Four years ago, then Ohio State freshman wide receiver Chris Olave blocked a punt against Michigan, blowing the gates wide open in what would become a huge win for the Buckeyes.
That blocked punt, according to then Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, was drawn up by none other than Greg Schiano. Meyer warns that Schiano, now head coach at Rutgers, could use special teams trick plays ahead of Saturday’s Big Ten opener against Iowa (7 P.M. ET, FS1).
That Olave blocked punt with 4:50 left in the third quarter, gave No. 10 Ohio State a 34-19 lead over No. 4 Michigan. Ohio State would go on to beat Michigan 62-39 and end their season 13-1 with a win in the Rose Bowl.
Meyer spoke about Schiano and the upcoming Rutgers game during an appearance this week on the Big Ten Network. He was joined by former college and NFL head coach Dave Wannstedt in analyzing this week’s Big Ten games.
“We had two big ones to win a game: against the Wolverines when Chris Olave blocked it – that was his call,” Meyer said on the Big Ten Network about Schiano’s role on special teams in 2018. “And then the Penn State one. We were down two scores and we went after it at midfield.”
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The block heard ’round The League!@OhioStateFB has opened the floodgates, and it started with this play: pic.twitter.com/ZpJYpQEYic
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 24, 2018
Wannstedt started off the conversation by talking about the importance of special teams for this Iowa (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at Rutgers (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) game. Wannstedt’s personal experience having coached with Schiano and against him has led to some personal experience about how the Rutgers head coach can and will utilize special teams in this game.
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“The thing that concerns me about this game that is a little different with Iowa – they’re not running the ball like they have. Three games but they’re bottom of the Big Ten and Rutgers is leading the Big Ten in stopping the run. Something is going to have to give on that end. Greg will just assume take it down to that. And the other thing about Schiano – he worked for you and he worked for me and I competed against him at Pitt – you better be sound on your special teams this week,” Wannstedt said.
“He would drive me crazy with whether we’re punt block or kickoff return or something – I’m telling you the special teams could be the difference in this game.”