Blue White Illustrated

COACHSPEAK |EXCERPTS FROM BILL O'BRIEN'S WEEKLY PRESSER In the win over Iowa, you were able to play a lot of guys, but you couldn't get Steven Bench in the game. I know you're a one‑quarter- back guy. I wonder if you wish you could have played him a little more? In the Iowa game – I guess you can disagree with me; I don't really care – I felt the game was not really in hand like everybody else thought. I felt like Iowa was still in the game. Maybe I could have gotten Steven in, but I think Steven realizes that we're trying to win the football game, do what's best for the football team at that point in time. So I stuck with Matt [McGloin] throughout the whole game, and if we have a chance to put Steven in at some point during the year, then we'll do it. But at the end of the day we're going to do what's best for the foot- ball team and try to win the football game. Did you have a chance to see the size of the [Nittanyville] campout at Gate A yet? I'll tell you what. I can't say enough about our student body. I've been over there before. I think it was the Northwestern game, and obviously, there are more kids there now. And I mean that's just what this place is all about: a student body that works hard in the classroom, supports their football team and all their athletic teams. It's unbelievable. People were right. When I first came here, they told me you haven't seen anything until you run out for a game or you witness the support of the student body. And they're exactly right. This is a special place. And one of the reasons why it's a special place is because of the support of the student body. It gives our players a ton of energy, and on Saturday we just want them here early. We want them to wear white. And we want them to be respectful but be very, very loud throughout the whole game. In the last couple of games you guys gave up a punt return for a ALL TOGETHER O'Brien said he was impressed with the record turnout at Nit- tanyville. "This is a special place be- cause of the sup- port of the student body. It gives our players a ton of energy." Tim Owen touchdown and a kickoff return for a touchdown. When those kind of things pop up in the middle of the year, how hard is it to handle that or fix that? That wasn't very good football. I be- lieve that we're better than that. I think in the Iowa game we somewhat relaxed on that play, and we've spent a lot of time over the past day and a half correcting that. And our players on the hit squad – the kickoff team – they've done a re- ally good job all year. They really have, except for that instance right there. So hopefully they'll rebound with a better effort, because they need to. Ohio State's kickoff return team is very, very good and explo- sive. I think they're second or third in the Big Ten in kickoff returns. They're very good. And then with the punt return against Northwest- ern, we needed to tackle better. We needed to take better angles. We needed to punt the ball better. We've continued to work on that. So we're working extremely hard to get those things fixed. You faced some running quarter- backs this year. Has anybody been close to what Braxton Miller brings, and how do you prepare for him? He's the best – and with all due re- spect to all the other [quarterbacks], O C T O B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 2 13 because there are some good ones there, too – but this guy's an excel- lent player. And the thing about him is he throws the ball well, too. He can drop back and throw it. He can make a play with his feet. The read option is a huge threat. One of the keys to the game is to do the best we can to contain him and tackle him. And at the end of the day he's going to make plays, and when he makes a play, we have to play the next play. We have to keep him out of the end zone the best we can. And we've got to make sure that we know [that] the guy's going to make some plays. Let's make sure we limit that and not dwell on the big play that he just made and try to play the next play. So this is an excellent player who has had a heck of a season. You said a couple of weeks ago that you were going to make a de- cision on Nyeem Wartman [knee] at some point. Has he been able to do much at practice and are you any close to making that de- cision? He's practiced. He's going to be a really, really good player for us, and a young guy that can run. [He's] a big guy, [he] can bend. [He's an] in- stinctive player, and so right now he's still eligible to play. If we need him, he'll play. B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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