By 'Cuse Buckeye on 12:45:57 10/21/04
Part 1:
Got back a bit late…. here goes:
Tress talking about the seniors. Making their last year their best. The seniors came forward as a group and said they wanted to be more active with the team.
Lachey: Asked about facing adversity. Who has stood up?
Tress: Excellent character on this team from top to bottom. People measure character based on results on Saturday afternoons. That may or may not be fair. Talk about good character from everyone to the last walk-on to AJ Hawk. Said you have adversity whether you are losing or winning. Sometimes the stakes are higher when you are winning. “Not that I enjoy being 3-3, but I don’t discount… [commercial cut Tress off]
Part 2:
Keels: Jason Caldwell and Mike D’Maria in studio.
Jason: Time for seniors to step up and make sure the whole team is on track.
Lachey: More airing of frustration or more just about what needs to get done?
Jason: Just making sure everyone is focused on facing adversity. We have had good practices. People want to win.
Keels asked Jason about moving to defense. He said he really likes it. Likes the variety of playing the position.
Mike asked about special teams. Like Tressel says, the punt is the most important play in football. Special teams can turn around games. If I get a chance on special teams I am going to make the most out of it.
Lachey asked Mike about his injuries. Said you have to be tough to play football. It is my senior year… if I can run I am going to play.
Keels: As you look toward the end of your senior year it must be nice having the national championship under your belt.
Jason: I hope it feels better down the road… because right now I am thinking about this season and Indiana.
Lachey: Asked Mike about going to China. I am going to eat my lunch. I can’t imagine anyone cares.
Keels asked about graduation.
Mike: Could have graduated last year but picked up another major. Graduate and hopefully attend law school (sucker)
Jason: Graduate in the spring and hopefully get involved with athletes in action and do physical therapy.
Back to Tress..
Keels: List of priorities to work on?
Tress: When you are not doing things on a grand scale well, I think you always go back to fundamental things. I hear from a lot of people what would help… all well-meaning… but the people I hear from that have been around the game talk about the intangible things that we need to be better at. You talk to a former player, who was a champion… they things they’ll talk about is toughness… speed… making plays. The guys that just watch on tv, or didn’t play the game as well as they likes are the guys that blamed the coaches and x and o’s then, and then do now. We just need to do the things winners do. When things go wrong… there is no slide in performance. When you play mistake-free… you don’t want to let down the person next to you. The x and o’s are important, but on a lesser scale. I have had plenty of years that didn’t go as well as other years. I forgot about the range in advice you get in these times. You need to work on mechanics… but not lose sight of being tough, fast and have fun.
Lachey: Why haven’t we played fast lately?
Tress: If you talk about toughness… I think that the most valuable toughness is that mental toughness. Why have guys that like to hit… but sometimes if things don’t go just right people slow down because they are afraid of making a mistake. The mentally tough guys have the ability to evaluate what they have done wrong and correct it while still playing fast and tough. I am not sure why were not doing that right now. – Cut off Again.
Part 3
Keels: Other big item this week the QB situation. Like what you are seeing from Troy and Todd?
Tress: I really do. Troy will be the guy under center. He has been preparing hard. We had a QB meeting this morning and he has a good grasp on the gameplan. I feel good about being ready with Troy. If Todd is going to have to contribute, it will have to be without having any reps in a game.
Lachey: How did Todd look with the ones?
Tress: People were anxious to welcome him. He was a little nervous and fumbled his first snap. But he does whatever Ohio State needs.
Lachey: Did you like what you saw from Troy last week?
Tress: Every rep you get… if you evaluate how you did… every live rep is an important one. Troy will grow from his playing. And every opportunity you have helps. There will be some butterflies and excitement and will all have to work through that.
Lachey: Asked about Indiana’s defense.
Tress: They are light years ahead of where they were. They are coming up with turnovers… they are first in the league I believe. They play with great enthusiasm. The front group is very experienced. When you are in the trenches that long, you either learn or you are gone. Their numbers are not tops in the conference except in turnovers. Which is an important stat.
Lachey: Asked about running on Indiana.
Tress: Talked about Indiana last year and how everything went right early and we were able to control the game. Probably Craig’s sharpest game of the season. We were coming off a tough Iowa game last year that was decided by the special teams and we responded well offensively. That is what we hope for this year as well.
PHONE CALLS:
Bill: I am a former offense lineman… what is being done specifically on the o-line. Doesn’t seem like they are aggressive and want to knock someone off the ball.
Tress: I don’t disagree. I don’t think we’ve played with the velocity and created enough movement. Either downfield or sideways. If I had to pick one thing… I would say we have not created movement.
Lachey: Asked about young guys on the line.
Tress: The guy that has been getting reps and will get some time on Saturday is Steve Rehring. Steve is a guy that has those characteristics. He will come flying off… he may miss a guy sometimes. He is picking up the pass protection. But he is probably the newest guy to come along. Kirk Barton will continue to come along. He knows what he did wrong and he’ll work like crazy to get better. Robbie Sims has played in the guard area a bit. We have some guys that are not afraid to look in the mirror and say “We have not gotten the movement we need.”
Keels: Can the young guys pushing advance that?
Tress: I would hope it wouldn’t take that. The pride in doing your own job should be enough. But we are dealing with humans. Perhaps people become too comfortable until they are pushed.
Lachey asked about Nicol.
Tress: Rory played with a lot of confidence. He is going to get bigger. He’ll continue to share time with Hamby.
CUT OFF
More Callers:
Bob: Asked about using the “Iowa model” in recruiting smaller o-lineman. And needed bigger o-lineman to run the ball in the big ten.
Tress: I am not familiar with the “Iowa Model”. You will see a lot of former tight ends and d-ends who are now playing offensive line across the country and in the NFL. But you need powerful guys to get movement. And you need your quickest thinkers. Yet need that power and speed and confidence. I think we have good young guys on the line to work with.
Lachey: Asked about having Dustin Fox back.
Tress: Sometimes you have to be a senior sometimes to miss time and realize how it tears your heart out. If you are out for the year, I don’t know how you handle it. Dustin handled it two ways (1) He let them do as much as he could in the weight room and the film room, (2) He also helped out on the field. When he stepped back and watched the game from a different vantage point, Mel Tucker really thinks the game slowed down for him. Thinks he has a better grasp now.
Lachey: Looks like Youbouty is getting the majority of reps at the other corner.
Tress: Youbuoty is a good football player. He is a great learner… doesn’t make mistakes. Had a little ding last week with a thigh contusion. He is a steady, dependable football player. Have a hard time keeping him out of the lineup. He can play man without a problem. We have been a zone-blitz team when we are not playing base defense. We have played some man situationally of late… especially in the red zone. When you have guys that can do it, you can mix man in. Our philosophy from Dantonio, Snyder, Tucker, etc. we have been more of a zone blitz team and leave a middle field safety to protect against the big play.
Caller: Asked whether putting the seniors in front of the media was censoring the younger guys.
Tress: The only way not to censor I guess would be to line up 100 guys in front of the media. Our fans and media get more access to players in the typical instance. Went on to talk about time limits on the team and then got cut off again.
Keels: Penn State is going to be at noon. Asked about homecoming.
Tress: Captains breakfast, I don’t know if it is unique to Ohio State. Used to be on the Sundays after the game. Wasn’t the best day for the coaches… and thought all the players would benefit from meeting the captains… not just the captains as it used to be. So now the silver anniversary captain addresses all the players. It is Doug Donnelly this year. Our honorary captain for the game is Jim Marshall. When you meet him… I thought Keith Byers had big hands. Just a great gentleman. He’s a great product of Ohio State.
Tress: You have to be inspired by what the Red Sox did. I am a Yankee fan because I have a nephew that works for the Yankees and because of Steinbrenner being an Ohio State guy. But you have to be inspired by the Red Sox and what they did to come back from 3-0. I got a call from a lady today that said, “The Red Sox lost three games in a row, no let’s see if you can do what the Sox did!”
Adam: I think that with the three losses in a row, everyone is frustrated as I am sure the coaches and players are. My question is, do you look for a spark in situations like this. Do you think trying different avenues in the sense of looking for the spark. Something different… maybe not the restricted play-calling.
Tress: I think there is a lot of good thoughts in what you are saying. What we all have to do is decide what we can do positively with our frustration. As a fan, you have to ask yourself whether you have the same passion to win a nat’l championship after going through a long drought and then winning it. We all need to find that spark. You better do the basic things better, and you better also find some things that may create a spark.
That is the End.
Go Bucks.
