Game Week Press Conference: Greg Schiano – 9/2/24

GREG SCHIANO: Okay, guys, appreciate you coming out. It’s on to Week 2, the Akron season. Got a chance to watch a lot of college football this weekend, and obviously watched that Ohio State game. I thought Akron played really well. Defensively they present some issues. Their scheme is one that is a little bit different. It reminds me a little bit of when Jim Leonhard was at Wisconsin, that kind of scheme. I know there’s some connection there with the coordinator. Player-wise, they are stout up front. Defensively inside they are big. They are 300-plus pounds and then 19, the Nunnally kid, I think is active off the edge. No. 40, I think McCoy is his name, the linebacker, he’s a good player. Very active.In the secondary, I think their DBs are pretty good. The safety, I think it’s No. 9, Lewis, he’s an active player, long, good-looking kid. Then Golden-Nelson No. 3, I thought he showed up. The kid who I think is kind of a ball hawk is 24, the nickel back, I believe his name is Lewis. So they have, what I thought, very active defense. They gave Ohio State, you look at the score and say, well, they didn’t give them a lot. They gave them some problems up front what they were doing defensively. So we are going to have to really work hard to be able move the ball.

When you look at the offense, their quarterback, Finley, No. 10, I thought he was doing some good things, and then he got injured. So I don’t know what the status will be. Someone that we are very familiar with, Tajh Bullock, a New Jersey kid, was playing in a two-quarterback system and then when he got hurt, Tajh became the sole quarterback. I thought he did a good job. He’s a very athletic guy that presents problems both running and throwing. So we are going to have our hands full there. I thought their tight end, 88, I can’t remember his name, Newell, maybe, I thought he has — he’s a big kid and does some good things. And then No. 4, I forget his name, Golden, maybe, you could see his speed. He’s their speed guy at the receiver position. Then the offensive line is big, 300-pounds plus across the board. Now the center might not be — depending who plays, but the guards and the tackles are big.

So you know, Joe Moorhead is an accomplished coach. Joe, we’ve competed with Joe when he was at Connecticut and — or Penn State when I was at Ohio State. He’s an…