COLUMBUS – Earlier this season when Ohio State wide receiver Devin Smith made the one-handed touchdown catch against Miami of Ohio that was all over ESPN, he tried to get a reaction from coach Urban Meyer on the sideline but got nothing.
After Corey Brown made a few Illinois tacklers miss on a 37-yard touchdown catch from Braxton Miller, he tried the same thing and was met with the same impassive expression from Meyer.
It’s hardly breaking news that a coach would constantly push a player to never be satisfied, but Meyer explained his non-reactions this way:
“Well, that’s his job,” Meyer said about Brown’s catch. “I’m trying to develop that with everybody, that it’s not a big deal.
“I think it’s a mindset we’re trying to develop here that it’s not great, that it’s ‘Nice job, move on to the next play,’ as opposed to, ‘Oh my gosh, what a play.’ It wasn’t that good, it’s just what you’re supposed to do. Catch a 3-yard curl, make a guy miss, beat another guy and go.”
NOTES:
--- BORLAND MIGHT BE HURT: Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland, a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season, could be limited on Saturday by a strained hamstring, according to a report in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Borland is a Kettering Alter High School graduate.
---PRACTICE TIME FOR HOMAN: Coldwater’s Adam Homan, whose playing time has been limited this season, got some practice time in OSU’s backfield this week as an emergency back-up for starter Carlos Hyde and No. 2 back Rod Smith.
But Meyer indicated on his radio show on Thursday that he probably would not be running the ball on Saturday.
No. 3 running back Bri’onte Dunn will not be available this week because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee.
“We’ve been giving Adam Homan a couple reps back there but that’s not where we want to go. Keep our guys healthy,” Meyer said.
SABINO’S PLAYING TIME: Linebacker Etienne Sabino will return for the first time since breaking a bone in his leg on Oct. 6 against Nebraska.
Asked how much Sabino will play, Meyer said, “We’ll play it by ear but he’s going to start. Knowing him and knowing what kind of game it’s going to be, I imagine he’s going to play a lot of football in this one.”
ENTHUSIASTIC COACH: Meyer said he likes the intensity offensive line coach Ed Warinner brings to working with that group.
“If you ever want to watch a coach going after players…I call him The Virus, he just doesn’t go away,” he said.
FAMILY TIME: Meyer attended senior night for his daughter Nikki, a volleyball player at Georgia Tech, during Ohio State’s off week last week.
“That was emotional. It’s hard to imagine she’s winding her career down. I can’t imagine not being there. That would have ripped my guts right out.”
