahead. I know the amount of hours spent on that conversation and that thought to make sure we’re doing the right thing is probably inordinate. If I could ever put a mark into how much time I’ve spent personally and also as a staff on, first of all, doing the right thing, and then second of all, how we manage that situation, and then hit the speed bump a couple weeks ago. But you’ve got to move on. There is not a whole lot of conversation about that now.
Q. What’s it change, say it’s an inordinate amount of time, that’s gone, you don’t have to think about it. What’s that mean?
COACH MEYER: I’ve got a lot of free time (smiling). No, it’s a comforting level. And I really, what I think is really comforting about this whole thing is the way Cardale Jones has handled it. He’s gone into the game, he’s won us a game. The way they practice, the way they maintain that incredible relationship. Because that, for the normal human, I imagine that would separate — drive a stake between two people that are very, very close. That tells you about the character and who they are and their love of the unit and their love of the team.
So those are things that I really watch for, as much as the actual completion percentage, turnovers, those kind of things. Because you’ve heard stories now. You want to destroy a team, you have someone with some other issue or some other purpose than to be a team first player, and we don’t have that.
Q. Out of curiosity, are you going to honor anyone on Saturday that’s not a senior, but may be departing? I’m sure you want to give everyone a chance to bow out.
COACH MEYER: I don’t think so. That’s not my call. I think that’s just the way we’ve done it in the past here. I think you have to be a senior or at least four years in the program.
Q. And out of curiosity, when you research an opponent, what beyond watching film do you do?
COACH MEYER: Oh, we know most — if it’s someone from out of our region, they’ll maybe do a little homework on him. If you don’t have enough film on them in high school, which is background and those kind of things. But we know those players at Michigan State, so film is about it.
Q. With your previous National Championship teams, were you placing kind of doubt — maybe not disrespect — but going on this year because of your schedule, and then some people called it spring training. I’m not saying that, but what did you get from the first ten games?
COACH MEYER: The only one that was comparable was ’06. We lost the majority of our team for ’07.
Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH MEYER: Yeah, and then ’09 we did bring a lot of guys back. If I remember, no one ever questioned the schedule. It was just was everything ever good enough? Just nonstop. I’ll never forget we beat Tennessee by two scores. I walked into the press conference and what happened, Coach? What is the problem here? Beat Tennessee by two scores. We had just won 28-3 on the road by four scores, and hear someone says, well, how did they — I just was watching TV that night and Ohio State just kind of gets by or something. And I’m thinking, my goodness. Just won 28-3 on the road, and we know we can play better.
Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH MEYER: Oh, exceptional defense. Our defense has gotten better and better and better. You win championships with great defense. We’ve proven that. That’s time tested. It’s an unusual situation when a team can compete for a championship with a bad defense.
We learned that two years ago. We had an exceptional offense and very poor defense, and we lost. Last year we finished the season with the best maybe three-game run of defense that I’ve seen against three Heisman guys, and just outstanding performance, and we won. So defense is where it’s at and they’re playing at a very high level.
Q. Following up on that, what is it when you watch your defense right now, what is it that you just see that you didn’t see three years ago? Is it an aggressiveness? Obviously they give up a play every now and then. But what jumps out at you as a coach?
COACH MEYER: I think great question. I think our personnel is very good. I think the coordination between the front seven and back seven is exceptional right now, and that’s not easy to do. We made a decision several years back to make it a back-end-in type defense where a lot of teams for years would just stop the run, stop the run and leave your corners on an island.
So I just see a lot of work has gone on between Luke and Chris as far as coordinating a very good defense that’s very sound and doesn’t constantly leave people on islands. That’s what I think I like. Obviously personnel number one.
Q. You brought it up about watching channel 6 and all that kind of stuff. I’m just, do you have time? Are you giving yourself — can you take the time to enjoy a 30-game win streak in the Big Ten regular season, and a 23-game win streak? I mean, if you were sitting there watching that from the outside, I don’t know, what would you take from that? What does that tell you about a program when they have something going like that?
COACH MEYER: Well, I’m more “mature” is probably not the right word. Experienced or aged, whatever you want to call it. It’s water off the duck’s back. I didn’t bring it up. The guy said did you hear what he just said? And I said no, what? And he told me, and that’s life in the big city, expectations. There’s probably ten places like this in America where you keep building a beast and you’ve got to feed it.
The really good thing about myself, our staff and our players is the focus is not on anything. Are we playing good enough? We know there are issues. This is not a perfect team. I’ve never seen a perfect team. As a matter of fact, we’ve got a long way to go. There are certain areas we’re not playing very good, and that’s why we practice all the time.
Q. Do you in the midst of it, can you feel you’re part of something special?
COACH MEYER: Oh, sure. I do. And when Jerry hands me this, the first thing I do is look at the names and faces of those people that were there. I called it blind faith from the day we walked through the door, because they probably couldn’t stand us compared to the previous staff. An excellent staff, it’s just we were so much different, and they stuck it out, stuck it out. Some guys didn’t stick it out. Some guys decided to move on and go about their own journey. So my first thing is to think about those guys and what it’s going to be like to put your arm around them in the stadium.
Q. You mentioned the pass protection. (Indiscernible) the guy who has talked about a first-time tackle on that island at times. As you evaluate it, how do you think Jason has been in that area?
COACH MEYER: Last Saturday was not great. I think there are games he’s played outstanding and he’s graded champion a few times. Tackle is a tough place to go. They had two very good defensive ends, Illinois. I think very undervalued or what is the — we certainly have great respect for them, and after we watched them play, they were really good.
So for the most part he’s done fine. He’s got a big week ahead of him because the guys he’s going to be facing are really, really good, two NFL players at defensive end this week.
Q. You lost Tom Herman and there was an adjustment there. Michigan State lost Pat Narduzzi. I’m just curious, losing any coordinator, how difficult is that to adjust to? And have you seen any difference with Michigan State now that Pat Narduzzi is not there?
COACH MEYER: Great question. It is probably more than I give it credit for, especially because Tom was really good. And the coordinators I’ve had have been outstanding, Dan Mullen was outstanding, and the minute we lost him, and then Coach Addazio, he was outstanding. So, yeah, you do lose them.
Even though we don’t change offensively, it’s the Ohio State offense, but Tom added a lot and you can see the success he’s having. But we’re doing a lot better now. The first two games were a little rugged, just the mechanism and logistics of how to do it. Michigan State losing their third D coordinator, really no difference.
That’s, I think Coach Dantonio would be the first one to tell you it’s Michigan State’s defense, and they’re running a very high level against — who did they play? They played Maryland, and I think it was 80 snaps, 65 or 70 blitzes. So it was very aggressive, and they’re not normally that aggressive, but that’s kind of putting us on our toes. So that might come. But it’s the same scheme.
Q. We know how well you guys played in the postseason last year. But the Michigan State game last year, to go up there and win that game and to play the way you guys did, how much was that sort of a launching point for what you did? And how well did you guys play the last time?
COACH MEYER: That was our best game offensively, by far. We threw for over 300. We ran against not a good defense, a great defense. That was, you know, you just kind of watch. We’re not there right now. We’ve got to get there fast when you start playing teams like this and a talented team like this.
So that’s one of the first things when I came and watched that Sunday morning is my goodness, J.T. was ridiculous. Our receivers played great. The offensive line blocked that defensive line, and once again, not a good defense, a great defense.
Q. You mentioned their defensive line, how good your defensive line is. When you talk about a great defensive line, what is it that stands out? Is it pass rush? Is it stopping the run? I’m sure it’s parts of all of that.
COACH MEYER: I think the term is disruptive. What makes Joey Bosa, he’s only got so many sacks, but at least two and I saw a video where there were three guys blocking him. He took one where he took his — he came from the left side and took a 300 pound man and threw him in the back field and made a tackle in the back. Completely disruptive is what makes a great defensive lineman, and that’s what this outfit we’re facing this week are.
Q. Braxton has had two touches. This is his Senior Day obviously. What would you want to say about getting him involved, where he is, and his evolution?
COACH MEYER: He’s doing great. When you’re having trouble, there are times when it’s designed and the defense actually was going to go to him and we couldn’t get it off because of the protection issues.
So, yeah, I mean, I think we’re a team — I don’t think, I know. Somebody said Joey Bosa has only so many sacks. There is zero conversation about that. We are 10-0 with a chance to go 11-0 and if the whole idea is more touches, more sacks and all that, then we’ll be 10-1 when we’re done.
So we’re going to do the best we can, and he’s going to keep grinding and working and developing as a receiver. We’ve got to protect him and distribute the ball a little bit.
Ohio State Vice President and Director of Athletics Gene Smith and Ohio State Deputy Chief Craig Stone
Q. Is this inspired by what happened in Paris?
GENE SMITH: Yeah, we’re trying to make sure we have a safe environment. And in light of the things that are going on around the world, we had a meeting this morning with Chief Stone and his team. We’ve talked about this in the past, just haven’t gotten to the point to implement it. This is certainly an appropriate time to do that.
We do need your help. As Jerry said earlier. Obviously, this is pretty quick, and we have a certain culture with our fans relative to what we’ve allowed them to bring in the past. We really need your help to get the word out. When you have 108,000 people, and a good core of them are fans we can get directly to, but there are a lot that we can’t get to.
So we really need your help through all your different communication platforms to let our fans know about this new policy so they don’t encounter any challenges when they come to the stadium.
Q. I was talking to a security expert today that was saying stadiums like Ohio State and that size should begin to start looking at wanding and metal detectors. Do you think we’re up to that point now? What is your feeling about that?
GENE SMITH: I’ll turn that over to Chief Stone. From my perspective as your athletic administrator, we’re always looking at different things that we might need to do. We’ve stayed away from that in the past. As you know, the NHL last year implemented that policy. So we looked at it a little bit and the size of our stadium and what it would take to do. We just haven’t moved to that point. But that’s something we’ve always got to think about and talk about, but I’ll let the chief respond.
CHIEF STONE: We use a multi-layered approach to security. We utilize private security, we also use additional athletics department personnel and public safety personnel to ensure the safety of the fans that are entering the stadium and also in the parking lots as well, tailgating.
Q. (Indiscernible) explosives coming in the stadium?
CHIEF STONE: Well, we are increasing measures and this new bag policy is one that will make the fans more safe.
Q. What measures are being taken on the approaches to the stadium, streets, you mentioned parking lots, but those areas where there will be vehicular traffic primarily as opposed to pedestrian traffic or crowds?
CHIEF STONE: We set up a buffer zone, so there won’t be any large vehicles entering into that buffer zone larger than the size of a van. Any vehicles entering the buffer zone to set up is only by approval, pre-approval, and those vehicles are still checked and swept for bombs.
Q. Where will that buffer zone be? Can you describe the location, the area, the borders?
CHIEF STONE: I’d prefer not to describe those particular locations. Thank you.
Q. Flying back from Chicago there were a lot more restrictions than there were Friday morning. No books in the seat pocket. Can’t go to the bathroom until the person who is in there takes a seat. I assume that’s going to be every airline. Was all of this stepped up directly after Paris? It seems like this is a reaction to what happened, right?
GENE SMITH: I think it’s going to be a way of life. We all can go back to 9/11 and what occurred to all of us with TSA traveling and going to your comments, and I think going to the question over here that kind of ties. As we move forward, we’ll continue to look at other things that we may implement.
So, yeah, I think this is a direct result of what’s going on around the world. We’re trying to respond to that. Make sure we add additional measures beyond what Chief Stone and their team does. But, yeah, I think this is the beginning of different changes that you’ll see down the road.
Q. It’s always kind of so much is dedicated to keeping people from bringing stuff in. Like at the Browns game there are thousands of people lined up to go through the security. Is that what you’re going to deal with that?
GENE SMITH: Yeah, we’ll do our best with that. This is an effort that requires everyone’s help. This is not just on public safety, not on athletics, this is on the customer as well, the fan as well, we need you, if you see something, say something.
So I think as we progress over time, Bill, you’re exactly right, our challenge with the earlier question that ties to what you said about going to wands at the entrances or going to the metal detectors like they have in the NHL, we’re slightly larger than the Cleveland Browns stadium. We’re slightly larger than nationwide arena, 108,000 people.
And if you look back to our last game at home, I know Mike Penner’s here. He can probably give the exact numbers. But because of the game that was on television that they were watching in the parking lot, the number of people we had to bring into the stadium in that short window of time, was the largest number of people ever brought into The Shoe in that short window of time because everybody’s watching that game come to an end and then they rush the gates.
So people are thinking we’re having a late arriving crowd where actually the crowd was there, they just weren’t inside yet. So we have some challenges and we’ll continue to learn and implement new things as we move forward. But we do need to implement this policy now, and this will be helpful in a big way. It will help all of our people at the gates.
Q. To follow up that same situation this week with Penn State and Michigan playing right before. Have you given thought to avert that to announce to everyone to come inside, watch the previous game on our big screen up to the point where it’s not starting?
GENE SMITH: Good idea. We’ll list that. No, we have not. But one thing to your point, it’s funny you mentioned announce. One of the things we learned from the Buckeye Fest concert that we’re trying to install for next year is speakers outside of the stadium. If you remember we had the weather issues on Sunday with the Buckeye Fest, and we had no way to communicate with people in the parking lot the gates are going to open earlier and blah, blah, blah.
So we’re going to implement speaker systems throughout our parking lots. So to that point, that’s something we’ll keep in mind. Great idea.
Q. Gene, the release says that this is policy for Saturday. Do we know if this is the policy beyond Saturday?
GENE SMITH: Probably will be. When we started this morning talking about it and thinking about this through a series of conversations, we felt that this was, because we talked about it before, this was the right time to do it because of where we are in our world, but also we’d probably keep it going in the future because we’re implementing it now. So we need to begin to socialize this with our fans, teach our fans, get them prepared for it.
Frankly, a lot of our fans are used to it. Because if you followed us to a bowl game, this is what you dealt with. So for a good portion of them, it won’t be new. If you went to the team up north and went to their stadium or you went to the Michigan State stadium or Penn State stadium, you encountered this. So we’re a little bit behind in this regard, so, yes, I think this would be what we’ll continue to implement in the future.
Q. Should people plan on maybe arriving early? Will they take that bit longer to get in?
GENE SMITH: I love you. You’re taking care of my closing statement. The earlier you come, the better. We’re going to pay — I should turn this over to Chief Stone. We’re going to pay a lot more due diligence at gate, so it might take you a little longer to get in. So the earlier you come, the better.
So we’d encourage people when the gate’s open, come on in. Chief, I don’t know if you want to comment on that or not?
CHIEF STONE: I’d like to make the point that we take security here very serious. We work with local, county, state and Federal public safety partners to accomplish the mission, and that is a good point. I would encourage the fans to come early and adhere to the new bag policy, and we’ll get them in smoothly and have a family fun event, and go Bucs.
Q. On a pure personnel standpoint, how many more personnel will be involved from a security standpoint, and what will be the increasing cost in providing that elite level of security?
CHIEF STONE: You’ll see an increased presence of uniformed personnel and K-9 units and there will be other assets that you may not readily see. We’ll worry about the cost later.
Q. Just for you guys though logistically, how many more people would be involved in round terms?
CHIEF STONE: That number I’m not going to disclose. Thank you.
Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach Tony Alford
Q. (Inaudible) he was a running backs coach, what did you see that stands out about him more than anything else? What sets him apart?
COACH ALFORD: Well, I’ve said this before, I think that his complete game. His ability and what he does when the ball’s not in his hands. If you watch him go and block on the perimeter, you watch the pass protect, he’s a force to be reckoned with out there too. I think the thing that stands out the most, like I said, is his entire game. He’s playing at a high level.
Q. Was Saturday as big a — I mean, five carries in a row. Seven carries of 11 plays on that one drive, was that just a challenge to him too? I mean, how did you approach that from the standpoint of putting the team on your back?
COACH ALFORD: Well, that wasn’t the deal to say, hey, let’s put it on your back. That was the flow of what we were doing, and again, he’s a highly competitive guy. I mean, he’s always asking for the ball. Don’t get me wrong. He’s always asking for it. But I think the same could be said true for TD and Taylor Decker and the offensive line. This is what your job is. This is what we call, go execute the plays that we’ve called, and he does that.
He is, again, a highly competitive player, highly competitive individual. So to give him the ball that many times, it’s not like we’re asking him to do something out of the Norm of something that he’d want to do.
Q. As Zeke continues his climb up the record books, have you noticed a difference in attitude as far as him running the football and has that changed your guys mentality as far as the game?
COACH ALFORD: No, Zeke’s pretty consistent. I think that’s the one thing that really makes him special. I think if you were to go through the course of time and if you had looked at players, if you want to use the term great players, there is a consistency about them. It’s not the ebb and flows and the highs and lows and on the roller coaster, if you will. He’s a consistent guy. Whether it’s game one against Virginia Tech to game ten, he’s been pretty consistent in how his approach has been.
But, that’s again what makes him different than a lot of people. There aren’t the highs and the lows. When he comes to play, he comes to play, no matter who it is and where it’s at.
Q. I think Zeke’s averaging 22 carries per game. Workload for any running back but specifically with him, how much do you monitor that? How much does that impact the back through the course of the season? And do you like where you’re at with Zeke’s workload going into these last couple games here?
COACH ALFORD: Yeah, knock on wood, that’s a good question. He’s still probably playing a few more reps than I would like him to play. And that’s on me. That’s strictly on me, not Coach Meyer or Ed or anybody else. It’s hard to pull him out of a game though. When you’re looking at a guy that — I’m biased, mind you, but you’re looking at a guy that I believe is the best player in the country, it’s hard for me to pull him out because I’m like I’ve got to keep him in the game because he has to be accounted for wherever he’s at.
What you do, we have to be cognizant of what’s going on with him as far as his body and his health, and particularly throughout the body of practices and throughout the course of the week, had to be very cognizant of how we’re using him, how much I’m running him. But he’s pretty good about telling me how he feels, especially throughout the week, how he’s feeling and things of that nature. So if we get to back some things off of him and limit some things that he does throughout the course of the week, we do. But, yeah, that’s definitely something we’ve got to continue to keep ahold on.
Q. I know you’ve called it Tote Nation since the start, right?
COACH ALFORD: I called it?
Q. Isn’t Tote Nation —
COACH ALFORD: The guys came up with that.
Q. Yeah, what is Tote Nation?
COACH ALFORD: Carrying the ball, tote. Carrying the football, Ohio State Nation, Buckeye Nation. So that’s something that I think actually our intern Sean Buckley was talking about it to our players and they got these wrist bands made up that we wear. I actually think Mike Weber came up with it and the guys kind of took to it, and that’s something they’ve kind of taken to. So I’ve let them run with it. I’m not that — I don’t have that much creativity in my mind.
Q. (Indiscernible)?
COACH ALFORD: Yeah, those are creative guys. I’m boring.
Q. Speaking of Mike Weber, how is his health? At this point in the season, given not wanting to pull a red-shirt at this point, how lucky would you be to play him?
COACH ALFORD: His health is good. He’s fine. He’s at a hundred percent. He’s looked really good running around throughout the course of the past few weeks. I don’t want to say who we would pull a red-shirt. That’s not completely my call. I know this, if Mike Weber’s ever needed to help us win a football game, he’s there to do that. He’s capable and willing to do that, if need be.
So we’ll cross those bridges when we get there. But if need be, to win a game, we’d definitely use him as we use anybody else.
Q. What are your general impressions of the Michigan State defense?
COACH ALFORD: Extremely well coached, really good players. They play at a high rate and they have for a long time. It’s not like it’s new to them to have the success that they’ve had. They’ve been good for many, many years and this is the same type of defense once again. They’re a very, very good football team and a really good defensive unit.
Q. You talked about how Zeke in your opinion is the best player in the country and you have all this talent. With how many carries he’s getting, is there a balance to get some of these young guys touches to prepare for next year in case Zeke goes to the NFL? How difficult is that balance?
COACH ALFORD: When you’re 10-0, it is what it is. Again, we’re here to win football games by any means necessary. Our guys in that room, they know that. So we do have those conversations. Here’s what we’re doing, here’s why we’re doing it and guys have bought in.
I think that’s what you get when you have an unselfish football team and a culture that’s been built where guys know their roles. They accept the roles that they’re in at that time. Doesn’t mean they’re not striving to get better. But everyone’s got a role. At this juncture, ten weeks in, as we get to week 11, they know what their roles are. Again, if need be, we’ll do what we need to do to win football games. So the guys in my room, and I’d like to say it across the football team, they’ve kind of taken — okay, here’s what I’ve got to go do. When I’m called upon to do something different, and my job description changes, then I’ll change accordingly.
