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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 2, 2013Tom HermanQ. Urban said that you guys stressed trying to be 50/50 run and pass all year, and the last couple of weeks, moving away from that and favoring the run a lot more. Is that a concern or merely a product of how well you're rushing? COACH HERMAN: I think it's a product of how well we're rushing. It's not a concern. I thought we threw the ball adequately against Indiana the week prior to that in some very adverse conditions, we did not. And early in the game, I did not feel like we were throwing the ball extremely well. And it's hard when you're playing a team that's very, very good on defense. I mean, this is a defense that we played against a team up north that was coming into the game, giving up 120 yards rushing per game through 11 games, and so that's not a two‑game stat or whatever. That's a legitimate stat that they were a very, very good run defense and to see us run the football the way that we were against them just, I guess, led to‑‑ you're going to call what you're confident in. And throughout the course of the game when you see the productivity of the run game and where that's taking you, then you continue to call it more until, you know, something tells you not to, and throughout the game, nothing was really telling us not to. Q. Do you have to fight the urge to throw it? COACH HERMAN: Have you seen 34 and 5 run it? No, it's hard. I think our staff does a heck of a job. I think our kids buy in. I think the definition‑‑ Greg Davis, one of my mentors from when I GA'ed at Texas told me, balance is not having the same amount of rushing yards or the same amount of passing yards or the same amount of rushing plays versus the same amount of passing plays. Balance is being able to win the game either way dependent on how the defense‑‑ what the defense is trying to take away, and I think we are a balanced offense right now. And in the case of the game up in Ann Arbor, we were having success running the football so, it would have been probably against better judgment to stray away from that. Q. Michigan State in six of their eight Big Ten games this year have not given up a point in the second half. When you've got a team that's making adjustments like that, do you go in with a different game plan for the first and second half? Do you save something? COACH HERMAN: I didn't even know that stat existed until you just told me. No, no, you don't. I think you go in, I think Coach Meyer has a great phrase where he says: "Preparation doesn't stop until the foot hits the ball. And once the foot hits the ball, you're in adjustment mode." And you're constantly adjusting and adapting throughout the course of the game, whether it's the first quarter, the first drive, the first drive of the second half, the third drive of the fourth quarter; you're constantly adjusting and trying to figure out where the defense is trying to attack you and how they are trying to attack you. So, no, I don't think there's anything to be saved for a second half, even if a team like this is having great success defensively in second halves of a game. Q. When you look at Michigan State's defense, what sets them apart? Are they continually gap sound or do they not get knocked out of their spots? What jumps out at you on video about them? COACH HERMAN: Yeah, you said it. Probably the best coached defense we'll have played in two years, including them last year. I think that they are like fine wine; they get better with age. They know the strengths of their defense, they know the weaknesses of their defense. They try to compensate for it. I think they are extremely gap sound. I think they understand what you're trying to do offensively and where the pressure points on their defense are in terms of the plays that you're running and the ways that you're trying to attack them. And so, then they mix in a good deal of pressure, about a third of the time on first and second down, you'll see some kind of pressure, especially if you start to get a little momentum. They want to try to keep you off‑schedule behind the stick, so to speak. And you know, I don't know if there is a first‑team All‑American on that defense, maybe there is, and I haven't watched them yet on film enough. But they have 11 guys that know exactly what they are doing and they do it really well and they tackle well and they are always in the right spot. Like you said, they are about as sound a defense as you'll see. Q.  When you look at Braxton Miller, what are the qualities that you think set championship quarterbacks apart from run‑of‑the‑mill or average quarterbacks, and do you see those in him? COACH HERMAN: Absolutely. Leadership and competitiveness. I think there's a lot of talented guys that have played that position that have never won a championship. You certainly have to have the pieces around you to win championships, too. You can't‑‑ football is the ultimate team sport. It's not basketball. It's not baseball. You've got to have the pieces around you that are able to help you win that championship. And once the pieces then are around you, you've got to be extremely, extremely competitive. You've got to make the people around you better, and you've got to demonstrate great leadership qualities. The answer is yes, I think Braxton has the qualities and traits that it would take to win a championship. Q. They don't play a lot of quarter press coverage‑‑ COACH HERMAN: Yes. Q. ‑‑ aren't they essentially, a, you know what, we're going to find out if your X is better than our O. Does it put a lot of game plan on your receivers in the throw game this week? COACH HERMAN: Well, I think there's two parts to answer that question. The first one is, yes, the press quarters is kind of their trademark, and it allows them to get the two safeties involved in the run game and basically say that you're going to play nine‑on‑nine football rather than 11‑on‑11. So we have to try to take advantage of that and we have to see it as an advantage for us. If you look at it as a hindrance, then I think you're kind of waving the white flag a little bit. I see that as a very positive thing for us, and how improved we've gotten at the wide receiver position. That being said, the second part of that is, you can't walk out there and throw 30 streak routes and say, well, they were pressing our guys and so we're going to throw 30 streak routes to win the game. You've got to have other ways to combat that and help your receivers out a little bit. But you certainly have to look at it as an advantage and say, hey, we are going to‑‑ if you think your O is better than our X, we're going to prove you wrong. But at the end of the day, the percentages tell you, you can't just make a living doing that, either. Q. Does it make it a little bit harder to run out there‑‑ COACH HERMAN: Not necessarily, no. Q. Maybe the turning point of the game last year‑‑ COACH HERMAN: Yeah, he did, that was good. Our O didn't beat very many X's last year‑‑ yes, he did. Q. Is this kind of game fun for you as an offensive coordinator knowing you're going against a great defense? Is that just find of fun for you? COACH HERMAN: It's miserable. I don't know, fun? Have you watched that tape? They are really, really good. No, and I say that jokingly; yes, this is why you coach. These are the games your competitive nature can come out a little bit and say, I'm going to have my offense, my checkers, my pieces are going to be more prepared and play harder and longer and with better technique and effort than yours. At the end of the day, there's only a few reasons to live this crazy life that we do. One of them is for the love and betterment of young men and trying to, again, turn boys into men. And then the other one, I say it all the time, bankers don't get to do this. They don't get to go compete in Indianapolis against the No.1 defense possibly in America and say, come out hopefully on top and say, my guys did that. That's fun, it really is. Q. How did Pat grade out? COACH HERMAN: Really good. Pat was a lot better than maybe any of us had expected. Not necessarily because we didn't think that he was capable of it. But maybe because of the stage and the limited amount of reps and preparation that your No. 2 offensive line gets. But he did a whale of a job in there. Did a heck of a job. Q. Do you know Pat Narduzzi at all? COACH HERMAN: I've shaken his hand a few times. Q. How much while you're game planning are you thinking about what you think he's thinking about trying to‑‑ do you try to get in the head of the opposing defensive coordinator? COACH HERMAN: Yeah, I think you do every week. I don't think it's any different this week than any others. I think at first you look at the what, and then you say, okay, what are they doing, and then you try to answer the why; why did they just do that; why are they playing their end the way that they played their end on that play in this situation; why did they play that coverage; why did they blitz then; why did they blitz this guy then. Again, first, you have to figure out the what; what are you seeing; what's going on; what's the coverage; what's the front; what's the situation in the game; and then figure out as best you can, the why. And we've got great defensive coaches in here and we bounce ideas off them all the time: Why do you think he did this right here where other situations and other formations maybe or other areas on the field, he didn't.  And then, you know, yes, you try to figure out the why after you figure out the what. Q. For the Big Ten Conference, obviously you guys just played a huge rivalry game, it was a great game. Going to Indianapolis, primetime game, national title implications in this game, two highly‑ranked teams that didn't lose a game in the conference. What's this like for the Big Ten as a conference to have this game with these two teams coming up Saturday? COACH HERMAN: I hope it's pretty good, I think. I never really had given it much thought. You know, we get a bit narrowly focused this time of year. The big picture kind of eludes us at times as coaches. But I think it's great now that you put it that way and I think it's fantastic for the Big Ten to have this showcase, to have two Top‑10 teams, like you said, that are undefeated in conference play. Kind of strength against strength a little bit on two different sides of the football. I think it will be a really good showcase for the Big Ten. Q. Granted, some of the chess pieces are different than they were a year ago, but how much value does that take from last year's game, have for you in preparing for this game? COACH HERMAN: We're a lot‑‑ we're different. The numbers on the jersey and the names on the back might be the same at a lot of positions, but we're better. We're better than we were last year, and they are, too, on defense. Let's not kid ourselves on that, either. So schematically, I think it helps a little bit. But I think the ways that if you were a defensive coordinator that you would have attacked us last year might be a hair different this year because of some of the things that we've improved upon and the ways that we have gotten better, especially individually across the board, have improved. So I think it kind of harkens back to Doug's point about trying to figure out the why. It certainly helps you to watch last year and figure out the what. But the why might be a lot different this year because of who we are and what our personality is on offense now this year, as opposed to last. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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