Alabama was a common topic during Saturday’s Media Day at the national championship. Here’s some of what was said:

 

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer

Could you comment on the deep pass you called at the end of the Sugar Bowl? Yeah, the question is about the play call, and it was mine. I could blame someone else. It was mine. I thought we could get a PI against Alabama. It was bare, no deep, you’re not going to gain a yard against it, so you can say, why didn’t you hand off the ball to Ezekiel, and it would be 2nd and 12, and we did that afterwards, and we ran the quarterback a little bit. There’s no chance

But the time your players …  Yeah, I think they’d expect that. There was no chance. We’ve done things before in the past, where we take a very aggressive approach to the game, whether it’s going after blocked punts, taking shots down the field, reverse pass right before the end of the half. I think there might be more shock on the outside, but we’ll do it again. If someone says why did you do that, we’re probably going to do that again, and I hope we’re in that situation.

In terms of offense, does this have to be a shootout? Oh, I think Oregon’s defense is much –especially the last few weeks, they’re playing very well. And the Ohio State defense has been playing very well. To do what they’ve done against Alabama, because you take Alabama, our game, the offense put our defense in horrible field position several times, and then they played their best –the best defense that we’ve played, the best defensive football we’ve played in the last three years, maybe the last forever –not forever, but certainly since we’ve been there against Wisconsin. So I think the defense, for me to predict the score, I don’t know that, but I think both defenses are much better than they’re getting credit for right now.

Is it like Thursday for you guys, what’s practice been like? It’s been great. It’s very uncharted waters now. These are three basically championship fights one after the other. You went from Wisconsin to in particular the last one against Alabama, extremely physical team. Our linemen shared with me that was the most physical game they’ve played all year. Michigan State was similar, just the pounding that the offensive and defensive lines take, so we were very smart how we went about our business, but I like where we’re at. We’re ready to go.

At the Sugar Bowl your team seemed loose. Can you talk about how they’re reacting to championship week? They’re pretty good. I think we kind of shelter them, and the good thing is we weren’t in classes. That was a good thing for us that we were kind of locked down and spent a lot of time with them.

Loose, I’m not sure that’s an appropriate word, but just very workmanlike. I hear loose, and what does that mean, loose? I think they have a routine they’re used to, and they are approaching their business like a bunch of pros right now, which if you’re hoping to see a bunch of players walk around nervous and tight, I don’t think you’ll see that right now.

In terms of offense, does this have to be a shootout? Oh, I think Oregon’s defense is much –especially the last few weeks, they’re playing very well. And the Ohio State defense has been playing very well. To do what they’ve done against Alabama, because you take Alabama, our game, the offense put our defense in horrible field position several times, and then they played their best –the best defense that we’ve played, the best defensive football we’ve played in the last three years, maybe the last forever –not forever, but certainly since we’ve been there against Wisconsin. So I think the defense, for me to predict the score, I don’t know that, but I think both defenses are much better than they’re getting credit for right now.

When you guys beat Alabama, that meant a lot not just for your program but for the conference, and I know you guys can’t put all that on your back, but it’s there. When you were off the field after that, you won a Sugar Bowl and it felt like you won a national title. You had this team so perfectly prepared and ready and focused for that game. How did you get them back for this one? We’re going to find out. Obviously it’s still only Thursday of game week, so we’ve still got some time. It was all about preparation after that game and putting a schedule together. I made the comment many, many times, it’s very important for Mike Bennett and Ezekiel Elliott to get back on a routine. There’s every obstacle in the way to disrupt your routine. Our focus has been all about that. The practices have been much different just because of the wear and tear ever since the Big Ten Championship game, and then I really saw it against Alabama because that was the sledgehammer game that you have to be very cautious. So I believe we were. I think we handled it the right way.

But it’s to be determined.

(Question on playoff) Well, I heard our players say thanks for the College Football Playoff, and that’s real. We would not be in it, either would Oregon. I think the other two schools, Alabama and Florida State, would be playing, and we were all part of the BCS for a long time, and I think it’s the closest thing. You’ve got a bunch of people trying to do it right, and it’s an imperfect way to do it, but the more I’m in it now, this is the only way to do it. You can’t start adding more games. That’s not going to happen. That’s not going to happen.

There was a lot of debate about (Ohio State making the playoff), obviously beating Alabama justifies you being here. Is there a carryover to this game? Well, there’s a school not too far from here, the head coach is a very good friend of mine, there’s a lot of people that think that –and they probably should have, TCU I’m talking about, and they played great in the bowl game. I think as long as, once again, there is an imperfect, unless you go 64, it’s just completely different. So I think there’s going to be a time where Ohio State or someone is going to be left out, and I think the way Gary went about his business, Coach Patterson went about his business, it showed that there was no excuses. They went and played great. And I think that’s the responsibility of whoever is in that situation. It’s hard now, because there’s a bunch of players and coaches that think that maybe they should have been in the playoff.

They tend to score and get a quick turnover, next thing you know you’re down 14 points. How important is it for you guys to stay even with them and not fall behind? Well, I look back now and I’m glad that happened. Once again, our team has had another opportunity to build character and toughness through adversity, but obviously we can’t –I don’t know if you come back from this team because you get –I think Alabama is great, too, but you’re living on the edge by falling behind. It’s time tested in big games, special teams and turnovers are almost always the difference makers, and this was certainly the case. It was the case last week, too. If we didn’t get the turnovers back on defense, we don’t win that game.

You mentioned special teams. I know you take a lot of pride in building your special teams: No. 1. And more than just seeing it, obviously functionally it works, but to see our players and recognize the selfless approach to the game, where Bri’onte Dunn was a great high school tailback, now he’s the best 3 on kickoff in America, and he takes great pride in that. That’s his spot. Corey Smith is a junior college transfer that probably has never been on kickoff in his life. If I had my first draft on kickoff, I’d take him. He had three hits inside the 10 yard line last week against Alabama, and here’s a skinny little receiver from Akron, Ohio, that couldn’t spell kickoff a year ago, and now he’s great at it, and our players appreciate it.

 

 Defensive Tackle Michael Bennett

On comparing Alabama and Oregon: I don’t know if you can say who is the better team between Alabama and Oregon because they are so different. I think we beat a great team and I think we have to play another great team. You can’t really compare the two because they are so different.

On how tough it is to get up again for a game after an emotional win over Alabama: I do not think it is tough to get excited for this game – it is the National Championship. We are playing another great team and I do not think there will be any emotional let off or anything like that coming into this game. We prepared just like we prepare for these other games and we are excited for it and ready for it.

On what it will take to beat Oregon: The biggest thing is getting lined up. No matter what the situation, you get lined up and you get the call and you put your hand in the ground. Against Alabama, they kind of took their time and had a lot more opportunities to scheme against them or gather yourself and get ready for the next play. While with Oregon, whether you are ready or not, you need to focus on the next play and put your hand in the ground.

 

Defensive lineman Joey Bosa 

On his team possibly suffering a letdown in this game after beating Alabama: No. It’s just on to the next step. This is our final goal. This is what we’ve been working for so, we’re prepared.

 

Quarterback Cardale Jones

Do you feel like the Alabama defense was kind of daring you to throw the ball? Not really daring me, but they wanted to stop the run first and we wanted to set up the run to set up the deep shots down the field. They challenged us, and I’m glad we were able to respond to a couple of them challenges.

How far do you throw the ball? About 80, 85 yards.

Having been through what you went through the previous two games (inaudible) in terms of a national stage?Rattle? I mean, I don’t know, because other than taking a couple of big shots versus Alabama, I don’t think I’ve been rattled this season or these past two games.

Did you hear what Nick Saban said after the game about you? No, no, I didn’t.

 

Oregon coach Mark Helfrich

Is your mind at some point beginning to gear up for Alabama and then No, it was obviously — knowing how the story ended, going back and looking at it, it was amazing how it all unfolded of the key play in that game or one of the key plays, it was 3rd and 10, they were up — Alabama was up 21 6, and that conversion where they broke the coverage and hit the gainer down the middle for about 30 something yards, huge play in the game, big swing, obviously several missed opportunities for turnovers, as well, and kicking game came into play on both sides. But no, not a big swing of who we’re going to play from our standpoint.

(Inaudible.) That’s crazy, yeah. How does that work exactly? No, and that’s another unit that is unbelievably impressive, just from a physical standpoint. We haven’t seen Ohio State much at all this year, until preparing for them, and you have this vision of just a blue collar, tough, physical offensive line, and you flip on the film, and the first game I watched was the Alabama game, and the athleticism that they have is very impressive, as well. They did some great things at the second level on some very athletic linebackers and secondary players from Alabama.