OSU Coach Fickell Talks Toledo, Impressions and Improvements at Media Day

Now that a few days have passed, Coach Fickell had a chance to think about his Buckeyes’ performance against Akron last weekend.

“I thought our guys battled hard, and they weren’t affected by [the heat] nearly as much as we thought,” Coach Fickell said at media day on Tuesday.

“I was impressed. There was some excitement. Guys weren’t lagging behind…That’s what I was happy about. I wanted to see what kind of enthusiasm we had.”

Fickell also addressed the quarterback battle, but did not disclose a winner just yet. “They both played well. The way they handled themselves on the field, on the sidelines…that’s what I was most impressed with.”

“I didn’t have a lot of worries that they wouldn’t be successful. I was impressed to see some of the emotion, the competitive nature…we’re going to continue to keep both those guys in the fold,” he said coyly.

Even though the Buckeyes played exceptionally well over the weekend, Fickell refuses to rest on his laurels. “We’ve got to be better on special teams. We need to contain and tackle…we didn’t win the turnover margin...we need to be getting more pressure; we missed too many tackles. We’re definitely nit-picking and making those guys understand that we’re never satisfied where we are.”

Fickell also recognized Toledo’s reputation as being giant killers, as Toledo has beat several big name programs in past years. “They’ve got playmakers. They’ve got athletes that can move the ball around, two quarterbacks who can run similar plays. They averaged over 40 points per game last year.”

Finally, Fickell reminded the team that achievements are not by single men; rather, achievements are the result of a team effort. “[Athletic Director Gene Smith] gave me the game ball, but I made sure to stand up in front of the guys and say that this is the game ball for the 2011 coaching staff and the players. That’s where our focus should continue to be.”