With each successive win, the 'next game' grows bigger. Expectations rise, the pressure builds to continue winning. Throw in a ranked, undefeated opponent full of loathsome qualities, in late October, at night? One little spark and the whole thing could explode.
So entering the media room at the stadium yesterday, you could feel the tension in the air. Bob Flounders elbowed David Jones in the ribs to get position closer to the podium. There must have been 10 TV cameras, and probably another few hundred reporters on the phone line. Waiting. All ready with striking surfaces out, just hoping BOB might provide the match to start the blaze.
Instead, with some Gregorian Chant playing softly in the background, a stranger entered the media room, and.....was that The Dalai Lama?! The flowing red robes. The Grace. Striking.
But it wasn't the Lama. It was the fifth son of the Lama - Bill O'Brien. BO'B sat cross-legged on a stool, gave a brief blessing to those in the room and on the phone, and began speaking.
"Each game is a season, friends. Each season bears clouds and sun. A steam flows over the rock, and makes the rock smooth. But the rock does not grow angry."
I was entranced.
"Interwebs are tangled connections in time. Twittering? Spacebooking? The worm forgives the plow."
I was confused. But, I have to admit - all of the tension was gone. Peace and harmony reigned.
And Then The Presser Started
Q. Matt McGloin is definitely not a dual threat quarterback but
COACH O'BRIEN: What are you talking about? Were you at the Northwestern game? (Laughter).
Q. He's made some plays with his feet to avoid sacks and make plays in the pocket, how important is that?
COACH O'BRIEN: Again, people use that label "dual threat", and so I always use the example of Tom Brady. And so one of the best qualities of Tom Brady is his feet in the pocket. And that he understands that it's about a three foot circle in the pocket that he can move in.
And he's got great pocket awareness. What we've tried to do with Matt is teach him about pocket awareness. And Matt's done a good job of that.
He's climbed the pocket when he's supposed to. He's moved ever so slightly when he's supposed to. And the number one thing for a quarterback is to be able to do that and keep your eyes downfield and complete the ball and not see the rush.
You've got to feel the rush, not see it, move with your feet, re-direct your eyes with your feet is the phrase we use and get the ball down the field. And I think Matt's done a decent job of that, and hopefully he can continue to do that.
Q. Some of your guys over at Twitter are wishing you a Happy Birthday. Any special plans today?
COACH O'BRIEN: Actually, I don't know, I'm not a big birthday guy. I'm not my wife will list all the things I really don't enjoy: Birthdays, weddings, theme parks, the beach. Not a big beach guy even though I love Cape Cod but it's really at 5:00 at night.
But no, I found out it was my birthday when my older brother texted me. He said: "Happy Birthday." And that's when I figured it was my birthday. But, thank you; there's no special plans.
Q. Urban Meyer said yesterday that Beaver Stadium, he was told by his other coaches it was the loudest stadium in the Big Ten. And you were saying earlier how it was a special place to play. Can you talk about the atmosphere for Saturday night how important it is for fans lined up already for Saturday?
COACH O'BRIEN: This is without a doubt the best college football environment in the country. There's just absolutely no doubt about it. And obviously I'm very biased. But having been here now for a certain amount of home games and watching that student body and listening to our fans and knowing that there's 108,000 people going to be here Saturday night, I mean, this place is going to be loud. And everybody's going to be wearing white. And the other thing about our fans, which I like, is they're very respectful, I think. They're loud. They cheer for their team. But that's what needs to continue here. They need to be very respectful because this is an excellent Ohio State team coming in here.
And our team just really wants them to show up early, be in there for warm ups. It really gets our guys jazzed up in there when they're in there are for warm ups. Our guys, they love that.
If we can get them out of the tailgating maybe early and get them in the stadium early, get 108,000 in there for warm ups, that would be pretty neat. That would be pretty neat. So it's a very special environment. It meant a lot to us in the Northwestern game and I'm really looking forward to leading the team out there on Saturday night.
Q. With the NASCAR offense, how tough is it for you to have to come up with a play in such a short period of time after you've run the previous play and what are some of the factors that go through your head when you're evaluating what play you need to call?
COACH O'BRIEN: Well, number one is you try to, you do get into a certain rhythm. So one of the things that any coach will tell you that runs that type of up tempo offense is first down is really important.
Because if you can gain positive yards on first down, then your second and medium call or second and short call, you can call it whatever you want. That's a play caller's dream. That's really the most important thing.
Because once you get a good gain on first down, then you're right away into a play calling rhythm. And after that, for anybody that's called plays, that's really what it's all about, and it's not that difficult. But as far as what I'm looking for and all those things, I mean I'm not telling you (laughter).
Q. Bill, did you have a chance to see the size of the campout over at Gate A yet and what does that say that they're already on a Monday night or a Tuesday morning?
COACH O'BRIEN: I'll tell you what, I can't say enough about our student body. I've been over there before, I think it was the Northwestern game, and obviously there's more kids there now.
I mean that's just what this place is all about. Student body that works hard in the classroom, supports their football team and all their athletic teams. It's unbelievable.
People were right when I first came here, they told me you haven't seen anything until you run out for a game or you witness the support of the student body.
And they're exactly right. This is a special place. And one of the reasons why it's a special place is because of the support of the student body.
It gives our players a ton of energy, and on Saturday we just want them here early. We want them to wear white. And we want them to be respectful but very, very loud throughout the whole game.
Q. In the win over Iowa, you were able to play a lot of guys. But you couldn't get Steven Bench in the game. I know you're a one quarterback guy, I wonder if you wish you could have played him a little more in the season or are you going to seek a redshirt for him this year?
COACH O'BRIEN: In the Iowa game, I guess you can disagree with me, I don't really care, I felt the game was not really in hand like everybody else thought. I felt like Iowa was still in the game. Maybe I could have gotten Steven in.
But I think Steven realizes that we're trying to win the football game, do what's best for the football team at that point in time. So I stuck with Matt (McGloin) throughout the whole game. And if we have a chance to put Steven in at some point during the year, then we'll do it.
But at the end of the day we're going to do what's best for the football team and trying to win the football game.
Thanks to GoPSUSports.com for the transcript.
Follow @BSDtweet on Twitter
And join us on Facebook
All BSD community members should review our current Posting & Commenting Policies before creating any posts or commenting.