Urban Meyer prepares to lead the buckeyes out on to the field prior to the Ohio State-Penn State game on Oct. 28. Ohio State won 39-38. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor

Ohio Stadium was bursting with excitement following No. 3 Ohio State’s come-from-behind 39-38 victory against No. 7 Penn State Saturday.

There was a period of time for the players to celebrate, head coach Urban Meyer said on Tuesday’s Big Ten coaches teleconference, but now it’s time to turn the attention to a tough road matchup against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

“They celebrate a mission accomplished and then they sit back down and wait for their directive and assignments and they’ve received them and go to work,” Meyer said.

He added it will be easy to tell if the players or coaches are still living the excitement of the past Saturday and not focusing on the next game.

“A change in anything as far as they want to back off practice where I see guys pulling themselves out, I see the effort not there, I see coaches not coaching as hard,” Meyer said. “Anything that’ll be an atomic bomb here.”

Another major point of emphasis Meyer addressed in the teleconference was the performance of the kickoff unit after it struggled against Penn State. Meyer made clear the unit is going to see a shake-up when it faces off against the Hawkeyes.

“Oh yeah, we’re going to make some changes on personnel,” Meyer said. “I just have to keep re-evaluating.”

Meyer on Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell: “Oh he’s outstanding. I’ve watched him because we’ve done a crossover film. He seems like he’s been there a long time a level, you know he’s an Iowa backer man. I just have so much respect for Iowa. I always have because I think they play football the right way and he’s the face of that kind of program, so tremendous player.”

Meyer on Kirk Ferentz’s 21-year tenure at Iowa: “I think that’s a credit to Iowa, that’s a credit to an incredible coaching staff that’s the model of consistency, doing things the right way. I always go back to that state, the state of Iowa. I remember back in my days when I was here in the late 80s, Iowa was one of the top, shoot they were one or two in the country for a while.”

Meyer on how well he knows Ferentz: “Fairly well. I first competed against him when I was at Florida in the Outback Bowl was the first time we really, our paths had crossed. We’ve always been very cordial and respectful and so I know him fairly well.”

Meyer on how his offense increased tempo against Penn State: “I thought offensively, once again they were faced with one of the best defenses in America. I thought for the most part of the game, we operated at a very good tempo. Obviously, we had two two-minute drills that were extraordinary, but I had no problem with the offensive performance. What I did have a problem with is the turnover, the two turnovers and the kicking debacle. Other than that, I thought offense, defense, you’re facing a very good team. I thought they played outstanding. So the tempo was not, I was very pleased, really for the whole game with what we were doing on offense.”

Meyer on how quarterback J.T. Barrett responded to criticism after Oklahoma loss: “He’s an old veteran. He’s responded the way that you would anticipate. The way that he has in the past. J.T., you know, he’ll write a book some day, he’s seen it all. What self-inflicted mistakes he’s had in his life, not many, and then also maybe performance that wasn’t up to standard and the ability to raise the level of players around him. I still believe that’s his greatest asset. So there’s never been, with all due respect to media and fans, there’s never been any internal issue over than trying to get better.”