Urban Meyer gives Connor Cook, Michigan State D-line lofty praise
Urban Meyer did not offer up any bulletin board material for Michigan State. In fact, he did the opposite.
The Ohio State coach previewed the matchup that everybody’s been waiting for in his weekly Monday press conference by talking about the Michigan State quarterback and the Spartans’ defensive line.
To put it simply, Meyer is impressed.
“We’re facing the best defensive line maybe in college football,” he said about Michigan State. “Theirs and ours are very comparable and just very, very good players.”
It’s hard to argue with that. Shilique Calhoun is one of the top defensive ends in the country. Sophomore Malik McDowell took home B1G Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance on Saturday against Maryland. Lawrence Thomas already earned a Senior Bowl nod.
The Spartans have four B1G Defensive Player of the Week winners this season. Meyer knows that kind of challenge that’ll present an OSU offense that’s had its ups and downs this year.
Perhaps the matchup to watch on Saturday will be Connor Cook — the nation’s winningest quarterback — against the Buckeyes’ eighth-ranked pass defense. The senior did throw for a then-career high 358 yards in a loss to Ohio State last year.
Meyer is well aware of Cook’s legacy.
“One of the best quarterbacks in Big Ten history,” Meyer said. “Someone showed me his winning record. That’s how you value a quarterback, is do you win games because that’s his job? And he wins almost every game he plays.”
Cook is 32-4 as a starter as Michigan State and is the nation’s winningest quarterback.
He is, however, coming off a shoulder injury that he sustained against Maryland on Saturday. Even though he was sidelined for the entire second half, Mark Dantonio said he’ll be good to go against Ohio State.
It remains to be seen how effective Cook will be. Either way, Meyer and the Buckeyes are preparing for him to be at 100 percent.