Bud Foster Breaks Down the Buckeyes

Defensive coordinator Bud Foster was made available to the media for the first time since the whole fine system fiasco last week. That sure caused quite the stir! Would Foster be more tight-lipped with the bevy of media folks surrounding him this time around? Nope! He was as open and honest as usual.

In fact, Foster started off the media session with a smirk and some lighthearted comments regarding the last week's ordeal regarding player fines.

"Good to see you guys again," he exclaimed to the media members in attendance. "You guys made me famous; like it was all me! It's alright, I got thick skin."

Turning to some actual football discussion (for the sake of all of our sanity), Foster reiterated that Ohio State's decision to not name their starting quarterback has no bearing on his defense's preparation because he feels both quarterbacks Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett will make appearances.

"I think we'll see both of them, but our plan is to not change," he said. "They run their offense and that's what they do."

Foster even made the point that he wouldn't be surprised to see converted H-Back Braxton Miller used in the Wildcat formation.

"I could see him running the speed sweep and throwing back to the quarterback and those types of things," Foster added. "With him in there, there's always that type of threat."

While much of the attention leading up to the Ohio State game has been the Buckeyes' highly publicized QB competition, Foster made it clear it'll be critical to keep RB Ezekiel Elliott contained in the backfield.

"He's 225 pounds and runs like he's 195 pounds," Foster said about the Buckeyes' dynamic back. "We've got to gang-tackle him and we can't always assume that one guy is going to bring him down."

Other tidbits from Foster:

• He said DE Vinny Mihota was in a boot on Monday after getting leg whipped during last Friday's scrimmage. Foster noted that Mihota feels he'll be fine in the next day or so. If Mihota were unable to play, DE Jeremy Haynes would be the next man up.
• Foster compared the OSU's depth and talent at QB to Tennessee's 1994 team when their roster featured Peyton Manning, Todd Helton and Jerry Colquitt (though Foster forgot Colquitt's name).
• OSU's Michael Thomas is the one receiver that Foster has concerns about in having his corners cover in man-to-man.
• He doesn't believe OSU's offense will change much despite having a new offensive coordinator in Ed Warinner. (Last year's offensive coordinator, Tom Herman, is now Houston's head coach).
• He compared OSU to Georgia Tech because they both have a set offensive system, utilizing option components.
• He wouldn't be surprised to see the Buckeyes utilize more "12" personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs) as opposed to "11" personnel (1 RB, 1 TE.) Perhaps this is related to the injuries and suspensions at wideout for OSU.
• Foster has been pleased with DT Steve Sobczak's development and likes his upside for the future, especially with his ability to dent the line of scrimmage.

Player Quotes

WHIP/ROLB Ronny Vandyke

ON THE TEAM'S APPROACH TO THE OHIO STATE GAME:

"Our approach is to not try and do anything special. Just continue working hard, doing what we need to do, playing for each other and let the outcome come from that. It is a big game, obviously. But we're not going to treat them any different from the rest of our opponents. We're going to take it one week at a time and right now we're focusing on what's important now and that's Ohio State."

ON WHAT MAKES OHIO STATE SUCH A GOOD TEAM:

"They have talented guys and they have a good coaching staff and I'm sure they do some different things too. But you know, we've got scholarship guys and we've got great players, too. We have a good coaching staff, a great program, so it's a good matchup for us."

ON THE GAMEDAY ENVIRONMENT HE EXPECTS TO SEE AT LANE STADIUM:

"It's going to be loud. I know that for a fact. It's going to be really loud. A lot of people are going to be excited and people are anticipating this game. It's going to be fun."

ON THE COMPARISONS AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CARDALE JONES AND J.T. BARRETT:

"You know, Jones is a big guy. He's a big guy. He has a big arm. Maybe, from just watching film, maybe they'll put him in if they need a pass. Both can run and Barrett's really good on his feet. They both can run and they both can throw."

DT Woody Baron

ON IF HE'S READY FOR THE OHIO STATE GAME TO START ALREADY:

"It's been a very long summer. I can speak for me probably on behalf for most of the guys that, you know, we're ready to play against somebody else for once. We're tired of going up against each other everyday in practice. So, definitely ready for a fresh opponent on the other side of the ball."

ON HOW EARLY PREP FOR OHIO STATE BEGAN:

"What we call camp was basically two weeks long and just us working on technique live against one another and then we kind of slowly integrated into our Ohio State prep. We've really gotten into it heavy game week, maybe game week and a half."

ON IF HE BELIEVES THE TEAM CAUGHT OHIO STATE BY SURPRISE LAST YEAR:

"You know, if you go into our locker room, we'd say, 'probably not.' We worked hard. We had a week of preparation and we went up there and we played with a lot of effort and emotion. We don't feel like we caught them off guard."

ON THE KEY TO TACKLING BIG QBS LIKE CARDALE JONES:

"As a defense, whoever's carrying the ball, we like swarming to the ball wherever you are on the field. Once you see the ball is in a declared direction, we want eleven people to go make the tackle. So, I'd have to say, not assuming that one of your teammates makes the tackle, it's going to have to be a group effort. Not just him (Jones) specifically, but anybody carrying the football."