Frank Solich's Weekly Press Conference 9/21/15

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Question: What makes them so good defensively?

Solich: “They’re big and they’re athletic. They don’t just play straight up all the time. They’re able to, with their size and strength, also able to slant and move and do things that sometime bigger guys can’t do with the effectiveness that they’re able to do it.

“You look at their secondary, they support on runs very quickly. Their safeties are very active in the run game.

“They’re a group that really doesn’t get knocked around. Teams do not knock them off the ball. In terms of trying to run, trying to establish a running game that has any kind of consistency to it, that’s difficult to do when you can’t move people around up front.

Question: Is that physicality also on the offensive side of the ball for them?
Moderator: Alright coach, if you could give us an opening statement and then we’ll open it up for questions.

Ohio head coach Frank Solich: “We’re delighted to be 3-0 at this point and time. Certainly look forward to what will be a big challenge for our football team and our program in terms of going to Minnesota and taking those guys on.

“Got a lot of respect for Coach Kill and his staff, and what he accomplished when he was a coach here in the MAC and what he’s accomplishing at Minnesota.

“It will definitely be a challenge. I think our guys are anxious to try to meet that challenge. I expect that both teams will be well coached and ready to play a very good football game.

“Obviously they’re big, physical, they’re athletic. They’ll be the most powerful football team that we have to played to this point, and how we match that will obviously tell us a little bit, or show us a little bit about what we can get done against those guys.”

Solich: “Yeah, they have been an offensive football team that likes to come at you and certainly do a great job of that.

“They’re a very powerful unit on offense. They will hammer you. How well we are able to take that on will determine some things in the game.

“If you can run at people, and run effectively at people, you come off of that with play-action passes and give yourself a chance to hit some deep balls and have a complete offense that way. That’s what they generally have been all about.

Question: Kent State held them to 10 points. What were they able to do so well against that offense?

Solich: “I thought Kent did a very good job of playing defense against those guys. Now, I think Coach Kill himself said that offensively they need to get some things straightened out. He’s a bright coach, and they’ll go about that.

“It’s not necessarily a good deal that Kent played them so close. It got their attention and they’ll focused on us and ready to go.

“Kent did a great job of getting ready for the game and putting a game plan together.”..

 

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Question: Kent State, they only had three plays in Minnesota territory. Could you see this as a game that comes down to being a defensive slugfest that goes back and forth?

Solich: “I think that’s possible. I don’t think they’ll see it that way.

“When they line up they think they’re able to run the ball at people. That’ll be a huge test for us to get that stopped.

“Kent did a good job against them. As you’re saying, they haven’t put a lot of points on the board offensively but the potential is there. They’re a Big Ten team that’s a very good Big Ten team.

“Coach Kill and the offensive staff will address what needs to be addressed to give them their best chance of playing really good offensive football. They can explode at any given time.

“We’re going to have to play a great football game on both sides of the ball and hope that special teams come into play in our favor.

Question: In games like this, one of the things that can swing momentum really quickly are things like big plays and turnovers. How prepared do you feel your team is to take care of the football and keep those big plays from happening on defense?

Solich: “I can only speak for the first three games. And so far I think they’ve done a very good job of that.

“Winning the turnover ratio and the explosive play battle are two things that we feel are critical to winning football games. And we’ve been able to do that so far. I think that’s one of the reasons we are 3-0 at this point.

“But every game is a new game when you line up, in terms of those issues. Hopefully we’ll continue to take care of the ball the way we have. If we do, that shouldn’t get out of whack in a negative for us. We need to continue to find ways to make big and explosive plays against anybody we play.

“If we can do that, then we should be in every ballgame. Should have a chance to win. That’s our goal.”